Establishing an online presence is cheaper and easier than ever with the help of free website builders. With only a few mouse clicks, users can choose a design, add content, and publish it to the world. Some website builders even offer free hosting and website addresses. It is no wonder tens of millions of new sites are added to the internet each year! With that said, simply having a website will not get guests to stop by. To do so, you must use search engine optimization (SEO) to bring your message to the masses.

What is SEO?

With hundreds of millions of websites on the internet, simply waiting for visitors to stop by is not an effective strategy. Instead, webmasters use a series of tactics and techniques to help them improve their rankings with the major search engines. That way, when someone performs a search on related content, their address may appear on the listing of results returned by the search engine.

Articles, blogs, videos, and other content can all be added to websites to improve their rankings with search engines like Google. But because they are often cheaper and easier to add, images are a sine qua non of search engine optimization. Unfortunately, most new webmasters have absolutely no idea how to use pictures to generate web traffic.

Why images must be optimized

As images continue to steal space from text, the major search engines are incorporating more of them into their results pages. When properly optimized, these pictures take visitors to the web pages they appear on when clicked. In that way, they are every bit as effective, perhaps even more so, as a link to a homepage address. But because search engine cannot detect the content inside these images, getting them in front of the right viewers at the right time requires effort. The good news is that when they do appear, pictures are more readily shared than articles, which creates a multiplier effect that can drive new traffic to your website.

How to optimize them

To be effective, the pictures you publish on your website must match the other content. If they do not, the search engine will ignore the incongruous images because they do not fit the parameters of the search. It is for this reason that finding the right image is the first and most important step of optimization process.
Tip: Ideally, you want a picture that attracts attention and speaks for itself. A viewer should never wonder what they’re looking when they see one of your images.

Alt tags

When images do not load in a browser, it is helpful to have alt tags that provide a brief description of the picture. That way users can still find the images they’re looking for and view them on your webpage when they don’t load in the browser.
Tip: Keep your alt tags short and sweet and do not include too many keywords or any superfluous information.

Anchor text

Because search engines use this text to help them determine the subject matter of the image it is linked to, adding anchor text is an effective SEO strategy. Tip: Search engines ignore anchor text that is bland, generic, or ambiguous. What they crave is highly descriptive text that provides useful information, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Conclusion

Though we have merely scratched the surface here, these simple tips should help you improve search engine rankings by adding optimized images to your website.

Expert Advisor Software & Builders

Pros

1. Cheaper
2. One off charge
3. Create multiple systems
4. Quick

Cons

1. Difficult to use
2. Time consuming if you are not accustomed to the builder
3. Base default code

EA Programming

Pros

1. No experience necessary
2. Complex systems
3. Original code
4. Point of contact & support
5. Efficient

Cons

1. Expensive
2. One EA at a time
3. Programmer understanding

You can make up your own mind on this one!

Recently we completed an online lead generation campaign for a forex broker who was looking to target the UK and EU MIFID countries. Extremely successful the campaign was a multi faceted strategy, which focused on a combination of content marketing, coupled with traditional banner advertising. Details below.

Step 1:    Strategy & Keyword Research

To truly understand the traffic opportunities, T+1 needed to understand the sector keyword breakup and the impact that a long tail approach would have on lead generation.

Step 2:   Banner Advertising – Choosing Network

Choosing specific financial news and education sites, based on the strategy and keyword research, we were then able to target more precisely.

Step 3:  Developing Broker Offer

The forex industry is extremely competitive, hence we had to work on developing an exciting offer which would entice prospects to sign up for a demo trading account.

Step 4:  Traffic Flow!

Signficant interest in the offer as soon as the campaign went live. This led to over 1000 demo account signups in the space of less than a month.

If you are interested in finding more about our forex lead generation services please click on the relevant link.

Introduced by Google in 2011, the Panda Update downgraded all sites that engaged in questionable link schemes. Rather than optimization, the new criterion became high quality content. Because it controls over two-thirds of the market, all of the other search engines have followed Google’s lead. Content is once again king on the internet!
What Search Engines Want

Schemes and stratagems may have been enough to secure you a good Google ranking a few years ago, but not today. In a relatively short period of time, the world’s leading search engine has developed incredibly sophisticated algorithms that help them deliver high-quality, relevant search results to their users. As a result, content marketers have jettisoned antiquated tactics in favor of broader, more organic advertising methods. In other words, they are saying goodbye to shortcuts and embracing what should have been all-important from the start, i.e., high-quality content.

With that in mind, here are 3 keys to SEO success.

1. Catch the attention. Whether shared in text, video, or photographic form, the internet moves information like no other medium. In this global tsunami of facts, figures, and particulars, only a small fraction actually catches the public’s attention. When it come to content, telling a great story is still the best, most reliable way to get people to share, link to, write about, and finally talk about something you’ve posted. As such, it is the also the simplest and most effective route to exceptional SEO.

2. Keywords still count. Although they have been knocked off their once lofty perch, keywords are still an effective way to determine what your potential audience craves. With the help of keywords tools like Google Adwords Keyword Planner, you can gauge what content your readers desire based on the number of queries that are made for specific keywords or keyword phrases. Including them in your content can also be helpful, particularly if you have an rare or original keyword that doesn’t appear that often on search results pages.

3. Grab their attention with a great headline. With countless web pages only a click away, internet users will not stick around if you don’t pique their interest from the outset. Mundane, prosaic headlines are the kiss of death for publishers, since it is unlikely that anyone will take the time to read what comes after them. Now, we’re not saying that you have to lie, but a little embellishment never hurt anybody!
Although we have merely scratched the surface of this fascinating topic, our simple SEO tips should stand you in good stead for all future marketing efforts.

What is SEO?
With hundreds of millions of websites on the internet, simply waiting for visitors to stop by is not an effective strategy. Instead, webmasters use a series of tactics and techniques to help them improve their rankings with the major search engines. That way, when someone performs a search on related content, their address may appear on the listing of results returned by the search engine.

Articles, blogs, videos, and other content can all be added to websites to improve their rankings with search engines like Google. But because they are often cheaper and easier to add, images are a sine qua non of search engine optimization. Unfortunately, most new webmasters have absolutely no idea how to use pictures to generate web traffic.
Why images must be optimized

As images continue to steal space from text, the major search engines are incorporating more of them into their results pages. When properly optimized, these pictures take visitors to the web pages they appear on when clicked. In that way, they are every bit as effective, perhaps even more so, as a link to a homepage address. But because search engine cannot detect the content inside these images, getting them in front of the right viewers at the right time requires effort. The good news is that when they do appear, pictures are more readily shared than articles, which creates a multiplier effect that can drive new traffic to your website.

How to optimize them
To be effective, the pictures you publish on your website must match the other content. If they do not, the search engine will ignore the incongruous images because they do not fit the parameters of the search. It is for this reason that finding the right image is the first and most important step of optimization process.
Tip: Ideally, you want a picture that attracts attention and speaks for itself. A viewer should never wonder what they’re looking when they see one of your images.

Alt tags
When images do not load in a browser, it is helpful to have alt tags that provide a brief description of the picture. That way users can still find the images they’re looking for and view them on your webpage when they don’t load in the browser.
Tip: Keep your alt tags short and sweet and do not include too many keywords or any superfluous information.

Anchor text
Because search engines use this text to help them determine the subject matter of the image it is linked to, adding anchor text is an effective SEO strategy.
Tip: Search engines ignore anchor text that is bland, generic, or ambiguous. What they crave is highly descriptive text that provides useful information, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Conclusion
Though we have merely scratched the surface here, these simple tips should help you improve search engine rankings by adding optimized images to your website.

Going viral
The third-most visited site on the internet after Google and Facebook, YouTube has over 800 million unique viewers each month. While most are added simply to entertain, a growing number of videos are created for informational purposes. In fact, it is not at all uncommon for business owners to include YouTube videos on their websites.

Easier than ever
There was a time, no so long ago, when video was a cumbersome, often expensive way to share content on the internet. Most computers and mobile devices were simply not fast enough to handle video data in a timely manner. Recent technological advances have corrected those issues, resulting in a deluge of digital video content.

The numbers
According to statista.com, an internet research firm, a whopping 86 percent of U.S. internet users watch online videos. The proportion is even larger for those who use a mobile device instead of a computer to connect to the internet, since text is much harder to read on small screens. In the race to capture this growing market segment, digital video viewership is expected to increase for the foreseeable future.

Video & SEO
For the average website owner, creating a viral video is not even an consideration. He or she simply wants to add interesting and informative content that will attract customers at little cost. Google’s 2007 decision to include integrated video into its universal search offerings made it possible for them to do just that. A formerly bland and uninspiring website can now updated and improved on a regular basis. Daily video additions not only make visits more enjoyable for guests, they can also make it easier for them to find you on the internet.

How it works
Let’s say you own a business that sells building materials for less to online customers. Whether these shoppers are licensed contractors or do-it-yourselfers, they can almost certainly benefit from content that teaches or re-teaches them how to complete a basic task. It is for this reason that most online businesses in this market segment post how-to articles and blogs on their websites. But as effectives as these entries may be, they are often more appealing when they contain at least some video. In fact, most websites that add instructional information of any kind are or have already shifted to video-based content. Why?

Advantages
At a time when any smartphone can record high-quality video, it is now cheaper to add than blogs or articles with pictures. This is particularly true when a trained professional or specialist has to take hours out of his day to write something — even though he’s probably not a writer ¬—and post it on his website. It is much easier for him to simply shoot a two to five-minute video where he can show and tell viewers how to complete a particular task on their own.

We should also mention that it is not necessary for a website to create proprietary content. In many cases, webmasters can simply use existing web content at no cost or obligation. Best of all, adding this content can help any website improve their search engine ranking, which makes it easier for users to find them when performing a search.

Keys to success
It is important to note that adding video to your website will not automatically improve your overall website and video search rankings. Just like any other addition, the videos you post must match the rest of the content on your site to have a positive effect. The more congruous the content, the easier it will be for potential customers to find you online. Always remember to include keyword tags, titles, and descriptions that are relevant to your business with each video. This simple step should help you increase search-based traffic to your website in no time.