Bubbleblog

The question is:

Do links from Twitter accounts contribute to my overall link popularity (or 'PageRank')?

The answer (broadly 'yes, but...') is best presented in three parts:

1. Yes, Google recognises most shortened URLs (such as those provided by bit.ly, tinyURL, etc.)and will reward them as the link to the main URL if the redirection is based on a 301 redirect:

GoogleWebmasterHelp - Are shortened URLs treated differently than other redirects?

Most of the common URL-shorteners use 301 redirects, as this table shows, and there is sufficient awareness of the issue for this to remain the status quo (in that new and even existing providers that expect to compete in the mainstream will need to include this as standard; check out this reaction at an attempt by Digg to change their approach to redirections; 1, 2).

So, the vast majority of shortened links that involve a link to you will be seen and recognised by Google as a link to you, and there is no sign of this changing anytime soon.

2. Yes, Google recognises the popularity of a specific Twitter account, but only according to the link support it receives, not the number of followers it has:

GoogleWebmasterHelp - What are the factors that go into determining the PageRank of a Twitter page?

That said, many people who run popular Twitter accounts will also run (visibly) popular websites and will link prominently to their Twitter account from this. A lot of general follower activity will be visible, too, most commonly links to your account and/or specific tweets that will appear in on-site Twitter feeds.

That's the good news. The bad news is...

3. The 'blogroll' does not exist on Twitter

While Twitter does allow account holders to make specific/exclusive lists of people they enjoy/read, this creates lists that are restricted to Twitter accounts only, and off the front page. There is no capacity for front-page links to preferred external websites beyond the (strictly-limited) bio field(s), which are unlikely to be used for this

If you encounter a Twitter account holder who also runs a weblog, your interaction with that person may eventually manifest itself as a blogroll link, but within the Twitter environment, there is no visible equivalent to this, adding to the transient nature of link support from this neighbourhood:

For users, tweets require less commitment than your average blog entry and you will find it easier to get a link campaign started in a Twitter community than you will in a blog community, but the impact it will have on your link popularity will, typically, be less enduring.

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