Using Images on Your Website/Blog

Posted by maiq on Dec 1st, 08 Filed under Internet, Tips, Websites   Tags , , ,

You can get more traffic from Google just by using images. If you treat your images right, they can appear on Google Image Search.
There are a few things you can do to improve the indexing of your images.

  • Use descriptive file names for your images.Name your pictures “picture_name.jpg” not “photo1234.jpg”. This helps Google to know what the image is about.
  • Use the alt attribute on your images.
    The alt attribute is what determines the text that shows up when you hover your mouse over an image.Here is an example:
    • <img src="path_to_image" alt="description" width="100" height="100" />

    The alt=”description” is the alt attribute. (It is sometimes called the “alt tag”.)

    Be careful to make this descriptive and not too long. For blind readers, this is what gets read to them in place of the image. For people with images turned off, this is the text that they will see instead.

  • Use captions or descriptive text near the image.
    Google also uses the text it finds near the image to help figure out what the image is about.
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Increase Your RSS Subscriber Count

Posted by maiq on Nov 26th, 08 Filed under Blogging, Tips, Websites   Tags , ,

Readers who subscribe to your blog can be some of your most loyal readers. When they subscribe, they are letting you know that they value what you have to say and that they do not want to miss anything that you write. Here are 5 ways to increase you RSS Subscriber Count.

  1. Create quality content - People read blogs for one reason - the content. Create posts that are clear and concise. You have about 5 seconds to get the readers attention. Make every second count.
  2. Ask your readers to subscribe - If you are trying to increase your RSS subscriber count, ask your readers. Make it easy for them. Make it visually appealing and provide multiple options.
  3. Get a custom website design - At the very least, find a free template that is not being used by every site in your niche. Your new template should provide easy navigation, load quickly, and be pleasant to look at.
  4. Make use of lists - If you look at the most popular blogs or websites, they all have one thing in common. They make use of lists extensively. Lists have a way of grabbing your attention. One of the contributing factors of eHow’s success, is the format of its articles…LISTS.
  5. Give Stuff Away - Of all of the ways to increase your RSS Subscriber count, this is the most effective. Create a small e-Book and give it away to subscribers. Hold a contest and give away money or entrecard credits to your subscribers. Make it fun!
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5 Things to Avoid in Website Design

Posted by maiq on Oct 5th, 08 Filed under Internet, Tips, Websites   Tags , ,

When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minute detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.

1) Do not use splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like “welcome” or “click here to enter”. In fact, they are just that — pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the “back” button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don’t know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

4) Have a clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don’t confuse your visitors because confusion means “abandon ship”!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they’re not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it — volume or muting controls would work fine.

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