New Twitter profiles are coming soon

So Social

Bigger.

Bolder.

And it looks much more like Facebook.

Twitter's new profile pages at http://ift.tt/1eWwi4k] are being rolled out across the platform, and if you haven't gotten yours yet, it will happen soon. But make no mistake: This isn't like any Twitter profile you've seen.

When it's your turn, there's no reason not to be ready. It's nothing difficult - it just requires a little bit of thought and advance planning. Here's what you need to know to make the transition smooth and seamless. (Remember that the specific sizes are limited to the desktop version of twitter.com.)

The background photo is much bigger and more prominent. Now there's a background image with your profile photo centered inside near the top. Your Twitter bio is superimposed on top of the background image near the bottom. In the new era, there is no text on the background image, and the profile photo is separated. Most importantly, the background photo is more horizontal and shallow. Twitter recommends a size of 1,500 pixels by 500 pixels, although the image will be automatically resized to fit. But if you want total control over exactly what you see, use Photoshop or your favorite image editing program to create a 1,500x500 px image.

Make sure your profile photo is big enough. Twitter recommends a size of 400x400 pixels, so it's still square. Again, the image will be automatically resized to fit, but if you want to ensure you don't end up with a close-up of your nose, edit your photo to 400x400 px ahead of time. It's important to note that the size of the previous profile photo was smaller, so it may look less than optimal/professional to just use the current one and let it fill the space.

There are pinned tweets. Is there a particular tweet you are proud of and want people to see when they view your profile? The new setup lets you pin a tweet at the top. It's kind of like favoriting your own tweet and putting it on display. I think this is a great idea, but I worry there's a risk of it becoming too stagnant too fast. If you forget to change it, you could end up with a 6-month-old tweet in the spotlight.

Perhaps Twitter will add some sort of scheduler to its site as it has with Tweetdeck. A scheduler would allow for reminders or automated changes. It's too early to tell if this will be a problem, but it's something to be aware of and worth setting up your own reminder to keep your content fresh.

Remember your bio is still important - and you get 160 characters. That's not a typo. For whatever reason, Twitter bios max out at 160 characters versus the traditional 140. So while you have 20 more characters to sell yourself, always remember that for the best search engine optimization, frontload your bio with keywords. So instead of 'Hi. I am the Social Media Editor at the Chicago Tribune,' I use 'Chicago Tribune Social Media Editor.'

Your best tweets will be noticed. Tweets that are popular will appear bigger. So retweets matter more than ever. Engage your audience and you'll be rewarded in a big way.

New account means new look. If you decide after reading this column that now is the time for you to finally sign up for Twitter, you'll get the new look. And if you do that, make sure to tweet me so I can tweet you and help you make that tweet big for all to see. See how that works?

Armed with this information, you should be all set to make the most of your new Twitter profile. Once you get yours, let me know what you think.

What questions do you have about social media? Tweet them to @scottkleinberg. He might select yours for use in a future column.