Twitter recently introduced a new tool, and it’s called Twitter Cards. Twitter Cards attach a kind of signature to each of the tweets that come from your blog, making them more attractive, more clickable, and including more information on them (whether you send the tweet, or someone else does).
Here’s a before and after:
You can read an overview of what Twitter Cards are, and how they work on Twitter’s developer page here. Additionally, here is a list of the different kinds of Twitter Cards you can access:
- Summary Card: Default Card, including a title, description, thumbnail, and Twitter account attribution.
- Summary Card with Large Image: Similar to a Summary Card, but with a prominently featured image.
- Photo Card: A Card with a photo only.
- Gallery Card: A Card highlighting a collection of four photos.
- App Card: A Card to detail a mobile app with direct download.
- Player Card: A Card to provide video/audio/media.
- Product Card: A Card optimized for product information.
I’ve created a video tutorial for you to learn how to install Twitter Cards on your blog/Twitter feed, using the SEO By Yoast Plugin. Please note, this plugin only gives you access to two kinds of Twitter Cards: the Summary Card or the Summary Card with Large Image. If you want to use one of the other ones, you’ll have to code your own!
After you’ve gone through this process, you’ll need to validate your new card.
Do this by clicking on the hyperlink in the plugin. I had a lot of trouble with this step, until I signed out of Twitter, then clicked on the hyperlink, signed into twitter, and then I was able to validate my Twitter Card. I also think you can only validate one card per Twitter account, as I have been trying to install them on one of my other blogs, to no avail.
Have any of you installed this feature yet? And have you seen an uptick in your Twitter traffic as a result? Let me know in the comments below.