Twitter is changing their character length limit
Looks like some more big changes are coming to the Twitterverse. It was announced that Twitter will be removing photo and links from their character count. Photos and links typically occupy 23 characters.
1.How does a photo occupy character space in a tweet?
A photo may display as a picture, but it is inserted into the tweet code as a link. Just like in a website where every photo has its own link and then that link is parsed into a visual element, tweets are the same. Sometimes when people retweet, you will see that link instead of the photo. Twitter gave us the option of placing up to 4 images in a tweet. Technically that should occupy 92 characters, but the way that Twitter interprets the information is that each image is on its own tweet and what you see is essentially a summary.
2.What if I have a link longer than 23 characters?
All links are shortened with a t.co, even ones that are using a link shortner, unless your link just fits into a tweet then the long link will appear. Twitter wraps links in t.co (incidentally this is how your Twitter traffic appears in Google Analytics). This is how they track their links. If you use a link shortner like bit.ly or goo.gl, the link will appear in the tweet with your shortner but if you right click, copy and paste the link in a new tab, you will see that it puts a t.co in there. Your link shortner is still being tracking, but so is theirs.
If you use a link in your tweets, it is at least taking up 23 characters of space.
If a photo and a link each take 23 characters you are now left with 96 characters in which to say what you want to say.
So why should you care? This gives you more space to promote your content. Now you can put photos and links and still have enough characters to talk about them!
-Make sure your tweets have a call to action, like "check out the new pics"
- Put the link in the first 1/3 to 1/2 of your tweet to increase your click through rate.
-Add a photo or gif.
- Tweet out your updates multiple times. Tweets only have an 18 minute lifespan. Make sure all your followers have a chance to seet the tweet.
Comments
Can't wait for this!