There was a time when Twitter wasn't a popular form of social media. Quite a few people would have had a Twitter account prior to it being popular, and perhaps never used it. Its popularity these days as a form of social media has seen more users than ever before jump on the Twitter bandwagon.
Twitter is excellent because it allows you to give short and sharp pieces of information to potential customers. In this day and age, when our attention spans are extremely short when it comes to looking at things on the Internet, Twitter is perfect, and whether you are new to Twitter or a seasoned pro, there are plenty of benefits to be had for your business.
Tweets are a form of linking, and linking can still affect your SEO campaign. While your account might be new and you manage to get a link from a site that has authority on Google, this will start to see an increase in your Twitter Profile's popularity. If more people start to re-tweet your updates, this will help your site be seen as an authority on a topic, and help to build authority around your site and potentially increase its rankings on Google's eyes.
Note: All links on Twitter are nofollowed.
Offer quality, not quantity when it comes to Tweets
With only a small number of characters available to you per tweet, it's important to think about what you want to get across, and to include all information necessary. Again, short and sharp pieces of information are recommended, and these will remain in your customer's mind, keep them curious, and wanting more.
Keep your Twitter account updated frequently
People like to see something new on a site. If there hasn't been a tweet for a month, then potential customers could just assume that you are not open anymore, or that you don’t do business anymore and they will stop following or visiting your Twitter account. To overcome this and keep visitors coming back, make sure you have an interesting page that is constantly updated, as visitors will want to find out what will be on your page next.
Re-tweet someone else's tweet
This is an excellent opportunity to gain rankings by interacting with others on Twitter. By showing you are active in the Twitter-verse, it will be easy to build brand awareness, and the interaction shows that you are not just using Twitter for SEO benefit, but that you are genuinely interested in someone else's business or interests.
Ultimately, Twitter is beneficial to SEO because it can bring potential customers to your site, and is an opportunity that should be taken advantage of as much as possible.