The Christmas/New Year break was, in hindsight, not the best time to organize this competition… but never mind! The prizes are still awesome, and the quality of submissions has been really excellent. So we’re into Phase Two (no more submissions will now be accepted) and Guy Kawasaki will receive the list of ten finalists shortly.
In about a week we will announce both the ten finalists as well as the winner. All ten finalists will receive a FREE license of the incredible Market Samurai. Now, if you’ve never heard about this great piece of software you’ve got some catching up to do. It’s hands down the best keyword reseach tool out there and the handiwork of Eugene Ware, Brent Hodgson and team.
If you don’t know much about SEO or keyword research in particular, why not grab a coffee and check out this pretty in-depth chat I recently had with Eugene and Brent, in front of the latest release of Market Samurai… you’ll be blown away by what this program can do.
It normally retails for about USD$150 but our top ten finalists will each receive a fully licensed copy for FREE! A big thank you to the guys at Noble Samurai for their generous gifts.
For the winner — chosen by Guy Kawasaki against criteria of originality, creativity and wow factor — my company, Australis Media, is giving away one year’s free business-grade hosting on the same power-packed server infrastructure that hosts my own blog. This hosting package includes unlimited emails, subdomains and MySQL databases and all the bells and whistles you’d expect. It’s valued at about USD$250.
Finally, here just 30 of the impressive submissions we received…
Between now and when the finalists and winner are announced, I’d love you to drop a comment below and tell us which one of the above is your favourite, and why. Of course, If you find another Twitter page which you think is a stellar performer, you can link to that one too 
(Note: I am aware that the Problogger Twitter page and a number of others were created by a professional design company that specializes in this kind of thing, but since I didn’t specifically ban “commercially created” entries, I feel they need to be included on merit as much as any other entrant. Sorry if you disagree.)
27 Comments
you were wondering... I believe in rewarding commenters!
Perhaps such a thing exists and I just haven’t stumbled across it yet, but I’d sure love to see some kind of tutorial on making Twitter backgrounds that fit as flawlessly as some of these. For example, I’d like to know what’s the optimal image size (in pixels) and the coordinates for where to place elements so that they’ll perfectly flank the main post area.
I’m really impressed with the way the iDesignStudios, PawLogic, & Problogger backgrounds fit in & around the page elements.
Look Ma, I’m famous! Thanks for the include nuzunet here.
@ rob o. It’s pretty easy to design your background. I started with a resolution of 1600/1200 bigger than most standard screen sizes. As I designed I was careful to consider the dynamic width of the left “column” of space next to the twitter content. On a smaller screen you will see less of the left side of the image. I tried to make mine look good all the way down to 1024/768 – most laptop screens native resolution. I did this with my other user kicksnet also: http://twitter.com/kicksnet
http://nuzu.net
http://kicksnet.com
I think Rob O. nailed the top of mind question I had while scrolling through the designs…Is there and design guidelines available to help with sizing?
I would imagine a graphics pro can figure it out – but if someone could point to a tutorial or some basic guidelines – maybe someone with a lesser skill set could still put their vision out there in a way that could legitimately compete with the pros…
I was just checking your site to see the status of the contest – and now I know! Thanks for the update!
Just curious – how do you know which backgrounds were professionally designed?
PS – I’m the former @fearlessblogger – now @faryl!
Rob, have you seen this article about twitter backgrounds, it’s very helpful when it comes to designing background: http://www.twitip.com/custom-twitter-backgrounds-tips-for-better-readability/
the Beeston one is the best in my opinion because it gets the reader to focus in on the text, while the images give off a good feel of … richness, quality, mystery (for lack of better descriptive adjectives.
great site contest..
Hey Alister We are always up to the challenge as small business owners we needed to raise the banner of greatness if it be challenged by professional or amateur all is creativity in the eye of the creator and is worth equal merit!
I like the freshjendizzle entry – two reasons.
First, it’s clearly a statement of her personality and attitude.
Second, the information (business card) is small enough to be above the fold and fit within even the smallest resolution.
Shame I didn’t know about the contest earlier. I had lots of fun with mine – http://twitter.com/crystalsquest
Hi, great video, I hadn’t considered how Market Samurai would help elevate the common blog to a whole new level…hmmm where to start? This new tool is a great way to boost your chances on how to make money and meet lots of new and interesting people.
Thanks for the tips guys and keep up the good work.
Wendy
This comment was originally posted on http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog)”>Noble Samurai
nice one dudes! This is just what I needed to clear out the cobwebs & get me focused for my new blogging tactic. MS rocks …and don’t worry about exposing those $$ – like you guys say yourselves (in the video) “there are no guarantees in SEO” – kinda sobering, eh!
HEY! Anyone still wanting to get with the program, but was too afraid to start – just MarketSamurai the killer phrase I just invented above – “WHY there are no guarantees in SEO” – and go do the walk
This comment was originally posted on http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog)”>Noble Samurai
Great series of video training!
Those “loose lips” helped me focus on exactly how to ramp up my niche
strategies…
Once again, you gents have proved that in the Noble Samurai dojo,
Market Samurai is Supreme Ninja Master.
Arrigato, Sensei!
This comment was originally posted on http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog)”>Noble Samurai
These are the nice twitter templates. It looks like a nice clean theme that I plan on using on one of my sites. I appreciate you
sharing.
The thing that’s most frustrating is how unpredictable the sizing and layout can be according to various browser settings, (toolbars, etc.) and especially screen resolutions. You can design a gorgeous design with some great info laid out just so to perfectly flank the Twitter boxes, but on anyone else’s PC, half the text might get stomped on or most of the right-hand portion of the design may be off-screen altogether.
Seems about all you can feel truly confident about is whatever you’ve positioned in the first 1″ or so on the left-hand side of the screen.
thanks, i love seeing my twiter background here! @freshjendizzle
Thank you, Alister, for interesting article with good samples. After it I’ve changed my mind regarding Twitter and now goin’ to register there.
of Colorful Profiles from the Twittersphere (+ Things to Consider When Choosing a Color Theme)Twitter homepage design competition closes. Grea
Mine should be up there…to bad i missed the submission date. Check it out though, please http://twitter.com/tylerschaefer have it look at it. im sure you’ll like it
Twitter homepage design competition closes. More prizes. Great examples! – http://tinyurl.com/7k5hh6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
ChrisSylvesters Twitter profile is the most creative and thoughtful design layout.
sandy
Twitter homepage design competition closes. More prizes. Great examples! http://tinyurl.com/7k5hh6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Great post. Always like seeing different Twitter backgrounds and how they continue to grow and become creative in all different ways.
its great. Thanks
Interesting … the way I got to this site. It was a link advertising “how to get more blog traffic with MS”. And here is what it really is
.
On the other hand … nice templates .
Nice designs. Many people doesn’t design their twitter account. I think is necessary a good design.
This is great. Some of the best catchy designs for thier own twitter accounts. Good Job Done
Some great examples here. A good twitter background can sometimes determine whether someone will follow you or not.
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