If you’re new to Twitter or haven’t been growing your number of followers as quickly as you’d like, you may be making some common Twitter mistakes that are easily remedied.

1. You don’t have a profile/header photo, or the one you have is outdated. Some don’t realize that there are three photos associated with your account–a profile photo, background photo, and a header photo. Click on “edit profile” and make sure you have current photos or logos for all of them.

2. Your profile description is not SEO friendly. The search engines will grab your profile when looking through your site; make sure you include hashtags on words you want emphasized, such as #pizza, #pizzeria and the @ symbol before the name of your pizzeria so that people can find you more easily.

3. You haven’t shared any photos or videos in a while. When you’re on the home page of your account, there’s a section to the left that shows photos and videos that you’ve shared. How old is the last one you’ve shared? If it’s been a while, start sharing some pics and videos of new menu items and/or event videos by including them in your tweets.

4. You’re including full URLs when you tweet. If you want visitors to share your tweets, leave them some room for personalizing by shortening your URLs with a service such as tinyurl.com. It’s free and easy to use. Some social media dashboards, such as HootSuite, shorten the URL for you.

5. The bulk of your tweets are self centered. It’s great to tell customers about your specials and what’s going on at the pizzeria, but remember to mix in other helpful tips and news not related to you or the pizzeria. Your readers will enjoy going to you as a source of information.

How did you fare with the list? Are you mistake free? Let us know how you build your engagement in the comments below.