Gaining a bit of status online can be a good thing for your business, and social media sites like Twitter make the process pretty simple. Unfortunately, a lot of people try to take shortcuts — they follow spam accounts or even buy Twitter followers. But there are steps you can take to create a legitimate following on Twitter without having to find loopholes in the system.

One of the first misconceptions about Twitter followers is that it is all about the numbers. Numbers do count, but only if they are qualified. As with most other things, it’s quality over quantity. By focusing on growing your Twitter popularity organically, you can create a community of followers that enhances your brand instead of weighing it down.

Turn Negative Situations into Positive Ones: If someone makes a comment about your company or brand on Twitter, you owe it to them to respond quickly. By doing so, you’ll get a reputation for being a responsive, engaged Twitter user. That, over the course of time, will help you grow a loyal following.

In the example below, Pizza Hut was quick to acknowledge the comment from @AskJamieTurner and even solicited additional feedback. Studies have shown that when a brand responds quickly to a customer complaint, the net result can have a positive impact on their brand.
Use Tools Like Click-to-Tweet to Increase Engagement: When you make things easy for your Twitter followers, you increase the likelihood that they’ll follow you back. One tool used on the 60 Second Marketer is Click-to-Tweet, which makes it one-click-simple for followers to share your content. Want to give it a try? Click here.

Share in a Caring Way: One of the most basic and simple steps you can take in building a Twitter following is to share with a caring attitude. In other words, instead of just adding tweets to build up the number you’ve posted, add tweets that count. Provide real value to your followers. You can provide links to blog posts or mobile-optimized landing pages, share insider tips about your brand, and even interact directly with your followers. The point is adding good content really does make a difference in the way your current and potential followers view your brand.

Know Your Target Audience: To figure out who your target audience is on Twitter, just look at your existing customers. Chances are, that demographic is represented on Twitter. By marketing to those interested in your niche, you add on to that “quality over quantity” mentality and connect with people actually interested in doing business with you.

Follow Other Users: Let’s be clear about one thing — a successful Twitter presence is not determined by the number of followers you have. That said, you should be following influential and interesting people. Chances are that they will follow you back and eventually share some of your content with their followers. (Speaking of which, are you following @AskJamieTurner?)

Add Twitter Links: The easier it is for people to click and follow, the more likely it is they will do it. With that in mind, it is a good idea to add Twitter “Follow Me” links on your blogs and websites. These can be placed near the top and bottom of pages and at the beginning and end of posts. There are also widgets made exclusively for sidebars. You can even include “Click to Tweet” options in your posts to optimize convenience even more.

Use Hashtags Sparingly: Hashtags are like exclamation points. If you put them at the end of every sentence, they suddenly become meaningless. However, when a writer uses an occasional exclamation point in an article, the readers take notice.

Hashtags are a great way to create connections on Twitter and other social media sites, but less really is more, especially with a strict character limit like the one you’ll find on Twitter.

Quality over Quantity: The bottom line is, Twitter is here to stay, and for those willing to put in a little effort, growing a Twitter following really isn’t that hard. Share quality content and engage with people that you enjoy interacting with. After all, social networking is supposed to be fun, right? The advice is simple but effective — quality trumps quantity every time.

The tips above are just some of the ways you can get real, live human beings to follow you back on Twitter. What are some of your tips and techniques? Let us know about them in the comments section below.

Debbie Allen is a blogger, professional content writer, and Internet marketer who likes to write about topics related to online marketing strategies, small business management, and anything related to reputation management, including Intelius removal. Debbie also writes content about self-development and lifestyle issues.