I’ve been there when I had just a few hundred Twitter followers, but also now that I have more than 42,000 Twitter followers . If I don’t follow this process, I’ll probably end up getting about 30 to 50 retweets and likes. Which is decent, but every once in awhile, I want to go that extra mile and get myself 500+ Retweets, for free. That’s when I follow this exact step by step guide.

Have you ever clicked the ‘Tweet’ button and refreshed the page several times, just to see a handful of likes and retweets to your post?

Here are a few examples of my tweets with high engagement

Why I love to build these Tweets

I’m not building these tweets just because it looks impressive. I’ve noticed that having one Tweet with a huge amount of retweets results in a snowball effect. People who see a Tweet with a few hundred retweets and likes are more likely to interact with it, it gets the attention of highly influential people and these tweets have often been added to curated lists like paper.ly.

Step by Step guide to getting 500+ shares on Twitter without using Twitter ads

1. Write content people will love

Obviously, the better the content, the more people will love to share it. What I often see is that content marketers and bloggers write about what they THINK other people will like. If you like to gamble, go ahead. If you like to increase your chances that people will love your content, I suggest taking a few minutes and doing research.

How to find interesting topics in your niche and write killer content

This topic is way too broad to discuss in this post. I’ll give you a few quick examples. If you like more info, check out Brian Dean’s Skyscraper technique or Neil Patel’s advanced guide to Content Marketing.

Ok, so the easiest way to finding out what people in your niche like to read is to head over to Buzzsumo and type in any keyword. Buzzsumo will then show you which articles received the highest amount of shares.

Second, go to Google and type in the same keywords. See what kind of content pops up and analyze it.

Then, head over to communities in your industry, type in the same keywords and see what people talk about or even better, are struggling with. Examples of such communities are Reddit and Quora, but you should also check in your niche, like for example Bodybuilding.com if you’re in the bodybuilding and fitness industry, AllRecipes.com if you have a cooking blog and so on.

I hope you’ll have a good picture of what your audience loves to read at this point and you can start writing that epic content. If you need more info about writing great content. Check out the resources I provided earlier or ask me a question in the comment section.

2. Use the right headlines to attract attention

Your headline is your attention grabbers, your first impression, your all or nothing. Make sure you nail this on. I’ll give you some examples of headlines that work well and I’ll link to a great resource page for more inspiration, and to read the psychology behind well-written headlines.

Examples of well-written headlines

9 Things No One Tells You About Blogging. One of Them Really Sucks.

21 Breathtaking Free Stock Photo Sites. The Last One Blew me Away.

A Shocking Thing 71% of Marketers Fail to do On Their Blog.

How to Solve the Biggest Problems with Online Marketing Tools.

The Only Way to Increase your Twitter Following Without Spamming.

If you’re new to this. Please make sure to read the free e-book “How to Write Magnetic Headlines” by Copyblogger or ask me anything related to this topic in the comment section.

3. Use the right hashtags for optimal reach

I’ve noticed a big difference in the amount of engagement and views of a Tweet when using different hashtags. For example, every time I add the hashtag ‘Growth Hacking’, I get a huge amount of engagement and reach. Probably because Growth Hackers automate their Twitter accounts.

Another example, did you know that the hashtag “Digital Marketing” performs a lot better than “Online Marketing”? They seem the same, but there is actually a huge difference.

Luckily, you can look up the popularity of the Hashtags with tools like Hashtagafy.me and RiteTag. Here are a few Hashtags that perform well in the Digital Marketing space. I made this picture to illustrate the vast difference and importance of using the right hashtags. The stats are per hour, source RiteTag.com.