Is a Picture Worth 1,000 Clicks?

To get the most out of the images on your site, you have to optimize them. According to R.J. Pittman of Google, good image optimization starts with having the best quality of images that you can have. The next step is to have an expressive title as well as rich descriptive content that explain the image.

Webmasters also have the opportunity to provide topic tags, which are keywords that a searcher might use in a query. As Pittman tells special guest WPN correspondent Eric Enge, the more information that the user provides for the image, the better Google can index and surface the image.





Google is even developing RDFa tag structure, which would allow it to work off of a new language vocabulary that users could embed into their Web pages. The html structure would provide a means for search engines to identify various features of the image and thus provide more accurate image results.

Despite all the additional exposure images could bring to websites, Google is not seeing images being utilized as well as they could be. Pittman encourages webmasters to embrace images since they improve understanding and, ultimately, click-through rate (CTR) once they are indexed by the search engines.

Are you embracing the use of images?

Social Media Strategies for Link Building

Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting in the above WPN video encourages people to “think big” when using social media to build links. This practice is not only for large companies, but should be applied to small businesses also. Just because you’re small doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish big things.

Your social media strategy should include a specific angle. Have a goal from the beginning and don’t wander from it. If you keep a steady focus, you will be able to build upon it.

In the Real-World Low-Risk, High-Reward Link Building Strategies session at PubCon, Tamar Weinberg recalls Eric saying:

1. Study what has worked before
2. Write a compelling article
3. Write an interesting description
4. Vote for posts in front of you on the upcoming pages
5. Make sure you stand out!

To elaborate on that last point, you want your content to be unique and authoritative. However, it still needs to be relevant. If your content is great but no one associates it with your brand, you probably won’t get a link.

Know in advance to be ready for criticism. Critics will be watching closely and waiting for a mistake. Remember to keep your focus in mind at all times.

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