Customizing Your Twitter Background

Twitter has taken over social networking and has become the mainstream tool of choice for millions to stay in touch with their friends, family and their business audience.  While it’s simple to use, one of the limitations is a user’s ability to personalize their profile.  You’re able to upload a picture, offer a website link and a brief bio.

Beyond that, the only other possibility for personalization is the ability to customize your Twitter Background.  Because differentiation and branding is so important with social networking, let’s take a look at the steps to set yourself apart from your competition with a customized background.

Step One – Using the Twitter Templates.  If you don’t have a Twitter account, visit Twitter.com and register.  If you already have an account with Twitter, your first step will be to click on the ‘settings’ tab at the top of your screen.  Once there, you’ll see you have several options.  Design is one of them.  Click on that tab and you can choose from Theme, Background Image, and Colors.  Twitter offers you several options and you can upload a background image if you have one in mind.

Step Two – Utilize secondary software to create your Twitter Background.  Enter “Custom Twitter Background” into your search engine and you’ll see developers have been busy.  There are several options for customizing your Twitter background and many of them are free.  One of the more popular options is TwitBacks.com.

Visit Twitbacks and register. You’ll need to provide your Twitter account name and password.  Once you’ve registered you’ll be taken to the wizard, which helps you create your background.  It asks for much of the same information you Twitter profile asks however you’re also able to upload a logo, and several other links which is helpful if you have many business websites.  You can also choose from a Twitback template or create your own by uploading your own graphics and editing the colors.

Another popular free tool is Twitterdesigner.com. This tool enables users to choose from a theme or start from scratch where you can upload photos and graphics, modify colors, choose from fonts and add text.  You’re then instructed to “save image”. Your next step is to log into Twitter, get into your settings and design tab to change your background image.  You’ll be uploading the image you just created and saved.  You’ll then change your colors and Twitterdesigner.com will give you the relevant color codes to match your design.  That’s it!

Step Three – Outsource the job to a graphic designer.  Many graphic designers who specialize in web content are now offering custom Twitter backgrounds.  This is an easy way to achieve the professional look you want without all the legwork on your end. The cost varies depending on the designer however it can be accomplished for as little as $20.  Designers can be found online, via freelance websites or you can browse for backgrounds you like on Twitter and send the owner a direct message asking who did their background.

Custom Twitter backgrounds give you the power to present a strong first impression.  It sets you apart from your competition, gives people a good idea of who you are and what you’re about and definitely drives traffic to your website.  That’s what social networking is all about!