Are you ready for the new Twitter profile?
18 February 2014It’s not available to everyone… yet.
However, it’s a good idea to be ready for the new Twitter profile when it’s released and ensure that your profile still looks ‘the business’ when the switch over happens.
Currently your Twitter Profile probably looks something like this on a PC.
You may have noticed over the past couple of weeks that the top menu bar of Twitter changed from the black shiny bar to white (it seemed it started with profiles that had over 500 followers).
But essentially, apart from a few small changes to the timeline, things have stayed more or less the same.
The new look
According to Twitter discussions, the new profile has been rolled out to 1% of the Twitter-sphere so that they can monitor and test how the new profile will be used and make adjustments.
The new profile means a bit of a revamp and is apparently designed to bring Twitter in line with mobile app formatting. Essentially the biggest changes are the location of things like your profile text and information and the format of the header image.
What I imagine you will care most about is how your profile looks to people who already have the new version.
Though you may not have been ‘upgraded’ yet, other people who have been will be viewing your profile like this
Your profile text etc is now on the left hand side, your latest tweet is larger and your header image is much, much larger. And this is where you may need to make an adjustment.
Having scouted around, many header images have transferred over quite nicely, though we have spotted a few that look very fuzzy and in some cases illegible.
So here’s what to check:
1. Make sure your header image is a landscape image. That means it’s wider across than it is tall. The images we’ve seen which have not transferred well, have generally been images that have been taken in ‘portrait’. What seems to be happening is Twitter has just stretched it across the screen. A landscape image will survive this process better.
2. Make sure your image is a ‘good’ resolution. You don’t necessarily need high res to make this work, but we’ve seen images that are low resolution logos look particularly poor.
3. Check your profile text is really making the right point about you or your business. It’s a little smaller now, so hashtags might be a good way to highlight important text.
4. Keep an eye on your last tweet of the day. Your last tweet is now larger – so it could be a great way to highlight something important rather than just leaving a ‘goodnight’ to a friend. Definitely, definitely make sure that your last tweet of the day is positive!
Remember too…
Whereas before the header was just a way of adding something pretty to your Twitter profile as it was obscured by your text and profile picture; now it’s a focal point. Use it wisely and get the message across about yourself visually as soon as you can.
Don’t wait.
1% of Twitterers already have the new profile. Get the jump on your competition now.
You might like to use the Pixlr Express App or Google’s Picasa to create a great collage of images that show you off. Either way, it doesn’t need to be a big job – think of it like a spring clean!
Happy Tweeting!
