Google Image Search
There’s some basic background information you need to know to fully understand how Google ranks images. Its image rankings are much more complex than typical website text, so that means it’s more difficult for Google to analyze and sort them all out into its rankings. However, there are a few key factors that it focuses on, which you can easily isolate and use to your advantage. If you’re wondering how to rank on Google images, focus on the following factors:

ALT Attribute
The way Google and the other images typically read an image file looks something like this for example:

<img src=”http://www.domainexample.com/image-file.jpg” alt=”Adcuda SEO”>

The text that’s entered in the alt= attribute, which in this case is “Adcuda SEO,” is sort of a tag for the image that shows up if the link is broken or the picture can’t load for whatever reason. The purpose is to describe the image, and Google reads that tag to get an idea of what the picture is.

Image Filename
At first glance, this factor doesn’t seem to hold much value – most image filenames are not very descriptive and Google has a limited amount of opportunity to get solid data on what the image is about. However, since the majority of images don’t do a good job of describing the content, taking the time to do so will definitely make your image stand out. Plus an additional use of your keyword never hurts.

Image Dimensions
This one’s pretty simple. If you’re reusing a common image or one that’s regularly shared, resizing helps make the image appear unique to Google. Otherwise it may view the image as duplicate content, which is never good from an SEO perspective.

Text Around Your Image
The text surrounding an image typically describes its content. Using keywords in the caption and the text in the immediate area around the image will give Google better context for figuring out what the image is about.

Traditional On-Page & Off-Page Factors
Other SEO factors still play a major role in the image ranking for your target keyword. That means the page containing your image should be well optimized using the same keywords. Off-page, the number of links and overall popularity of the page will also help the image rank. If Google values the site itself, that will translate just the same in the image search results.

Flickr
Flickr is one of the top dogs when it comes to social image sharing and searches in general, so if you’re optimizing your images, it makes sense to get involved here. Here’s the downside of ranking on Flickr – since it’s owned by Yahoo, Flickr images don’t show up in Google results very often. However, they dominate Yahoo images and also show up quite often on Bing. Flickr also offers additional opportunities from a social perspective to interact with potential customers and integrate your brand and message into your photographs. For example, if a clothing brand were to post and optimize “behind-the-scenes” pictures from a photo shoot, they could endear themselves to both current and potential clients. So how does Flickr rank photos? Its key factors are much more transparent than Google’s:

Photo Name
Regarding ranking on Flickr’s own internal search engine, simply having your target keyword in the photo title will help immensely.

Photo Tag
Photo tags work similarly to the titles, but give you more opportunity to be descriptive. Don’t just limit your tags to your keywords – include where the image was taken, who it was taken by, commentary on the style and whatever else might be relevant. Remember, we’re looking to completely utilize all the features Flickr provides.

Photo Description
Though not as relevant for ranking, photo descriptions are important for Flickr results in much the same way that meta tags are for websites. They provide the user with information about the picture within the results before it is even clicked. Use the description as a way to tell the user, ‘you’re headed in the right direction, check out this picture.’

Vertical search:

How to rank Instant search
How to rank Video search
How to rank local search or Places search
How to rank Image search
How to rank Universal search

Alternative search:

How to rank Amazon
How to rank YouTube
How to rank Facebook
How to rank Delicious
How to rank Flickr
How to rank Twitter

We’ll be looking at one vertical search element and one alternative search engine per post. From this, you should be able to take away answers to key questions, ranking factors, along with advantages of each search engine.

Use the links above to familiarize yourself with each type of search we’ll be discussing, and if there are any other alternative search engines out there you’d like to cover, please feel free to comment below.

I know you’ve been there – your mind thirsty for knowledge, the promise of the infinite wisdom of the collective human consciousness hanging out there in space-time, throwing yourself at Google’s feet just begging for answers.

So you type in your query and hope for the best. Sometimes the search results will lead you to a delightful little nugget that satisfies your every desire. But other times, they lead you to a pile of rubbish that makes you wonder how such a page could ever be ranked so highly in the first place.

So what happens when you land on a site with generic, poorly-written content? You click the back button and try another, instantly becoming a statistic for bounce rates. There are plenty of SEO tactics you can implement to achieve a high rank, but they don’t mean anything if your bounce rates are off the charts or your conversion rates stink – people pop in, take a moment to read what stands out and instantaneously decide whether they’re going to explore the site or return to the search results page. If your page isn’t up to par, they make a hasty retreat and your bounce rates analytics will look ugly.

The other day I was shopping for a new pair of Air Jordans. The site pictured here was one of the top links, and the first I happened to choose – mainly because it had the word “cheap” in the title. My eyes went right to the middle of the home page and I only made it through two sentences before realizing it was a trashy site that doesn’t deserve my business. It seemed to me like the shoes were probably fake (also known as “factory variants.”) If they’re real, the writers did a terrible job of proving it to me.

Increasing traffic to your site is the whole point of SEO, but high bounce rates and poor conversion rates mean you haven’t put the effort into developing the content on your website. Here are some essential methods for keeping visitors happy:

-         Gain their trust. Spam or generic duplicate content doesn’t give you much of a chance. Make the user feel like they’re in the right place by installing compelling, useful, original content that they’ll want to share.

-         Design your pages in a way that enhances the user’s experience and makes them think you’re worthy of their business. Doing so will drive conversion rates.

-         Include video. Original content doesn’t have to mean clunky blocks of text.

There are no shortcuts in SEO. From content to design to development, your site has to be well made all the way around to avoid high bounce rates and drive conversions.

Online videos offer a much different experience for the user than traditional media outlets like television or theaters. Online videos are actually competing with the very web pages they’re embedded on. Whether it’s a YouTube subscriber page or your homepage there are plenty of opportunities for the viewer’s eyes to wander and see what else is going on. That’s why it is critical that your viewer can HEAR every word you’re saying and that what you’re saying is relevant to what they’re looking for.

Online video marketing is about creating content that compliments the space around it. Keep people on your site and investigating your page by giving them something decent to listen to. You WANT them looking around and seeing what else you have to offer, but only after they’ve heard what you have to say. For this reason video is the perfect way to ensnare your customer and keep them learning. It’s simple enough:

1) Potential customer stumbles upon your site – like a gazelle in foreign lands.
2) They notice you have an enticing square piece of media meat and it’s spiced with a ‘play’ button and a pretty thumbnail. (Anyone else’s mouth watering?)
3) By clicking play they’ve promised their brain the possibility of a scrumptious meal of information. “Nom-nom-nom-nom”. But! – the gazelle is rather perceptive – it takes a bite and its eyes wander around looking out for more juicy information while it chews.

As silly as all this is, it illustrates the idea that we automatically scour the scene to obtain the most information as quickly as possible and since people are constantly on the move there isn’t much time to waste when it comes to online video marketing.

There are many reasons audio is one of the most important staples to any online video marketing campaign: check out our video to learn a few other juicy tips!

So, i’m making my way across the vast wasteland of the internet today and I’m pleased to see a lot of organizations are utilizing online video marketing as an effective way to promote their product or service. The only thing is, a lot of these business’ (mostly e-commerce) are putting their videos behind a wall of sign-up forms.

Now, this may generate solid leads – but many dont realize that they may be missing out on much more . . .

First off, proper ‘video optimization’ of your video and making it visible to the world (and the world of Google) is becoming an important step in getting your website found. Just like content on your website – video has a remarkable way of being discovered online and if put your videos behind this barrier major search engines (and your potential customers) can not find it!

Secondly, people WANT TO SEE YOUR VIDEOS. No matter the quality. Today’s searcher has a lot of websites to go through to find the right fit for what they need and the majority of people are looking towards a short video to quickly give them the run down and sell the product. (BTW – we can help you start a video campaign if you haven’t already ) If your customers have to jump through hoops, where they have to give out sensitive information just for you to complete a Salesforce lead entry, you may soon realize you’re loosing out on a wealth of opportunities from those who have already moved on to your competitor.

So, it’s my bet that those of you who’ve made it to this post will have watched our little summary video first (and maybe ONLY). The numbers will be the judge. So, be proud of your product and be proud of your videos.

Remember, if you are hosting your videos off of YouTube (highly recommended) there are some very simple tips out there you can do yourself to help get your videos optimized and noticed for YouTube.

In fact, take a moment to re-watch our short YouTube Optimization Tips video below . . .

Check out our short YouTube optimization video to learn how you can start your YouTube campaign and get some recognition.

Be sure to check back later in February when we’ll be hosting a Lunch & Learn on the benefits of online video marketing and discussing many more opportunities to get your business discovered.

Best Ever Medals are awarded to Google Places from the people who use Google’s HotPot,  one of the newest features Google offers – a recommendation engine for Places.

Google account holders automatically have HotPot.  The screen is a collection of Google Places with a number or ways to edit or filter it.  You can also use it to edit the Google Places you want to review including adding the Best Ever medal to the places you like best.  Be sure to use them wisely, each user is only allotted 10 metals.  (You can change who you’ve given medals to at any time, but you cannot currently award more than 10 medals total. This limit will make this rating more significant over time!)

So now I’m wondering, with all the changes Google Maps Places went through last year, and knowing that Google has been watching the checkin scene, what’s the next thing?

Also, this progression of new services also leads to some other points to contemplate:

• Is Google’s overwhelming attention to Local Search good or bad?
• Will the new “Best Ever” medals become a search signal to Google and will they affect rank?
• Should Google even be adding these kinds of features or should they stick with their core – Internet Search?
• When/if Google Checkin comes out, how will Google fare against companies like Foursquare and Facebook who are already actively engaged?
• Will Google loose in the long run by trying to be everything to everyone?

One thing is for sure, HotPot will be getting more attention now since Best Ever medals can only be awarded through the HotPot dashboard.  HotPot was introduced in the forth quarter of 2010 to a lukewarm response.  Perhaps Best Ever medals  are what’s needed to give this new feature some boost…

Hmmm, Google Boost…  Now what’s going on with that?

To be continued…

Regardless of what you have probably read or heard recently, manual directory submission backlink strategy can still be a good way to lay some solid links into your site’s profile, but you have to be smart about which directories you go out and associate your site with. When we’re doing SEO in Kansas City for our clients, our link advocates do employ some high quality directory links, depending on the type of client. Although these make up a minority of the links you need overall for a good profile, it’s some nice kindling for the fire.

See, directories on the web should accomplish exactly what the name implies, be a useful directory of links to quality sites. Unfortunately, when word got out that these directories provided a great place to easily syphon page rank (and even lay in some quality anchor text), both the users and the site owners quickly became abusers. The users began spamming any directory they could find, going as far as creating bots to spam directories for them, and the site owners, quickly realizing the opportunity, began focusing on selling “high profile” or “high quality” links on their site for some quick and easy cash. As we all know, purchasing links is against Google’s webmaster guidelines, so these types of sites quickly started seeing major penalties and the whole community jumped off the directory bandwagon for a while. Google however is actually cool with directories, as long as they are used appropriately and add value to the web.

So, how do we know which directories are good and which are bad? Here are a few simple things to look for:

1. The directory has more ads than content. If the directory appears to just be jam packed with advertisement text and banner ads, with little focus on driving you to those quality sites they should have in their directory, this probably isn’t worth your time.

2. Is the directory indexed by Google? If a directory is a major offender Google will not index the directory at all. The first quick step is to simply do a search in Google for that directory’s URL (www.directorynamehere.com). If you don’t get anything then stay clear, as it’s obviously getting a heavy penalty from Google. For an even more in-depth search to see how much of the site Google is indexing, perform a quick search typing this: site:directorynamehere.com and you’ll get a decent look at just how much of the site is being indexed by Google. The more results typically the better.

3. The directory doesn’t function properly, has broken images everywhere, etc. If it appears that this directory has gone into autopilot then people have probably been spamming it for a long time, or nobody is getting in because there is nobody around to edit the submission requests.

4. Dive into the directory and look to see who you will be sharing the page with in your category. Most directories default to alphabetical order so you can get a good idea of where you’re going to land. Do these neighbors look like people you want to be associated with? Are there a bunch of broken links on the page? Adding your website to a bad neighborhood of links will not do your site much good at all.

5. Be careful of any directories with words like: free, submit, rank, SEO, links, and so on in the name, URL, or used heavily on the site. Again, remember that we’re looking for quality directories to associate our business with, not to game the search engines.

6. Lastly, this one is pretty simple: are there just too many dang links in the directory? If there are thousands and thousands of links in your category within the directory, or there are hundreds of links on each page in that category, chances are there isn’t much juice left to flow through yours.

Make sure to spend some time writing a good, honest and objective description of your business so that you’re more likely to get included. Just have some patience, the good directories take some time to get into because they are human edited.

1. Make it more than just a keyword. A name made up of two or more keywords is often the first thing that new business owners lean towards – and is usually not successful. They are easily forgotten, confused with other companies, and can lack interest – in other words, BORING.

For example, when you hear bestwidgets.com, betterwidgets.com, superiorwidgets.com and greatwidgets.com it is obvious than none of them stand out in a unique brand.

2. Make it sound different. The name you choose should sound like nothing else. Here is a bad example – Claris, Clarins, Claritin, and Claria. It’s hard to remember which names refers to software, line marketing, antihistamines or cosmetics. Even if you did remember it’s likely that you would associate all words in one category.

3. Verb Potential. Think ‘Xerox’ or ‘Google’. A generic pronounceable word that means nothing is the best launch for a brand to become unique. Words such as these develop their own verb. There isn’t a day where you hear someone say ‘google it!’ If you hear someone spending their time saying “[your name]-ing it” then you’ve got a promising brand name.

Kudos Brandbucket.com