From my Twitter experience I came to the conclusion that Twitter and retweets are the future and adding a “tweet this” to your blog posts is a much better option than having the default “email to friend” button that bloggers use. “Tweet this” is modern, it is simple and it has much better potential of building awareness by helping your blog go viral.
Each tweet/retweet in my Twitter viral marketing case study was sent to an average of 755 twitterers. That is never going to happen with “email to friend” button. So I started adding manual tweet this links at the end of my blog posts.
This morning an article from John Chow ticked into my RSS newsreader: Tweet This Blog Post WordPress Plugin. John has arrived to the same conclusion as me regarding tweet this versus email this. And he showed the way to an easier implementation: Tweet This plugin that does the same as I have been doing manually.
Step-by-step install and customization of Tweet This
- Install and activate Tweet This WordPress plugin
- Chose URL shortener service and customize – I personally checked all the 4 options (Settings – Tweet This)
- Edit tweet-this.php file to customize the look of the tweet (Plugins – Tweet This – Edit). Locate this part in the tweet-this.php (line 78):
Manual customization is no longer needed as the new version of the plugin has the option for it.
function get_tweet_this_url() { $url = 'http://twitter.com/home/?status=' . get_tweet_this_short_url() . '+' . get_tweet_this_trim_title(); if (!tt_is_preview()) { if (get_option('tt_limit_to_single') == "true") { if (is_single() || is_page()) return $url; } else return $url; }
- I made two changes to the format that tweets will be shown in. First I put the title of the post in front of the URL
- And thanks to Jamie Harrop I included “Reading @HowToMakeMyBlog” in front of the tweet to promote my Twitter username and to track the tweets
- This is how the line 78 part of my tweet-this.php looks now:
function get_tweet_this_url() { $url = 'http://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+@HowToMakeMyBlog ' . get_tweet_this_trim_title() . '+' . get_tweet_this_short_url(); if (!tt_is_preview()) { if (get_option('tt_limit_to_single') == "true") { if (is_single() || is_page()) return $url; } else return $url; } }
If you want the same tweet format, you basically just have to replace @HowToMakeMyBlog with your own Twitter username and paste it instead of the deafult code in tweet-this.php on line 78.
Changes I’d like to see in the next version of Tweet This
- Tweet This uses several URL shortener services but I’d like to see my favourite one, TweetBurner added to the list
- Tweet This button is shown on both blog posts and pages. Option to remove it from pages would be good
These two wishes have been fulfilled in the latest version of the plugin.
Tweet This in action now
All in all a great plugin which makes it easy to insert “tweet this” into your blog posts and makes my 5 step plan to getting your blog go viral on Twitter even easier:
- Be active on Twitter and work on increasing your Twitter followers
- Publish interesting article
- Include tweet this at the end of the article
- Tweet your article to your followers
- Let your readers do the rest
See “tweet this” in action just below and feel free to tweet it to your friends.
Twitter Marketing E-Book
For much more information on Twitter, check out my “Twitter Marketing E-book: How to go viral on Twitter“. The e-book includes all the tips on how I use Twitter to build my authority, drive traffic to my blog and get customers. Enjoy twittering!
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{ 31 comments }
A really great plugin that automates the use from your previous posts. I actually did timestamped the same post so we’re on the same track buddy
Hello Marko,
how its going my friend?! thanks for the excellent and rich information! btw, it’s John Chow not Chaw
and regarding Tweet this and Tell a friend! i personally removed “tell a friend!” and replaced with Share this button and customizing my Tweet this button
Thanks Again,
Firas
@Rowell Dionicio – Sounds good! It seems to work as well, 6 people tweeted my links from Tweet This button to over 1000 twitterers total today!
@Firas Steitiyeh – Thank you for the Chow mistake, fixed!
That’s awesome! I want my readers to Tweet my posts too haha
love the plug-in, works great, but when I try your changes I get a parsing error..?
@Elin Carlson – I have never used .com version but I am pretty sure that most plugins are made for .org version. I would suggest to switch over to a self-hosted .org one to get most out of WordPress.
@kris – Basically you just need to replace these two lines:
$url = ‘http://twitter.com/home/?status=’ .
get_tweet_this_short_url() . ‘+’ . get_tweet_this_trim_title();
with these two lines:
$url = ‘http://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+@YourTwitterUsername ‘ .
get_tweet_this_trim_title() . ‘+’ . get_tweet_this_short_url();
Does that work?
OK, a question from a clueless one here – how do I upload and install it to a regular Wordpress blog? Do I need a site or upgrading? thanks!
Hi! I came here via John Chow’s blog. you might want to check a simpler way to add a Twit This button without using a plugin, no 3rd party service, no link caching, and no database changes. It’s also automatic, but lighter on your codes. I actually thought of this after reading John Chow’s post. you can check what I’m talking about here. Thanks!
@marhgil – Looks interesting. My domain is long so I think it is best with URL shorteners, but for blogs with short domains it looks good.
This looks pretty cool. The problem is I use the socialize plugin that offers buttons from several different social platforms so this plugin in addition might be overkill but since twitter is so popular it might be worth experimenting with this one.
@Gerald Weber – I would suggest to track and analyze which of your other social bookmarking links work and which not. How many of your visitors use them? Then try and include Twitter instead of the least effective one to check it out.
Very cool tip!
I have added Tweet This using same name plugin for Wordpress! I have to say that it works just great!
Very nice article! In the new Tweet This version 1.2 you can customize the tweet text from the settings menu, so hacking the plugin is no longer necessary. Also, I added Tweetburner to the URL services list, and you can limit Tweet This links to posts, not pages.
@Richard X. Thripp – Great plugin! Thanks for the update!
how to add tweet this in blogger?
@idris – I am not sure about Blogger. Most of the plugins are made for WordPress so I would definitely recommend moving your blog over to a self-hosted Wordpress blog.
Beautiful plugin..love it..but i am trying a change, which i am not able to do..
I simply want to push the tweet this button to the top of the post just below the title of the blog post..is it possible?
Thanks
@Anand – I am not sure about this. Please check with the plugin author at the plugin website.
Thanks for this.
Hey Marko,
Another great post. Have you ever heard of ShareThis? This plugin (available for WordPress) allows you to incorporate almost all of the social media tools as an option at the end of a post. I mean, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook, MySpace, and a few you’ve probably never heard of. It’s a great tool and I use it myself all the time.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
@Mariano – Yeah, I know ShareThis. For me personally, less choice is best in case of these social media sites. So I stick with Twitter and StumbleUpon but of course users can submit to anything if they like. By the way, the newer versions of Tweet This plugin let you have Digg, Stumble and all the other sites as well. Or you can do it manually like I explained in this blog post.
Marko, thank you!! I just tweeted about this article. Just FYI, the code to add @yourtwitterID in front has now changed a bit with the recent version but it’s still pretty easy to find. You’ve got a new subscriber here. Great blog.
thanks nice information…good explanation!
This plugin totally slowed down my wordpress and after deactivating it, my blog is actually visible again/loadable.
Has there been any problems with other ppl on Wordpress?
Strange, never had any problems. Tweet this can now be done without a plugin in case of these problems, see how I did it for my Thesis theme.
Stumbled into this page from google searching for “Add tweet this”. Great post. Added to codebounce.com
Superb plugin Marko. It’s live on the blog.
Right, now back to your other 58 tips!
Andy
Great Andy! I am glad the article was helpful to you.
Can I put this button on a website as well?
Thanks.
Thank you! That was very helpful
Hi, Marko!
Very useful your post!!!
Now I have the inverse problem: have already the twitter button and others, need however the “email to friend” one too, at the bottom of the post, like you have your social bookmark buttons, but: with my own icon “email to friend”.
Would you give me a hint?
Thanks in advance!!!