Even if you weren’t affected by the recent changes in Twitter, it never hurts to have even more Twitter followers. The more people following you, the easier it is to promote your product or services. Here are 10 clean methods to boost your number of followers:

1. Post regularly

If you are only active from time to time on Twitter, no one will bother following you. People check your latest updates when deciding whether or not to follow, so make sure there is something recent for them to look at.

2. Follow back.

When someone follows you, make sure you follow them back (provided they are worth following, of course). This will help you keep them, otherwise many people will drop those who don’t follow them back.

3. Use keywords in your tweets.

This is very important now that there are so many Twitter search engines available. People are looking for specific things in those they follow, so make sure you tweet using your keywords so they can find you. It’s fine to use multiple keywords. These should also be included in your profile.

4. Follow new people.

A lot of Twitterers are using the second guideline here . . . so between 25-50% of people you follow will end up following you back. You can simply unfollow anyone who doesn’t. Again, finding those who are relevant is best, or you will end up with a lot of spam.

5. Interact with people.

If you send an @ message to someone who isn’t following you, they are likely going to check out your profile and that could well lead to them following you. Also, people are more likely to follow you if you are obviously interacting with others, they like to see someone friendly online and that can work in your favor.

6. Start chatting.

If you are on Twitter regularly, you’ve likely seen the hashtags following some tweets, like #fun. These mark chats with people who have similar interests. Some are ongoing, others are specific to a time and date. Either way, they can help you meet new people on Twitter who share your interests. Chances are, many of the people in the chat will start to follow you if you are actively participating.

7. Hold contests.

Who doesn’t love a contest? You can easily set up a drawing to giveaway one of your products or a service, drawing from the names of your followers. Be sure to promote it ahead of time and you will find that others retweet the contest for you, resulting in even more followers.

8. Thank new followers.

By linking to your newest followers in your tweets, with a quick thank you note, you’ll find that more people join the ranks of followers. They appreciate the extra publicity and will be happy to follow.

9. Publicize your Twitter ID.

How are people going to follow you on Twitter if they don’t know your ID? Make sure you have it everywhere, in forum signatures, email, on your blog and anywhere else you might run into followers.

10. Follow important people.

It’s not uncommon for others to take a look at who is interested in someone very popular and start following them. Take the time to comment on the VIP’s updates and you might be lucky enough to have them reply to you, boosting your value in the eyes of everyone following them.