Take the Trouble to Label Images

More on demonstrating expertise on other sites with care: after advising someone to offer text alternatives for images I jumped on a chance to comment on a related blog post in detail… Problem: the blog has moved — in haste I missed the date in my feed reader and on the page. And since the comment hasn’t been approved and may never be…

Labeling images and offering text alternatives is not only good for search traffic generation it’s also best practice for accessibility… It offers people using screen readers an insight into images on your pages because the reader can read the text.

Years ago when there was more weight attached to alt text (i.e. text to display when images are turned off coded as alt=”relevant keywords”) for images we used to suggest using image descriptions to improve keyword density without making your content read like keyword spam.

This technique was abused by people who loaded image alt text tags with unrelated keywords. And, as with meta descriptions and meta keywords content, search engines stopped attached any ranking weight to it.

But adding appropriately keyword-rich text/labels still has value in the image search context and also in context of universal or blended search (where search engines show web page, video and image search results together). As Deb says, making it easier for search engines to understand what your images represent will pay search visiblity dividends.

Best practice:

• do a quick check for popular keywords related to your image (Google Adwords free external keyword tool is perfect for this)
• name the image file using popular keywords separating individual word with a hyphen — popular-keywords.jpg or popular-keyword.gif. (Search engines will identify keywords in merged names and when you use underscores, which they don’t recognise as breaks, but creating a space between individual words with hyphens is worth the effort — as it is in URLs*.)
• give images alt text (alt=”popular keywords”)and title tag (title=”popular keywords”) that include — you guessed it — popular keywords.

Note: most content management systems and blogging platforms offer fields to enter this data as you upload an image file; use them.

Attention to this little detail — even if you skip the keyword research step when keyword choices are obvious — can amke quite a big difference to your blog/site’s chances of getting search traffic.

* There is continuing debate about the value of keywords in URLs but many CMSs now offer control of the URL so why not attend to this little detail too?

Um… Ah… Building Links, Link Bait & Interview Podcasts

Um.. Ah… Building links can be all about demonstrating expertise in link bait on your site but… Um… But an interview I did yesterday for a podcast illustrates why you should be prepared when demonstrating expertise on other sites.

I am not a big fan of the traditional link request way of building links. The Web is all about links but they should occur organically… How do you get links then? You offer link bait and you engage with relevant websites. And, ideally, you do so in a way that builds your brand…

Do an interview with a journalist running a site offering podcasts about making money online? Of course.

Perfect: demonstrate my expertise to the site’s audience and build a link.

Lesson learnt: remember your tendency to “um” and “ah” when forming your thoughts; ask for questions first and get those thoughts half way formed before the interview. Listen and see what I mean.

Boring as it is to repeat the tired phrase, content is king in the link building realm too. Good content on your site will attract links. Good content you provide on other sites will drive traffic (assuming you think about it enough for it to be “brand enhancing”).

Mike Moran and commenters covered the request vs build links issues succinctly in a Search Engine Guide piece and resulting discussion

As I tell clients, building links is very similar to offline networking where you seek out relevant people and build a relationship. Online links represent that relationship. People will link with you if you offer them something of value to their business or site.

And the value should go beyond the value of a link — “Hi I wondered whether you would like to link to our site because we [insert tenuous association]? We’ll link to you too!” just doesn’t cut it. As Brian Clarke of Copyblogger suggested recently in an excellent post offering five value-based link building strategies:

“The days of flat out link begging are fading…”

Requesting links will work in some cases. But as Mike Moran suggested in a Search Engine Guide piece and commenters, generally, agreed an earned link is preferrable to a requested one.

Building links should be all about offering value on your site and on other people’s sites and demonstrating your expertise as you do it. But do it in a considered way and know your weaknesses… No more interviews for podcasts without some prior knowledge of questions for me!

SEO Spam Primer Featuring Key Insights From Major Search Engines

Found this really great video of SMX East (US Search Engine Optimisation Conference) session on SEO Spam on Search Engine Land. Nothing really new from my point of view. But a succinct introduction to tactics that will get you in trouble with search engines… If your search engine optimisation company recommends the things discussed in this video, fire them.

This video is a useful primer on SEO spam for anyone who isn’t familiar with the issues. And it offers great information on finding out if you have been penalised by search engines and what to do about it. But it also has significant value as an insight into big search engines’ assessment of sites and attitude to links.

Talking About SEO Spam Means Talking About What Search Engines are Looking For

Random quotes/notes, many of which are music to my ears, as an exponent of an “offer content that is of value to your target audience and the search engines will value it too” approach to SEO:

• Don’t “lose track of the user perspective” in building links — for Yahoo it isn’t about whether a link is paid but whether it is a value link that makes sense with respect to the content of the source and destination of the link… good links point your users to content they will value.
• Nathan Buggia of Live Search reminds people of the all-important search engine perspective on assessing the Web. A perspective too often lost in the discussion around obtaining search engine visibility –
  

  “Goal of a search engine is trying to find really great content and connecting people that want that content”

• Nathan again: “stay focused on creating good content” … ahem… content is… um… king!
• For Aaron D’Souza of Google site owners should concentrate on, “building great content that users are going to create the links for you” — that is, offer content that people will want to link to rather than get involved in trading links, etc.
• Aaron also reassures people that the removal of the suggestion that people submit their sites to online directories from Google’s Webmaster guidelines didn’t mean those links had been devalued. Seems it is about discouraging the plethora of low value directories. Removing the suggestion makes it harder for these directories to convince nieve site owners that investment in listings on their sites was an essential part of obtaining search visibility.
• Sean Suchter of Yahoo! Search talks about an approach to web content I would heartily endorse, suggesting site owners create content that has “timeless user value”. He cautioned against adopting the latest techniques based on SEO’s interpretation of the latest algorithm changes. Future algorithm changes will inevitably discount that content’s value… “What might work this year or this quarter might stop working at some near future point if it isn’t necessarily user focused.”

So it might be a session about what you shouldn’t do to get search engine rankings but it ends up being a powerful insight in what you should do.

Search Engine Optimiser or SEO Buyer This is Stuff Worth Knowing… Worth Watching

Watch it for that and a really interesting discussion around the issue of paid links and PageRank (Google’s measure of link popularity/site authority, Link Flux” for Yahoo! and “Static Rank” for Live Search) and whether search engine rankings should take account of big brands’ profile…

All sound a little geeky? Some of it is. SEO spam involves some tricks that take you to the border of geek world. But if you are trying to get search visibility or employing search engine optimisers, you should take a look. You will learn something.


SMX East 2008: What Is Spam? from Search Marketing Expo on Vimeo.

Website Optimisation, Internet Marketers & Your Website’s Role

This website is not optimised. No website is but this one really isn’t optimised. There are all sorts of changes I should be making. And it nags at me. But my sub-optimal site doesn’t stop me getting clients…

Your website is not the panacea for all marketing woes some would have you believe it is.

E-business - A Crowded Playing Field: Level Maybe But Muddy With Many Players Embedded in the Mud

My challenge with this website is that I am a new player on a crowded online marketing playing field. The valued positions have been taken. Taken by people who are, understandably, reluctant to relinquish those positions.

Search engines take notice of what results get clicked on and, again understandably, top results get more clicks. So — even factoring in customisation of search results pages, which means that different people will see different results — it will be difficult to achieve natural search visibility for the more popular search terms.

And larger players have much deeper pockets with respect to paying for clicks associated with those same terms.

Don’t think I’m fishing for, “you poor marketing David amongst those search visibility hogging Goliaths”, sympathy. I’m not.

Website Optimisation Isn’t Enough To Win Website Optimisers Clients

The issue here is that, although I am committed to maintaining this site as a useful resource and introduction to my services, I don’t have huge expectations with respect to lead generation from it. At least, short term I don’t. Experience tells me building a site’s traffic is a long term project. And it takes time to build up content that demonstrates one’s expertise.

The website is an important part of my marketing strategy. But it is not the sole element. I have been involved in marketing web marketing services for long enough to know that other lead generation techniques often play a bigger part in the process. Referrals are key. And getting out and meeting prospects is essential.

I’m not the world’s most accomplished networker/smoozer. Indeed, I’d be happier if promoting my business was down to offering a best practice web site. It’s not though.

Happily, the Web does provide for those of us who are comfortable with off-line networking. Forums, online social networks and blogs provide opportunities to engage with your target market without having to cross a crowed room with a shaking hand extended.

“Why Are so Many Internet Marketing Consultant’s Websites Terrible?”

Larry Chase, founder and publisher of Web Digest for Marketers, recently asked “Why Are so Many Internet Marketing Consultant’s Websites Terrible?” He wondered how people presenting themselves as experts on everything from email marketing to search engine optimisation and internet marketing could fail to follow even basics of best practice for their specialty.

Good question. “Walk the talk,” and all that. I know I have been embarassed on more than one occassion when a client has wondered why the site of my organisation doesn’t do what I am suggesting they do. I have used the “do as I say not as I do” line in this blog more than once…

Even Website Optimisers and Internet Marketers Can’t Rely on a Website Alone

In an ideal world an online marketer’s site would be a bastion of best practice. Trouble is other priorities — crucially, billable hours helping clients achieve best practive — often get in the way. And then there is all the networking, traditional marketing, etc.

Focusing on providing an optimised website is a part of my marketing strategy. But one that could eat up all my marketing time if I let it. I know there is more to be done… There always will be but I can’t fixate on that at the expense of other parts of my strategy.

As a useful reply to Chase’s question suggested internet marketers’ site might be terrible because they are not where their work comes from. Alternatively, commenter Michael Lineham pointed out, professionals with neglected websites may have so much work that they have let their site slip.

Not a good look. And not advisable… Letting your marketing slide because you are too busy leads to plenty of time for marketing when the busy period ends. If an internet marketer or website optimiser’s site is truly terrible then I would start to question the value of their services.

But a little neglect isn’t necessarily an indication of ignorance.

So is this post an attempt to assuage my guilt/embarrassment about my own site’s failings? Honestly? Partly.

There is a message I’m leading up to though.

Bottom line:
Even for internet marketing professionals, a website can’t do all the marketing work. In some cases it is a small element in their marketing mix. And I worry that some internet marketers, so busy keeping up and promoting the wonders of internet marketing opportunities, can’t stand back enough to see whether the latest tactic or strategy is actually an opportunity for clients’ businesses.

I make a point of building a detailed understanding of clients’ businesses whenever I start working them. For me its the only way to be sure that you are recommending the right strategies.

If I ever came across a prospect or client who shouldn’t be allocating too much budget to optimizing their website, I’d tell them so.

Website Optimisation Wisdom: Continuous is Best

Urgent or easy tasks all too often delay website optimisation to the detriment of small and medium business (SMB) sites.

And not just SMBs either. In years of advising large and small businesses how to optimise their websites, I have often found that initial enthusiasm for changes is lost and changes don’t get made. Competing agendas push things down the priority list. Or the need for change is forgotten as clients struggle to keep on top of site maintenance, fulfilling orders, the day to day stuff.

Checking my YouTube subscriptions I came across some very useful insight into the importance of “continuous incremental improvement” and how to achieve it from three wise men of online marketing.

Shoulder to shoulder, Dr Ralph Wilson, Jim Sterne and Bryan Eisenberg talk through the issues — useful viewing for anyone struggling to find the time to make website changes because other tasks get in the way…

Bottom line: Make little changes to your website experience all the time to keep up with your competitors or fall behind. And find time for them by understanding what is important as opposed to urgent when maintaining your site.

Note: This is an issue I want to explore in depth in a future post because it is an issue that I come across a lot with clients both in terms of the value of my services and getting sites in the shape I recommend.

Think Your Website is Optimised?

Just quickly: If your website satisfies the 400 requirements in “The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period” then you should be patting yourself on the back. Or, maybe, giving yourself a stern talking to for being so complacent.

Put together by Search Engine Guide columnist Stoney deGeyter , the list is a comprehensive reminder that your website is never really optimised. There will always be something you should be doing…

Basic Search Engine Optimisation That Lasts

Search engine optimisation is neither a dark art nor rocket science. Sustainable SEO relies on keyword savvy content in the right places — “Right words. Right places. Right results.” — and long term link building.

Not SEO Tricks… Keywords They Use

It is not about the latest trick, out-smarting the well-paid brain power behind the engines’ algorithms or exploiting the latest web 2.0 trend before everyone else does.

Search engine optimal website development and promotion is about demonstrating an understanding of a need by using the language those with that need use… The keywords the people with that need type into their favourite search engine.

SEO philosophy brought to mind by two things today:

1. The latest edition of one of my longest running newsletter subscriptions, Jill Whalen’s High Rankings newsletter, pointed me to a recent interview Jill gave where she repeats her consistent line on SEO: “I’d say the biggest mistake is in trying to trick the search engines rather than just fixing your site.“
2. Checking rankings of a site I optimised in late 2003 to find the content had changed little and neither had the top ten rankings for targeted keywords.

I have kept an eye on the site over the years because the job was unusual. The work was confined to content optimisation. No advice was given on site changes beyond recommended meta data and body content changes. And we didn’t even touch on link building strategies.

I reworked some great content they had to include prominent use of keywords and nearly five years later…

Neither SEO Warlock Nor Search Engine Optimisation Genius

Which is not to suggest that I am some kind of warlock or genius — “neither dark art nor rocket science”, remember. I didn’t apply a secret formula or fail-safe keyword density level. I simply tried to describe the products and convey the supporting informational content in a way that both used keywords and talked to needs the target audience was looking to fulfil.

Bottom Line: Trying to trick/influence the technology the search engines’ phd rich campus’ produce gets more attention than basic, use keywords people use in content, search engine optimisation but no SMB owner should be worried about algorithms.

[Hmmmm...] Maybe a bit too “me to” but, then again, a point that I really believe needs more attention