TweetDeck is the undisputed “king” of the various Twitter client programs that are currently available. But there are several reasons why it needs replacing. The program has outlived its usefulness and when compared with HootSuite it simply does not stack up.

TweetDeck is low on features
Take a look at TweetDeck and it has plenty of useful features, far more than you can find on Twitter itself. There is little doubt that TweetDeck is helpful and makes Tweeting so much easier. However, it lacks some features which mean that you either need additional software or you need to do things in a rather cumbersome way. With HootSuite, the feature set is much deeper and broader, providing you with a host of additional capabilities that TweetDeck users simply dream about.

Here are five reasons why you should give up TweetDeck.

1. TweetDeck cannot tell you how good you are at Tweeting
With TweetDeck you can send Tweets to your heart’s content; but you’ll never be able to find out whether or not they were valuable. Yes, you can see the Re-Tweets, but do you know how many people clicked on any links, or which countries they came from? Furthermore, do you know who referred them to your Tweets in the first place? Such information is useful as it helps you ensure your Tweeting is going in the right direction. Luckily, HootSuite gives you all of this statistical data – and more – for every one of your Tweets.

2. TweetDeck cannot help you with your blog
With TweetDeck you are limited to posting short items to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn. But what if you want to use the same material and publish it on a blog? You have to leave TweetDeck and go to another program. With HootSuite, however, you can also add your WordPress account details, allowing you to exchange information between all your social media accounts with ease. Plus, HootSuite allows you to add your Ping.fm account, meaning you can write something on HootSuite and send it to dozens of different services. You can’t do that with TweetDeck. Neither can you add Facebook pages with TweetDeck (only Facebook profiles). In other words, HootSuite wins in terms of connectivity.

3. TweetDeck needs you to use your own equipment
TweetDeck is a brilliant client program because it is virtually identical on Windows, on a Mac, on a Linux machine or on an iPhone. Plus you can sync these various devices allowing you to have the same look and feel no matter which machine you use. But try using TweetDeck in an Internet Cafe. Try using TweetDeck at your friends house and neither of you have an iPhone. HootSuite can be accessed anywhere you have a web browser. Whether you are on your own laptop or a public computer, such as in an Internet Cafe, or using your mate’s Blackberry, HootSuite is the same, every time.

4. TweetDeck is too wide for easy use
With TweetDeck you are limited to a single row of columns. Sure you can handily separate your Twitter lists and put in a column for a regular search. But unless you have a big screen and you like scrolling left to right, TweetDeck is cumbersome. Not so with HootSuite which allows multiple tabs and columns. You can set up tabs for searches, separately to tabs for accounts, or have Facebook tabs only, or one tab for each Twitter account – allowing the easy update of multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, LinkedIn or Ping.fm – all at the same time.

5. TweetDeck cannot automate Tweets
With TweetDeck you have to be there. You write a Tweet and send it. But what if you want to send a series of Tweets and you don’t want them all to arrive consecutively. You need a “timer”; yes, there are applications online that do that, but with HootSuite it’s all in one place. You can timetable Tweets easily. Plus you can add RSS feeds so that your latest blog post gets automatically Tweeted for instance. Try doing that with TweetDeck.

So, with HootSuite you can:

• Tweet from anywhere because it is a web application (there is also an iPhone app)
• Automate your Tweets using RSS feeds
• Timetable Tweets for future submission
• Send Tweets to dozens of services by linking with Ping.fm
• See how good your Tweeting activity really is by analysing statistics
• Conveniently see everything with multiple tabs and columns

TweetDeck is undoubtedly a good application. But HootSuite is so much better.