Have you noticed how your favourite sites add those cool links within their articles allowing you to share a pithy quote (along with a link to the full article) with your Twitter followers?
It’s a great way to highlight an important takeaway or key point and provide an easy way for your reader to share your content–all in one easy step.
Click to Tweet is a site that provides a free link generator that, once set up, gives your reader the opportunity to Tweet portions of your text with just one click.
By making it super easy for your readers to share your article on Twitter, your blog post gains more exposure and will help drive more traffic back to your site.
Simple Click to Tweet Tutorial
Usually something this cool and effective costs money or is a technical nightmare to implement, right?
Not so for Click to Tweet. I’ve added a quick video tutorial to walk you through the process, and outlined the steps below.
But first,
“Want to learn how to add Tweet-able links to your blog post?” (Click to Tweet) 🙂
Can’t see the video? Click here.
Steps for Adding Tweet-able Links to Your Posts
Three things to include when adding Click to Tweet to your blog post:
1. Your text
2. The link to your site
3. Your @Twittername
- Within your blog post, highlight the quote you would like people to Tweet. Copy and paste it into the white box on the Click to Tweet site (http://clicktotweet.com).
- Shorten your blog post URL (permalink) by copy and pasting your link at http://bitly.com.
- Grab your shortened link and paste that into the Click to Tweet box after your text (remember to leave a space).
- Add ‘via @yourTwittername’
- When creating your tweetable, leave room so that people can RT and add their comments within the 140 characters.
- Click ‘Generate link’.
- Copy the link given in the ‘Here’s your URL’ box and paste it into your site by first highlighting a note you have put at the end of your tweetable, like ‘Click to Tweet’ or ‘Tweet this’, and then select the link button at the top. Paste the link generated by Click to Tweet into the URL box, and choose ‘open in a new window’.
- Click ‘Update’ to save the changes. Go to your article (not in edit mode) and test the link.
- A Twitter status box will pop up with the option to Tweet your Click to Tweet message.
Congratulations! You’ve learned to add Click to Tweet to your WordPress blog post!
But be careful with your new powers! The value of using Click to Tweet for your Tweetables is that it helps you highlight meaningful, concise points that will entice not only your reader to share the article, but persuade their followers to read it and share it as well.
Overuse makes it no longer noteworthy, and disrupts the flow of your article; so be choosy.
What are some unique ways you can use this new tool to create interest or excitement for your blog posts?
Giveaway announcements?
Fictional character quotes?
Attention grabbing non-fiction facts?
What other ideas can you think of? Please share in the comments below.
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Photo by pschubert
Awesomely helpful, Kimberley!
I’d wondered about the mechanics of this, and have indeed seen it overused. Your caution is well heeded.
I found the link to this post on another website via a Share from a writer friend. Nice to see you getting some well-deserved attention here! 🙂
Wow! Thanks, Jim! Love it when a plan comes together 😉
Great insider tip Kimberley
So glad you’ve reminded people not to overdo it.
We all know what some people can be like at times. Once they get a new idea like this in their head, they start adding it to practically every other sentence they write.
Thanks, Kevin! It’s funny, but I’ve even found this to be the case on some popular sites. One to three Tweet-ables should do the trick (depending on the length of your post). Any more than that is just disrupting your ‘flow’.
Excellent post Kimberley, this is something I’ve been meaning to figure out for ages – I just did my first Click to Tweet.
And big thanks to Kevin Carlton (above me) who recommended this post on my website!
Awesome, Kate! (And thanks, Kevin!)
BTW, love your site Kate!
Thanks Kimberley – great idea!
Glad you stopped by, Maranna! And have fun creating your Tweet-ables! 🙂
Wow! Thanks for the tutorial! Pin’d and will be adding a Tweetable Link to my next post! =) Marcy @ day2day SuperMom
Woohoo! Thanks for sharing, Marcy! Have fun with your Tweetables! 🙂
Excellent tip! Thanks for taking the time to make a video tutorial. I’m going to try it out right now.
Susan
Good luck, Susan! 🙂
Super awesome tip! it is exactly what I was looking for when I searched. Now I get to go have fun trying this out! 🙂
Thanks you so much. I PINNED this to my Blogging Tips board on Pinterest!
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
My pleasure, Lorelai! Glad to be of help!
Hi Kimberly,
I just wanted to say thank you for your post. I am taking a class where we have to write a blog and one of our assignments was to add a ‘click to tweet’ in our blog. I had no idea how to do it but thanks to your post, I was able to do it! Your video was great and your written post very helpful.
Thanks again,
Sophia
Awesome, Sophia! Glad I could help you complete your assignment! 🙂
Used to be good. Now it’s terrible. Hey CTT, go back to the old way. Pretty please?
Alex, please see this page for the basic version!
http://clicktotweet.com/basic
Thanks so much for this easy to follow tutorial! I was just saying, “Man … I wish there was a non-technical website or blog that was all about how to be a blogger when you’re an aspiring author”. Ha! Synchronicity.
Got to love how the universe works, hey Mollie? Happy to help! 🙂