In case you haven’t signed out of Twitter recently, they have a new front page!
From now on, those who are new to Twitter will be seeing this…
…instead of this…
On a Search Engine Optimization perspective, this new front page is not consistent with the rest of Twitter. However, it’s good that the logo with the word “Twitter” wasn’t changed. More good points are:
1. Twitter’s Sales copy which is now
“Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world”
is more compelling in terms of how Twitter wants to let its new discoverers-to-be and even for us regular users to know what role Twitter is playing right now on the Internet and on our social planet. This is clearly a departure from being just another social network and wanting to get those who’ve been staying out of Twitter to finally decide to join.
Defining a “tweet” for the uninitiated and explaining how to create an account doesn’t resonate with everyone. “Why would I want to do that?” is a common reaction. However, demonstrating the power of Twitter as a discovery engine for what is happening right now through our Search and Trends often awakens a sense of wonder which inevitably leads to a much more compelling question, “How do I get involved?”
2. The placement of the Twitter search box is now where you can see it immediately as opposed to being offered only when you have finished registering. That is a great move, showing anyone right away the power of a Twitter search, a big factor for converting people who remain skeptical with Twitter’s usefulness for every social or non-social online individual especially now considering Twitter’s huge market share of Internet users.
3. Twitter’s trend topics, i.e those subjects or personalities being talked about the most in realtime, which are displayed below the search box to easily show and invite prospected users to test drive Twitter. It is also a good way to show how Twitter is also relevant to important world news and current events.
I do believe Twitter tested these changes before deciding to launch the new front page. As to how they know the effectiveness and the success that it will bring about remains to be seen. I just want to wish them good luck. Meanwhile, I’ll keep wondering why they’ve used colors that are inconsistent with the rest of their pages.
