With each passing day, more and more businesses are jumping onto Twitter.  As more businesses begin using this social media platform, more of the same mistakes are being made.

Twitter is a great place to connect with your consumers and further your garden company's brand.  But, be wary, if you fall into these traps Twitter can harm more than help.

Keep reading to find out if you’re making one of the top 5 Twitter mistakes of 2014; then, we'll help you fix it too.

1. Do You Use Too Many Hashtags?

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Have you ever come across a tweet that has #every #word #hashtagged? 

It’s incredibly hard to read and extraordinarily annoying.

Hashtags are effective, but only when used correctly. If you notice something trending that relates to your business that is the time to incorporate it into your tweet. Also, hashtag keywords that relate to your business, like gardening, flowers, or container gardening will drawn the right kind of attention to your tweet.  

Just don’t turn useless words into hashtags, it will get your tweet noticed but not in a positive way.

2. Do You Post Long Links?

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Sharing links is a great way to engage your readers and share your interests.

You want to use Twitter to share an interesting fact or piece of information that gets followers to click on the link to learn more. If you’re lucky, they might even retweet you.  

Use a link shortening website, such as bitly or ow.ly, to turn that lengthy link into something more manageable. Remember, consistently is important! Find the site you like best, and make sure you and your team use the same shortener each time you tweet.

3. Do You Argue?

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There may come a time when someone doesn’t like your company, a service or something you have tweeted. 

You have to determine if this person has an actual reason for the nasty tweet, or if they're just an internet bully.

If the tweet is warranted, it’s in your best interest to respond in a timely manner and handle the situation rather than delete or ignore it.

However, responding in an equally unpleasant way will make you look bad. Instead, when you respond, make sure you're listening and trying to get to the root of the problem. Then, solve the situation to keep them happy.

4. Do You Spam Followers?

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Remember that each social media platform is different.  

The end result of Twitter is not to send every single follower over to your website to buy your product.  Don’t constantly remind them that you have products for sale or you risk having the unfollow button clicked. 

Twitter allows you to interact and engage with your customers, to create an online presence and to humanize your brand.  Tweeting about a new product or a sale is fine, but focus on sharing other things that will interest your customers as well.

5. Do You Link Your Website?

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You don’t want to spam your followers, but you want to make sure they know where to go if they do want to make a purchase.  

More than 80 percent of business Twitter profiles don’t have a link anywhere to their website or store.  This is a mistake that you simply cannot afford to make. Edit your profile by logging into your account and viewing your own profile.

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