We have known for some time now, thanks to Search Engine Land editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan's interview with Google and Bing, that they use Twitter as a ranking factor.

So, if you're wondering how to make a better Twitter profile and influence search-engine rankings, you have to make sure you keep your account in good shape.

Here are seven ways to improve the SEO value of your Twitter account and tweets.

1. Find your target demographic

If you don't target a specific demographic from which you hope to gain followers, your social connections will seem random and unfocused, which harms how your tweets rank when you post about certain subjects.

When you tweet about a subject unrelated to ones you usually post about, those tweets appear lower down on the list of recent tweets, hurting your influence (I rank much better for #SEO than #celebrity, for example).