6 SEO Tips For Images To Get Extra Traffic from Search Engines

Today there are thousands of webmasters and blogger who are struggling to get more and more traffic on their website. Most of the bloggers optimize their website content. They research well before writing a keyword rich content. So, that they can get better search engine ranking. But they don’t pay any attention to seo for images. I want to tell all those blogger and webmasters who are not using images with content that Google image search even yahoo and bing image search is widely used by normal internet surfers to graphic designers for finding reference photos, images and icons.

Benefits of Using Images

1.  Images give additional traffic to your website.
2. You can easily get top position in Google image search.
3.  An image makes your blog post attractive and catches the reader’s attention thus he stay more on your website.
Before uploading the images you must optimize images with your targeted keywords because search engine bots can’t see images. Your image will be useless if it is not tagged
Below are some seo tips for images which you must follow to get top position in image search.

SEO tips for images

1. Well Explained Image name

Before uploading the images rename them. Never name your images as 123.jpg or Images(01).jpg. Instead describe your targeted keywords within image name. The images I have uploaded with this article are named as “seo tips for images” and “how to optimize images”. You can see that I have covered my keywords within image name. Don’t add full phrases in image name. Keep the words limit to 4.

2. Add proper alt tag and title tag

Alt and title are the HTML attribute of image tag which gives information of the image to search engine bots. So that they can place the image in right place. Add descriptive text in your alt tag. Keep the length short and to the point

3. Image size

This is a very important factor while using images you must take care about the size of the image because it will surely affect the load time of your website thus provide a bad user experience. SO, use an average size of image with article.

4. Use relevant images

You must keep relevancy between images and text. Because a tech blog is different than a celebrity blog. Don’t Spam the web with useless pictures. Also it is not good for the reputation of one’s website. One or two relevant images are enough with an article.

5. Give Image Credits

Always give credit to the hard work of designer or owner of the image. Because if the owner claims of his image in the future and he wants you to remove that image and that image is on a good position in image search then it will be a great loss.
You may be thinking of that how he (owner) will find out that you are using his images without his permission. I want to tell you that he can find his image by Reverse image search with Google you can read more about it here
if you neither want to take permission nor give credit to anyone than I will suggest you to use free stock images. Free stock images don’t have any copyright restriction

6- Add Simple Description

Keep Description short in alt and title tags. Don’t stuff these tags with keywords. Two to three keywords are best and will serve the purpose.
Conclusion
These are some simple, practical and effective tips for image optimization which can definitely increase your both website traffic and ranking
What’s next?
Liked these tips? then stay tuned. In my upcoming article I will reveal some untold image optimizing tips specially for photo bloggers.
via tipsotricks

The Biggest Thing in Local Search Since the Upside-down Tear Drop

Using Schema.org and Micro Data to Boost You Google Places Rankings

One of the most underutilized secrets in the world of local SEO is the influence of micro-data and schema.org encoding on Google Places rankings. If you don’t work in SEO you are thinking to yourself, huh? What the heck is this kid talking about? Fair enough – let’s start from the most logical place; the beginning.

Local SEO; what is it?

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a Google Places listing so that it appears at the top of Google’s results pages for keyword queries with local intent. For instance, if you live in Colorado Springs and you want to find a local roofer, you would search ‘Colorado Springs Roofer’, or something similar. If you own a roofing business in Colorado Springs, you would want your company’s Google Places listing to be displayed on the first page for these queries, for obvious reasons.
So, how is this type of optimization accomplished? What indicators does Google use to determine what listings should be ranked the highest on the page? The primary and most important indicator is the number of instances of the businesses NAP (name, address, and phone number) appearing across the web. The simple term for this is a citation. Google’s web crawlers like to see many citations for a given business as an indicator that the business is well established and popular.

How Micro Data and Schema.org encoding Communicate With Google’s Crawlers

Getting citations from trusted sites such as Judy’s Book, Manta and Yelp are great for establishing your business as a legitimate one, and one that Google should consider when rankings local businesses for relevant search queries. But what makes these citations particularly impactful is that they automatically encode your businesses NAP in mirco data, which makes Google’s job of determining relevance very easy. Here is an example of what a business citation in Yelp looks like to Google:




This is an example of micro data encoding. The words that I have placed in a red box are actually communicating directly to Google’s crawlers, saying “hey, this is a ‘street address’; this is a ‘postal code’; and this is a ‘telephone number’. Compare that with a business listing which is not encoded using micro data:




While Google’s crawler is still seeing the business citation, which is a positive ranking factor, it is not as influential as the Yelp citation, which specifies using the micro data coding exactly what the information relates to.

Schema.org encoding:

Schema.org encoding is relatively new, but it is proving to be a powerful local SEO tool. Here is an example of what that coding looks like in Google’s robotic eyes:



The same idea applies here; by using this encoding you are literally holding Google’s hand as it crawls your business information, telling it exactly what it is looking at.

How to Use Schema.org and Micro data to Boost your Google Places Rankings

When it comes to external websites listing your business, there is really no way to make sure they are using micro data or Schema.org encoding. However, you can, and should implement them on your own website. Here’s how:
Micro Data:

1. Go to http://microformats.org/code/hcard/creator and enter your business information, exactly how it appears in your Google Places listing.
2. The creator will spit out the html code in micro data format
3. Copy the code and paste it into your website. To get the most out of it, paste the code onto the page that your Google Places listing links to. In other words, if you have a specific page on your website for your location, and you have that page in your Google Places listing, paste the code there.

Schema.org

1. Go to http://schema-creator.org/organization.php and enter your business information, exactly how it appears in your Google Places listing.
2. The creator will spit out the html code in micro data format
3. Copy the code and paste it into your website, just as I explined above.

For further information on how micro data and schema.org encoding affect Google Places rankings, check out this awesome post by Mike Ramsey.
via technshare.com

Top Secrets of Effective Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is one of the most effective strategies that a blogger can use, however, there is a method to this madness.
If you think you can write a quick guest post and receive thousands of visitors to your site, then think again. Guest blogging is good but not that good. The issue that many bloggers have is they link to their homepage.
 
WAIT, isn’t that what we are supposed to do?
You think this, but the answer is no. If you want to effectively use guest blogging, then you should link to a squeeze page or at least a page that has you email opt-in form on it. The point of doing this is to get visitors to subscribe to your email list so that you can send them your latest posts and get them to return. By sending visitors directly to your homepage you will get a decent amount of traffic but the amount that return will be very small. This is why capturing their email address makes a lot more sense.
That is one way to effectively use guest blogging but that is not my secret. This is a strategy that is used by many bloggers and it works quite well, however, I wanted to do something even better.

What is my secret to effective guest blogging?

Email RSS subscriptions. When you submit a guest post you are normally given two links that you can use. By creating one link to your squeeze page and the other link to your RSS subscription you will be able to get your visitors to come back time and time again. This is the key to effective guest posts.
Yes, writing one guest post that results in 10,000 one time visitors is great but that won’t translate into much long term success. This is why I recommend doing everything you can to increase your subscriber count. Whether you are adding subscribers to your email list or through an RSS feed won’t matter, just get readers to subscribe.
Now, before you go I have two tips for you when linking to your website.

Tips On Creating Links

Target A Keyword

This is especially important for bloggers who are playing the SEO game (which we all should be). By targeting a keyword you will build authority to your site using that exact keyword and this will help move your blog up the search engine rankings.

Place Links At The End

When you place a link in the beginning of the article the odds of the reader skipping right over it are very high. The reason is because most people want to see what the article is actually about and so they read the entire article. This is why placing your links at the end will be more effective for you.
Well, that is my secret to effective guest blogging but I do recommend that you check out Zac Johnson’s Guest Blogging Secrets as well.
This guest post was written by Adam Snyder from DormRoomCash.com. If you want to know how to make fast cash both online and offline, then Adam is the guy to talk to. His motto is – “Anything to make cash NOW”
via bloggingtips

Tips to Keep in Touch with your Blog Readers

How would you feel if you had frequently commented on a blog but the author never acknowledged or replied to you? What would you think of a blog which has only one new post every few months? You’d lose interest, right? As such, it is important to engage and interact with your blog readers because if you don’t, there is a possibility that they would lose interest and feel unappreciated as well.


So how do you retain the interest of your readers and keep in touch with them?

1. Reply to comments

   As mentioned earlier, a common turn off to readers is when the blogger doesn’t reply to their comments. It is worse if they had asked for your opinion on a subject but you fail to respond to them. You won’t like it too if you are being ignored, so make an effort to respond to every comment that comes through.
   You could just thank them for taking the time to say something. If there are simply too many comments, at least give a response here and there. At least, your presence will be felt.

2. Read and comment on other blogs

   Bloggers are a closely knit circle; they know one another within the same niche and ‘support’ each other in terms of blog visiting. It helps to visit other blogs and leave comments just to let them know that you were there. They’ll likely return the favor and visit yours too, and from there, you’d benefit from the relationship formed.
   Readers from other blogs can arrive on yours and the bloggers can link your site to theirs too, pulling in further traffic.

3. Connect with your readers

   Social networking sites are the craze these days. Everyone has either a Facebook or Twitter account, most likely both.
   
   
   By having a Facebook or Twitter page, you will be able to reach out to your fans on a more personal note. You’ll also be able to share more with them that your blog wouldn’t be able to. For instance, you could make short announcements, chat with readers or post amusing pictures that would generate interest or discussion. So, create a Facebook and/or a Twitter and place buttons in your blog so that your readers can follow or “like” you.
   Also, due to Growing interest in Google Plus and Pinterest these days, you should also create your and your blog’s presence there.

4. Offer help and expertise

   You must be an expert in your niche/field, so gain more fans by offering tips whenever being asked for. Sometimes, you’d get comments asking for advice. Do your best to help your readers out.
   If you don’t get such comments, you could mention that anyone out there who needs help are welcomed to drop you a line and you would be glad to help. You’d gain popularity and also a reputation for being an expert in your topic of choice.

5. Blog regularly

   Of course, all the interaction and networking mean nothing if your blog is not updated regularly. Readers who constantly drop by to see what you have to say would lose interest if they don’t see anything new for some time. After all, if they’ve made the effort to visit your blog, they must have strong interest in what you have to say.
   The best frequency is once every 2-3 days, else once a week is fine too. You could also set a publishing schedule so that a post will be uploaded on the same day of every week. This way, your readers know when they can expect something new from you each week.

Unless you intend to keep your writings to yourself, you wouldn’t go far as a blogger if you don’t keep in touch with your readers. You have learned 5 ways you can do so, therefore it is time to turn those suggestions into action.
Happy blogging and interacting with your blog readers!
Do Share your thoughts on how you keep in touch with your blog readers, in the comments.

via vast9.com

Force Highest CTR AdSense Unit to Load First

Does your first AdSense unit have the highest CTR? Which is the first AdSense unit loading in your HTML code? Always remember that the highest paying ads load with the first AdSense loading on the page. Which basically means, if you’re host multiple AdSense ads and the large AdSense banner on top of your site has low CTR – you are losing out on a lot of money.

First AdSense Ad

Use custom channels - to track the ad units which have the highest CTR. If you don’t use custom channels, then start using them right away. Ensure that the highest CTR unit is also the first loading AdSense unit. This is important because the first AdSense unit contains the highest paying ads. So if you have the first AdSense unit which has low CTR, then the highest paying ads are not being clicked as much as they should be.
Select which ad unit comes first - Let’s say, that you have a large leaderboard banner on top with a low CTR; and you have a medium rectangle unit in the middle of your post which has a higher CTR and eCPM. Now the highest paying ads are in the large banner on top, but they have a low CTR. So in this situation, you should ensure that the medium rectangle is the first loading AdSense unit, and not the large leaderboard banner on top. If you make the medium AdSense rectangle the first loading unit- it will have the highest CTR and will also have the highest paying AdSense ads. Try to reposition the other ad units so that it loads after your first high CTR AdSense ads unit.
Use CSS to change first AdSense unit – You can adjust the code in such a way that the highest paying AdSense unit loads first in the HTML code, and it can be manipulated by smart use of CSS. For example see the ad placement below:

There are two AdSense units, one on the left sidebar and one on the top of main content. Normally, the main content will load first, followed by the sidebars. Let’s say the left sidebar AdSense unit has a higher CTR and eCPM- then paste the code of the left sidebar first in the HTML, and float it to the left side.  This ensures that the left sidebar loads first, followed by the main content advertisement – so the left sidebar ads with the highest CTR now becomes the first AdSense unit with the highest paying ads. You can also use this placement vice versa if the main content ads click better. This is very important and will ensure that your AdSense earnings substantially increase for sure.
Try it and I’m sure your AdSense earnings. Do remember to share your experience with this tip.
via quickonlinetips

Why Your Google Search Traffic is Dropping (Its Not Panda)

Is your Google search traffic dropping every month, don’t blame Google Panda for it everytime. The Google search result pages are changing and the top 10 search results are not what they used to be a year ago.
Google is incorporating signals that make these pages more useful to the users, especially social signals and now is more often  interspersed with videos, news, images and a lot more stuff. So don’t be surprised why your traffic is declining and your search engine rankings are going down as it becomes more difficult to get your link on the first pages of Google results.

Changing Google Results Pages

1. Boost Social Signals - Google believes you will like search results your friends like or recommend. Who better to recommend stuff than your closest friends. Have you noticed how Google search results display more specific links liked or shared by your community of friends. This pushes many search results beyond to the second page. And Google will even let you thank friends for it. Tip: Develop a huge social network across Twitter, Facebook and especially Google+ and get more visibility in search results.


2. Local Search is Hot Business -  Google recently put out the Venice Update, which is bringing local search results which cater more to your geographical location, out on top of everything else. It was a quiet update, but shuffled a lot of thing on search screens. Its evident if you are looking to buy something, there is a better chance you are searching for it in your own local neighbourhood.  e.g. a simple search for computers loads up 7 local results which nearly fill up the whole page. Tip: If you have local content site, use the opportunity to get more traffic.


3. Authority Sites Get Even Bigger - The big brands keep getting bigger and bigger with more PR, more trust and better traffic by ranking higher. Search for most common terms will usually reveal Wikipedia entry or respected news resources like Reuters or other large portals. e.g. a simple search for computers send out top 3 results from Wikipedia itself. You have a tough chance of ranking higher than that. Tip: Develop a authority site which can give competition to top brands and compete for the top search ranking spots.


4. Everyone Likes Videos - If your search query is a popular term for videos queries too, expect to see a large chunk of mid search result space occupied by lots of Youtube videos. The more popular the query, more Youtube video links. These will surely push a lot of links out of the way. Tip: Develop popular popular Youtube videos and get more Youtube pageviews.


5. Everyone Loves Images -  If your query targets a lot of popular images for the term in Google Images, they will also occupy a large area to shift your results down. Tip: Use lots of images on your site and label them carefully with the right Alt tags to get your image on top of image search results and directly to your site.


6. Breaking News Always Works - if your query is a trending topic in Google news, expects some news stories to also pop in the results and drag your links down. Tip: Post on current and trending topics, get listed in Google news, become a authority site and your news links will get more clicks than the top sites.


7. Sitelinks Mark Authority - Powerful authority websites also have multiple sitelinks, search boxes and breaking news columns which take up considerable screen space (Of course they are much less than the huge 12 site links which we got!). Tip: Its difficult to match super popular sites like BBC, CNN, NYT – but bigger sites get bigger sitelinks, news links, search boxes and a larger screen space which assure better traffic to your site.


Summary: With all these types of Google search results, more so for specific queries, it will definitely lead to a better user experience. But what has changed for webmasters and SEO experts – its no longer about getting your site on the top 3 ranks. Because the top ranks are going to authority sites and rest are heavily dependent on type of query and being more influenced by social community support (get  a huge community) and more new media results like news, images and videos, so do remember to do some video SEO and images SEO to rank higher out there.
Basically Google result pages are much different now than a few years back where all SEO efforts were focused to get on the first page.  Also don’t be surprised when you see bigger brands, popular social media celebrities, local businesses, popular youtube video channels ranking higher. Every traffic drop is not Google Panda affected, its just that the web is changing and so is Google….
via quickonlinetips

Top 4 Methods to Make Money from Internet

Today, more and more people are looking for alternate ways to earn money both in the online and offline worlds. Many people now realize that having a job in which you work 40 hours a week is not the ideal way to live. The internet is one of the best places for earning money online. The top 4 methods to make money from the Internet are:

 

Blogging

One of the best ways to earn money is by creating a publishing and content business. You can do this by starting a blog and making money at home. Today people are realizing that blogging is one of the best ways to start your own online business. It requires minimal start up costs and you can build an impressive readership over time. Once you know how to monetize your blog it can also bring in a decent income. There are several ways to set up a blog online. You could use Word Press, Blogger, or another free site that hosts your blog for you; or you can set up your own blog under your own domain name. It will cost you a few dollars to buy your domain name and set up a web server that will host your blog. Next you will need to choose a good theme and layout for your blog related to your choice of subject.

 

Online Forex trading

Forex trading is the buying and selling of currencies. Just like stocks are bought and sold on the stock market, traders exchange currencies they have purchased in the Forex market. The purpose of Forex trading is to exchange a currency that you’ve purchased for another with the hopes that the price of the newly purchased one will go up in value. The value of currencies is quoted in pairs because you are always buying one and selling another currency at the same time. However it is better that you begin with a demo account where you may be buying and selling currencies but virtually. In this way, you will learn how trading is done and learn more about it without losing real money.

 

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate management is also a great option for those who want to create money at home. With this kind of venture, all you have to do to make money fast is to recruit more people for an online service. Millions of dollars being spent everyday purchasing products and services online. You can earn a reasonable percentage on every sale made by just referring and recommending the products that you like to people. For this purpose you do not need a website or a blog, nor any cash to get started.

 

Online surveys

Taking online surveys is another top way to easily get cash. There are many organizations that will pay you to take the surveys. Once you have signed up with the right survey companies, all you have to do is check your email and pick the best surveys, and you can start earning money every time you fill in the surveys. Surveys are essential for a company’s survival; hence they are willing to pay for it.