How to Personalize Your Twitter Profile

You can personalize your Twitter page a number of different ways. Twitter provides a selection of backgrounds and colors, hundreds of websites online offer thousands of different backgrounds , or you can make your own Twitter background or color theme.

Personalize Your Twitter Page with Twitter:

First login into your Twitter account and click on the 'Settings' link at the top of your page. Next click on the 'Design' tab. Here you can pick a Twitter profile theme by clicking on 'Select a theme'. Make sure you click 'save changes'. All of your Twitter profile colors such as text, links, and borders will be coordinated to the theme you pick.

This is also where you will upload your new Twitter background if you downloaded one from another site, have one created for you or create your own. Rather than selecting a Twitter theme click 'Change background image' under the Twitter supplied themes. Click 'Browse..', locate the image on your computer and click 'save changes'.

You can also click 'Change design colors' link where you have the options of changing background, text, links, sidebar, and sidebar border colors.

Pros & Cons:
Pros - This method of personalizing your Twitter profile is the quickest and easiest method.
Cons - Thousands of other people are using the same method.

Personalize Your Twitter Page with Other Sites:

Do a search on Google, Yahoo or any other search engine for 'Twitter backgrounds' and your results will be phenomenal. There are two forms of Twitter background sites.

The first type of Twitter background sites allow you to browse their collection of backgrounds. Once you find a background you like you will save it to your computer (right click save as or click to download). Each site will provide instructions how to save your Twitter background.

The second type of Twitter background site is similar to the first site. You browse their collection of backgrounds or themes and select the one you like. The difference with the second type is they are going to ask for access to your Twitter account. This means giving them your Twitter ID and sometimes password. They will then provide your new Twitter profile background or theme through their site.

Pros - You have a wider selection of backgrounds.
Cons - Downloading files to your computer create virus dangers, giving out your password and if their site goes down so does your Twitter background.

Personalize Your Twitter Profile with Your Original Backgrounds:

If you are not familiar with creating web graphics and do not have a good graphics program this can be difficult and complicated. This method however is the best and only way to be sure your Twitter background and profile page are unique and completely you.

You might use a favorite graphic or photograph for your left panel and color coordinate your profile colors to match. A graphic 250 X 700 pixels works great for Twitter backgrounds. You can also add your brand or web site address to this graphic making it exclusively yours - no one else is going to want to 'steal' it.

Once you have your graphic follow the previously mentioned directions to upload the background to Twitter and adjust your color theme to match. If you do not feel you can create your own background there are people more than willing to create one for you. This will involve a fee but the background will be yours to keep forever and to do with as you wish.

Pros - This is the only method to have your Twitter profile be 100% unique.
Cons - Is the most complicated or costly way to personalize your Twitter profile.

Note from the Author: As well as being an author I am also an amateur photographer and graphics designer. I use Paint Shop Pro to create my graphics including my Twitter backgrounds. Yes, plural! I suffer from adult ADD and change my Twitter background regularly. My Twitter backgrounds are created using photographs I have taken and include my personal web site address www.byfaithonly.com You can visit me @byfaithonly on Twitter to see what my background is today or follow me to keep up with my background changes.