I’ve been receiving a lot of questions on how the Twitter Top 100 List works and which factors are taken into account to calculate the list.

Whilst I won’t divulge the exact algorithm, I will explain the thinking behind the list and what it’s meant to represent.

The reason for creating the Top 100 Tweeters was simple. I wanted to find out which UK wedding professionals were on Twitter and who the good Tweeters to follow were.

I started by following as many of the UK wedding Tweeters as I could find. Now, every time I find a new UK wedding pro on Twitter, I’ll follow them. I am currently following over 450 UK wedding professionals!

If I’m not yet following you, make sure you follow me (@ukWeddings) and I’ll add you to my follower list (if you’re UK based).

To create the Top 100 list I began to research and think about what really makes a valuable Tweeter….

So, here are some guiding principles on providing value to your followers and the UK wedding community on Twitter. You never know, following them might help you jump up the Twitter Top 100 List “wink” “wink”

Tweet!

There’s not a lot of point in setting up an account if you’re not going to Tweet.

Whilst we are all busy, there’s no excuse not to Tweet at least once every couple of days…particularly as Tweeting can be done on your smart phone, via SMS text message, on your home computer, through your Xbox 360 etc etc

Twitter is a social network, so start socialising and start networking. Networking with other industry professionals should be part of your core marketing strategy. Relationship building is key to any business.

Help Others

If someone you follow asks a question or needs help with something, help them!

You never know, they may return the favour in future but also, they will be more likely to follow you, communicate with you, retweet your tweets and spread your messages and content to others.

Share interesting and Useful Content

Sure, Twitter can and is used as a marketing channel. By all means, share your latest photoshoot or announce your latest blog post but don’t just promote yourself.

Try and give back to the community by sharing content you have found which you think is useful or provides some value to others.

Get Retweeted

By doing all the above, Tweeters will start retweeting you. This can have a massive viral effect as your Tweets begin to spread across the Twitterverse.

Grow Your Followers (Naturally)

There are many tools and schemes out there that allow you to suddenly get one million gazillion followers. HINT: as tempting as they may be, these tools offer you no value and you’ll look really spammy to others.

By helping, communicating, being polite, retweeting and offering value to other Tweeters, your follower numbers will increase naturally over time.

Summary

So there you go, the Top 100 list is simply a reflection on your value within the UK wedding Twitter community.

I know what you’re thinking. You were expecting this post to include exact details on how to get higher up the list. The reason I can’t tell you exactly is the same reason Google doesn’t tell you it’s secret sauce on how to get to the top of their listings. If everyone knew, everyone would do the same and the results wouldn’t be relevant.

My simple advice would be to follow the basic principles of being a valuable Tweeter. Make yourself a Tweeter who others need to follow for the fear of missing out on one of your brilliant Tweets. May the power of Twitter be with you!

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask below.