The Everchanging Blog…

Blogger´s Alchemy is constantly changing (did you notice my new logo? What do you think?). That´s the nature of Alchemy. It´s a procesws of transformation, and this blog´s name is no accident (no blog name should be)

Part of transformation requires stepping back from time to time to gain some perspective on whatever it is you´re doing, and I´m about to do just that here by taking some much needed time out to engage more fully with other aspects of my life. I´ll be coming back refreshed (hopefully) in a few weeks time.

While I´m gone I have a very special guest post lined up for you, so keep an eye on your reader (subscribe to stay updated). I´m also going to be keeping things clean by sending all comments to moderation. The last thing I want t see when I come back is a pile of spamola on my blog, and despite my recent efforts to block comment spam completely, some has still been creeping through.

Before I head away though, I have a quick announcement to make:

The BlogEngage Contest Results Are In!

If you´ve yet to realize the power of networking and connecting with other bloggers, consider this:

All the top Probloggers have leveraged the skills and time of others, networked with their peers, and built communities of participants and contributors of different kinds around themselves and their blogs. All of them.

I listed a few blogging communities in my post about where to promote your blog, and one of those I mentioned stands out as a particularly potent place to connect with other bloggers.

It´s called BlogEngage. Check it out here, or read more about the benefits it has to offer you on my BlogEngage Contest post.

The BlogEngage Free Membership Winners Are…

The five winners of free standard membership accounts at BlogEngage are (congratulations to you all):

• Jane Porterfield
• Herbert Iam
• Dina Kocsa
• Harish G
• Sanjeev Mohindra

And the prized year Gold BlogEngage Membership goes too the one and only Astro Gremlin of blogsnewsreviews.com. Nice work Astro! 17 Tweets and a Linking Post – that´s dedication for ya!

You´ll all get an email confirming your prize, simply follow up and contact Brian at BlogEngage or wait for me to come back from my break and I´ll get you all set up.

Well done to the winners, and to all the others who entered, thanks fro your energy and support. Better luck… next time? Thanks also to Brian for offering up free BlogEngage memberships for the contest, and Rafflecopter for the technology which made it possible.

So… While the Alchemist is away, may you stay well, and blog better. Want to leave some feedback or share your thoughts? Please do – I´ll get back to you as soon as I return.

Blog Traffic – Getting it (and Keeping it)

Some stuff pulls in blog traffic.

Other stuff brings your blog visitors back.

Throw it all together and you’ve got the makings of a readership.

Something I’ve been noticing as I wander my (mostly) merry way around the blogosphere is that there are some fairly simple recurring themes going on with the blogs I actually read the posts of, and the blogs I come back to again and again.

In this post I’m going to sum them up…

5 Reasons I’ll Read Your Blog Post

1. The ‘Shotgun Headline’

Boom! You hit me right between the eyes with a headline so darn hard that I just have to know what the story behind it is.

Read my posts on Writing Headlines that get Readers and Dynamite Headline Writing to get more people clicking your blog post titles.

2. You’re solving my problems

“Holy Schmokes! That’s exactly what I wanted to know!” Any blog post which directly helps me solve a problem I actually have gets a thumbs up from me, and unless it’s completely impenetrable (vast blocks of text etc) then I’ll see it through to the end.

How can you find out your reader’s problems? Simple – read my post on how to Know your Readership

3. You make it easy…

Assuming you’ve got me on the page and there’s some interest in the topic, A post which is quick and simple to read, nicely broken down, and clear and to the point will have a high chance of getting me through to the bottom of the page.

Check out my Blog Writing Tips post to learn more about creating content that your readers will actually read

4. I’ve seen your face somewhere before…

Something about seeing a brand 5 times before it sinks in to the subconscious? Dunno, I just made that up but I’m sure the principle is true – If I keep running across a blogger through social media, blogging communities or other blogs, I’ll be interested to check out what it is they write about.

5. You’re in my fanclub.

Might be a little shallow but it’s true. If you’ve popped up on my Fanpage, clicked the like button and left a heart-warming comment, made a few comments on my blog, ReTweeted a few posts and hit that lil’ ol’ +1, I figure you deserve at least a visit and I’ll certainly check out your post. I’m not the only one – being friendly and helping other bloggers out definitely pays off.

5 Reasons I’ll Come Back to Your Blog for More

1. The things I learned from you worked

SEO techniques? Blogging Tools? Love ‘em. But if they don’t work, credibility is lost. However if you recommend some stuff to me and it helps – I’ll be back for more.

2. You’re solving my problems

See number 2 above. You help me fix my problems, I’ll think you’re great, and I’ll come back to read your blog some more.

3. I get a cameo appearance on your blog

Mention my name, link to my posts, whatever it may be… I’ll start to feel at home if I see my face up there in lights and I’ll probably be back. This is a great way to build on a relationship with other bloggers – check out what Ana Hoffman’s just done to thank some of her blog commenters in her recent post about finding the best broken link checker

4. For a chat

If you’re one of those bloggers who actually discusses stuff in your comments section (I try to be) then I’m often up for popping back in to see what else has been said, and keeping an eye open for more juicy topics where I can weigh in with a though or two. Not so keen to come back to those who publish and then vanish in a puff of plugins…

Make sure you’re using ReplyMe or a similar plugin to notify your commenters when you reply to their comments.

5. Your blog feels FUN

I’m actually quite a boring person. My two year old daughter doesn’t think so, but it’s true. I like to be cheered up when I’m online, and bloggers who manage to squeeze some humor into a post about link building, or some irreverent satire into their take on the rise and fall of Social Media get my vote immediately. Raising a smile in your reader is most definitely a good thing.

A lot of bloggers – at least in the early days – seem to be caught up in providing the most value they can. No bad thing in itself – unless it’s at the expense of developing their blogging voice. Writing naturally lightens the tone without forcing the fun (and let’s face it – you can’t force fun).

And there you have it. I’m sure this isn’t a comprehensive list – I hardly touched upon the small but unavoidable matter of choosing the right blog topic, and I didn’t really get started on the warning signs which send me clicking as fast as I can. Another post perhaps.

What about you – what makes you read a post, and what makes you come back to a blog for more?

Please share this post too – who knows, I may even swing by and read your blog…

Blog Traffic – 5 Reasons I’ll Read Your Post, 5 Reasons I’ll Come Back © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

Quickest way to get free Google traffic?

Use photos!

Web traffic is the life-blood of your online business. Without a handful of targeted traffic coming to your blog, you won’t make money.

You should’ve given yourself entirely to mastering traffic generation.

Believe me, if you don’t know how to do any other thing but this, you’ll succeed online.

You can outsource copywriting, web design, niche research, product creation and every manner of business practices to competent hands.

But getting hot traffic to your blog is a primary assignment.

If you pay someone to help you out, they may send trickles of traffic to your site. All you need is the right approach and everything will fall in your favor. Here are the 3 steps to optimize your photos and use it to generate free organic Google traffic.

Optimizing Photos For Free Blog Traffic

1.    Reduce Photo Size – Speed Up Your Blog

After the recent Google updates, speed became one of the factors of search engine performance. The first step in optimizing your images is to reduce the size. You should understand that content is the main reason people visit your blog. They want to solve their problems and photos only compliment this process.

I like to use 300 x 300 pixel sized image on my blog. I’ll position it within my content on the right. If you plan on using several pictures for your posts, reduce the size to speed up the blog.

Note from Jym: Here’s my tutorial on optimizing image size 

As much as you can, reduce the size of photos and work on your content. Secondly, if you have affiliate banners on your sidebars on any part of the blog, ensure it isn’t so big. Have you thought about affiliate banners?

2.    Use Keyword in “Alt” Session

When you upload a new photo for your blog post, there is a section where you can specify the “alt” tag. This area has a great impact on your search engine success. It’s also important when targeting readers with low internet connections.

Often times, if the image on your blog is big, it will not load instantly. Wasting readers’ time is a bad blogging practice.

They will be contemplating what type of image is taking their time. As they hover on it, they’ll see the title and this would inspire them to wait or simply click-off.

Google spider and other search tweaks make use of alt tags to determine the relevance of a page to a given keyword. Don’t just add any word to your alt tag, use the primary keyword you’re targeting – it’s very important.

3.    Photo Sharing – Off-page Links

The last formula for driving free traffic from Google is to build off-page links to your web pages. Or what we call backlinks. Photo sharing has evolved and pinterest.com has become the #1 photo sharing site where you can easily build links, direct free visitors to your blog and engage them.

The beauty and relevancy of your blog photos could motivate readers to bookmark, recommend and share with their readers.

Natural and quality backlinks are important in today’s marketing.

Google is looking for such links and there is a BIG reward for gradual linking system that comes naturally.

Web Traffic Takeaway

Do you need free traffic to your blog? Use these photo sharing and optimization tips as link-baits to attract quality and buyer traffic to your blog.

Consistently spoon-feed Google spider with the right contents and your overall search engine marketing will be productive – see you ahead!

Image: webprovise

3 Quick Ways To Optimize Photos For Free Google Traffic © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy & Michael Chibuzor

Sometimes, the best way to keep your blog visitors rests not in your content, but in your voice.

In fact – almost always.

Unless you provide the solutions and inspiration your readers are crawling up the walls to find, week in, week out, then you need something more than the plain ol’ facts…

Thing is, no amount of SEO, super-cool plugins, ‘Fan-dangled’ Facebook foolishness or crafty copywriting cleverness will truly satisfy a reader’s thirst.

Let’s face it – in almost every case, the info any one blogger shares can be learned somewhere else as well. Might be another blog, Wikipedia, somewhere else Googled (heck the info might even be available in – a book!)

So why will your readers want to come back and learn more from you?

Your Blogging Voice.

How to Find Your Blogging Voice

Finding your blogging voice isn’t about becoming something you’re not already.

It’s not about learning copy or being a professional writer.

It’s all about speaking to your readers.

Speaking to them as if you’re talking, looking them in the eye and opening up.

In my Blog Writing Tips post I referred to it as ‘Speak-Write’

Why Does Your Blogging Voice Matter?

Most of us had professors or teachers at school who were boring and reeled out the facts, the stats – and of course these things all have their place.

But – don’t know about you – I would pay far more attention in the classes where the teacher was almost foaming at the mouth from excitement about their subject.

The geography teacher who simply LOVED introducing his students to different cultures. The history teacher who was truly PASSIONATE about the things we could learn from a broken old clay pot.

Even the woodwork teacher who – although emotionally reserved – genuinely understood and transmitted the power he was revealing in the wood as he carved it…

Those were the classes I would turn up for, stay awake for, pay attention to. Heck, I’d even look forward to being there which was more than could be said for some of the other lessons I had in school.

Tapping into your own authentic blogging voice will have your readers looking forward to each post you publish, eagerly awaiting that notification in their inbox – regardless of the topic you’ve chosen to blog about that day.

It’s your voice they come back for

I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t concentrate on creating valuable content on a regular basis. Of course, you should.

If you want to succeed as a blogger you should also get a basic grounding in SEO, Marketing, Social Media and Copywriting. It will all help.

But amongst that, come hell or high water, make sure you get your head out the way often enough that your readers can feel your heart, your enthusiasm and your life pouring through.

Blogging isn’t just a science. It’s also about allowing yourself to be an ‘artful blogger’.

• Trust Yourself.
• Be Yourself.
• Write like you speak.
• Be Creative.
• Have fun.
• Connect what you write about to your life.
• Write as if you’re speaking to a friend (better yet, write for your reader avatar).
• Bring your personality into your blogging.
• Forget about perfection and let it happen…

Subscribe to be kept up to date with the latest posts at Blogger’s Alchemy, and remember to share this post with your friends and networks – it’s part of what keeps this blog running (and I always appreciate it when you do!)

How to Find Your Blogging Voice Like an A-List Blogger © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

Over 4000 Blog Visitors in 2 Days!

This is a post about how I got 4,288 unique blog visitors to a single post in under 2 days.

Think about it. That’s about 90 visitors an hour – not bad for a small(ish) blog like this one.

I’m won’t promise that you can repeat this with exactly the same results, but applying the strategies I used (which I’m going to share below) will certainly help increase your blog traffic.

Bear in mind also that traffic volume is only one element in successful blogging – but it’s certainly a major one. No traffic, no conversions.

How I Attracted so Many Blog Visitors

The post that pulled this traffic in was about the SOPA internet blackout protest on January 18^th. Almost all of the traffic came through Google organic search.

But here’s a thing -

• I didn’t do any keyword research
• I wrote the post faster than any other post on my blog
• I hardly edited it before publishing
• I hardly promoted it either (submitted to 3 blogging communities, pasted to my Facebook profile, Tweeted and shared on G+)

Imagine my surprise after two days working offline when I came back to check my analytics and saw the traffic numbers!

NOTE: The figure I’ve used for the title here is conservative – according to Incapsula my blog received over 15,000 unique requests on 18th and 19th January:

Laying the Foundation for Massive Blog Traffic

The largest source of blog traffic here at Blogger’s Alchemy is through organic search, which basically means Google (sorry Bing and Yahoo, but you know I speak the truth)

In order to successfully rank highly for terms which will bring in plenty of visitors to your blog, three things are needed:

1.Good content optimization

2.Some solid backlinking

3.The right basic SEO set up

My posts tend to be well optimized, meaning that I use keyword variations in the right places – title, URL, description, in-post, image ALT tag. (after a while. this stuff becomes second nature)

For a complete checklist for content optimization click the +1 button below to get my free Blog Post SEO Cheat Sheet. If you want some full on hand holding to make it as easy as possible, you might want to check out SEOPressor (Although my SEOPressor review gave the plugin the thumbs down, I conceded after further discussion that it is valuable for those beginning to learn SEO)

As mentioned, I didn’t do much backlinking to the post itself, nor any specific keyword research, but Blogger’s Alchemy has a fairly good SEO foundation. Here’s why:

• My blog loads fairly quickly – apart from using the fastest WordPress theme I could find, I’ve taken significant action to speed up my blog.
• I employ dofollow and nofollow carefully for links within my blog to make sure I’m not wasting link value on useless pages
• I tend to post regularly – plenty of consistent updates is a good thing
• I’ve been slowly building backlinks by promoting my blog posts to various blogging communities (such as Blokube, BlogInteract and BlogEngage (click here to win a free BlogEngage Membership)
• I’ve also been building backlinks with strategic blog commenting
• I’ve submitted my feed to a number of blog feed directories
• Every time I publish a post it’s automatically ‘Pinged’ to this WordPress Ping Service List. This means that search engines are quickly notified that I’ve updated my blog. (I also do some manual pinging using free services like pingler and feedshark)
• That’s it. I’m not an SEO wizard, what you see above, along with a few social media shares, is all I usually do to get visitors from organic search.

And the Secret Blog Traffic Avalanche Ingredient…

Coming up with good blog post ideas is vitally important because if your subject matter doesn’t interest anyone, it won’t get read. (simple really)

In my post 25 Ways to Discover Good Blog Topics, the first suggestion is to look at what’s new, or what’s news in anotehr word.

My post on SOPA hit on a very important topic with relevance to a large number of people (everyone using the internet, especially bloggers and webmasters), and I published it at the right time.

People across the world were just hearing or reading snippets about the issue, wanted to know more about it and how to be involved and were looking on Google for answers.

Since Google’s recent freshness update, there is a real need to time your news posts right – and I did.

And that’s it.

How You Can Benefit From All This

I got over 4000 unique visitors to a single post on my blog in less than 2 days because of three major elements:

1. Basic SEO
2. Topic
3. Timing

Here’s how you can benefit from it all:

• Develop your basic SEO skills and work on the overall SEO setup of your blog (follow the links in my SEO list above, and subscribe to be kept up to date with more SEO posts soon)
• Keep your eyes peeled for trending or potentially news worthy topics related to your niche, and don’t be afraid to tackle those which also apply to a wider audience than your main target readership.

Get in there fast on new topics which are being searched hard and talked about online, make sure your blog is built to rank, and you’re all set to surf the traffic waves as they come in from across the web.

If you want more in-depth information about elements of this topic and other strategies and tools for building a remarkable and successful blog, Subscribe for updates to stay in the loop.

Be sure to share this post with your networks, it’s part of what keeps Blogger’s Alchemy alive!

Image adapted from Red Carpet by Extranoise

4,288 Blog Visitors in 2 Days – Here’s How I did it © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

SOPA Strike Update

If you were online last week, chances are you saw something about the Internet Blackout Protest. With the participation of major sites like Wikipedia, Reddit and Google, It even made prime time TV news across the world.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are the bills being considered by Congress in the US this month, and for the first time ever, internet users stood up with a singular voice and made themselves heard.

For an overview of what these bills would mean for the internet and why it’s so important to stop them, read the SOPA Internet Blackout post I wrote before the strike on January 18^th.

Note: that post got well over 3,000 unique page views in it’s first 24 hours – this topic was MASSIVE – Lookout for my forthcoming post later this week on why it was so successful

Internet Blackout Results

Because of the action of web user, bloggers, online companies and webmasters across the globe, SOPA has been stopped.

US Congress has shelved the bill indefinitely.

The following Infographic comes from sopastrike.com, and gives an insight into just how huge the response was across the web to this protest:

If you took any action at all, well done. If you didn’t – this story isn’t over yet and you can still lend a hand.

Help keep this topic alive by sharing this post using the buttons to the left. Read and share other information about SOPA and PIPA, and keep talking about the issue on social media or raising awareness any other way you can.

US Congress votes on January 24^th 2012 on PIPA. If you’re in the US, fill in the form at americancensorship.org to add your name to the petition against the bill.

Leave your email address at sopastrike.com to be stay informed if this legislation rears it’s ugly head again and we have to take another stand.

Protecting Freedom On the Web

If like me you enjoy the freedom to use the internet, if like me you run a blog or website, either for fun or as a part of your living, I hope you’ll agree that SOPA and PIPA should be stopped and blocked forever.

Stopping piracy is all very well, but these bills are certainly not the answer.

Viva la Blogosphere

Sopa Srike Update – Internet Blackout Results © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

BlogEngage is a blogging community which has been mentioned multiple times here on Bloggers Alchemy, and with good reason.

Successful blogging rests upon quality content, strong foundations and design, networking, and effective blog post promotion.

BlogEngage has a role to play in at least two of those.

BlogEngage: Background

Established in 2007 by Brian Belfitt, BlogEngage was intended to provide a forum for bloggers to submit their own content without being labelled as a spammer, or some kind of ‘bad blogger’.

Around 7000 members have signed up over the years, about 1500-2000 of those are currently active. The BlogEngage homepage has a Page Rank of 4, and Alexa rank of just over 9k.

It’s a popular community.

Members submit posts from their own or other blogs, interact with other bloggers via personal messages and live chat, vote and comment on posts (as with many such communities, more votes equals more coverage).

Premium members have options to submit one or more RSS feeds automatically to BlogEngage and a number of other web properties, as well as having their banner prominently displayed across the site.

With a flow of over 200 fresh submissions daily, there’s a constant supply of quality content on a wide variety of blog topics, from SEO to personal development, movies to finance and beyond.

What Can BlogEngage Offer You?

Apart from the obvious networking and opportunity to connect with a myriad of other passionate and enthusiastic bloggers, BlogEngage will bring you traffic.

Even as a basic member, submitting your posts manually (it only takes a minute!) you will be building valuable links which will help to improve your search rankings.

Well crafted headlines will attract clicks, and as you network and participate in the community, it’s possible to bring in consistent traffic direct from BlogEngage itself.

On top of this, Brian hosts regular BlogEngage guest blogging contests offering fat and juicy cash prizes and publicity for the winners

A monthly fee can put your blog banner in front of lots of blogging eyeballs on the site, plus the automatic feed submission quickly builds links across BlogEngage’s portfolio of Page Ranked blogging community sites to your blog (or blogs!)

How Can You Get Engaged?

Normally, basic BlogEngage membership costs a one time fee of $29.99.

Premium plans with auto submissions start from $4.99/month all the way to $199, giving an increasing variety of benefits and bonuses along the way.

But here’s a thing. I’m giving away 5 normal memberships, and 1 year Gold membership – for free.

Free BlogEngage Giveaway Contest

You read it right.

5 Free BlogEngage Accounts (worth $29.99 each) and 1 Year Free BlogEngage Gold Membership (worth $59.88).

Here’s what you have to do to claim the prize:

Simply take the actions listed on the form below to click up points – whoever has the most points to their name at the end of the 30 day period, wins!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get it started in here!

Want more chances to win? Why not enter one or more of the other BlogEngage Contests which are running at the moment too:

• January 2012 Blog Engage Contest Giveaway
• 5 Blog Engage accounts and 1 year Gold membership
• Win Free Traffic And Backlinks To Your Blog with the 2012 Blog Engage contest
• GIVEAWAY: Win a Blog Engage Account (up to $89 value!)
• Blog Engage – Share, Engage, Drive Traffic and Grow Your Blog
• Giveaway: Get Free Blogengage Account Worth $89
• Who Wants a Free Blog Engage Account?
• The All New Blog Engage Plus Win Free Memberships

Good Luck Bloggers!

I’m not usually one to get political here at Blogger’s Alchemy – in fact, I deliberately keep political opinion off my blog. But this is an exception…

The Internet is Under Attack

If you’re a blogger, webmaster, or free user of the internet, turn off all distraction right now and focus on the information I’m going to share here.

The SOPA or ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ is worming it’s way through the American political web, and if it is passed, significant online freedoms will be taken away, jeopardising freedom of speech, the ability to build new businesses online unhindered by large corporate entities, and more.

Watch this video for a brief overview of what the bill is aiming to do, then take action via the links below to spread the word and prevent this bill from taking effect:

What You Can do to Stop SOPA

1. If you’re a webmaster, consider joining the many other sites of all sizes across the globe (including major players like Google, WordPress, Wikipedia and Facebook) in the internet blackout on January the 18^th from 8am-8pm.

WordPress bloggers can use one of the following plugins:

• SOPA Strike
• Stop SOPA Ribbon
• Simple Stop SOPA plugin

2. Go to the following sites to find out more, sign their petitions and follow the actions they suggest. If you’re in the US, use the links provided to email Congress. Use the buttons provided to share information about what’s happening with your social networks.

• sopacountdown.com
• americancensorship.org

3. Write a post or article and spread awareness about SOPA, and encourage others to do the same.

4. Share this post as much as possible, along with any others you find which are covering this topic. There are many around.

For more in depth coverage, check out this article at WebProNews:

Stop SOPA Blackout set for January 18^th: Here’s all the info

Now Take Action! It’s up to all of us…

UPDATE: Read my follow up post for the SOPA Strike Internet Blackout Results

Jan 18th Internet Blackout – Stop SOPA’s Internet Censorship © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

Finding Free Pictures for Your Blog

Some bloggers wonder why there is even a question about where to find free pictures for blogs.

Thins is, images add so much to a blog post, a picture really does say a thousand words – and it can bring in traffic too.

Pictures can break text to make posts more readable, grab attention from ‘passing traffic’, and give an opportunity to add both humor and color to a page. Heck, you can even influence the emotional state of your reader and develop rapport if you want to get really smart about it!

There’s numerous paid stock image, photo and graphics sites, but if you’re a blogger like me, running your blog on a relatively modest budget, the question is where to find suitable pictures for free (we don’t want to pay for them!)

This list will help you find the perfect images for your blog posts – and you won’t have to pay a penny/cent/rupee/shell/button/whatever.

Just make sure you take heed of licenses – credit and link where necessary, and of course – optimize your images right to make the most of their presence on your page…

Free Picture Sources for Bloggers

All of these are great resources – Try them out and see which ones work best for you. On each site there’s a search box where you can enter keywords which describe the kind of image you’re looking for, and will return a number of results. Find the download button, sign up if necessary (most of these don’t require it) and off you go!

1. Stock Xchng – Well categorised free images, all they ask is that you leave a comment for the creator of the picture to tell them how you’ve used it

2. Flickr Creative Commons – Vast repository of user uploaded photos. Check each photo license. Some require attribution, some don’t allow adaption of the image, Some are not allowed to be used in any commercial context.

3. Free Foto – Large collection of exclusive images, all require a link back with attribution. These images cannot be used in a commercial context, nor altered in any way. (So if you’re making money from your blog, you’d need to pay to use pictured from Free Foto)

4. Morgue File – Another excellent catalogue of creative images. All are licensed for remixing, use in commercial work and use without attribution to the original creator. The only requirement here is that you don’t claim ownership.

5. Wikimedia Commons – Another vast collection of well categorized images, particularly useful for scientific and historical images. Like Flickr, you’ll need to check the license on each picture.

Having trouble finding out what you’re looking for amongst the millions upon millions of images on the sites listed above?

Try using the free stock image search engine everystockphoto. It collects results from the sites above and more besides and if you can’t find a picture for your latest blog post in there, why not get creative and make one yourself!

What Makes a Perfect Blog Post Image?

It’s worth taking a little time to think about what a picture will add to your blog post. Here are a few thoughts on what to consider when you’re adding images to your blog.

• Steer clear of controversial graphics (sex, death, religion etc) – unless your niche is somehow connected to those topics. Even then, consider your readership and whether you may be putting off people who might otherwise enjoy your blog.
• Bold Images will serve you well if you’re promoting your blog post on Social Media platforms such as Facebook, or in blogging communities such as Blokube or BlogEngage.
• Bear in mind the color scheme of your blog – some colors simply clash and aren’t easy on your reader’s eye. You may even have a theme going on with your images from post to post, keeping a continuity of style helps build a professional feel and define your blog’s ‘character’.
• Make sure your picture is relevant to the Blog Topic. Sometimes if nothing seems obvious as an image to fit your post, you’ll need to think a little deeper. Use imagery from an analogy you’ve made, or a reference within the post. Symbolic images, or pictures of people acting out events or emotions described can work well too.
• It’s a personal thing, but think about how the image shape will fit within your blog post. Some bloggers like to embed pictures amongst the text of their posts. I like to have a bold image at the top of each post. Whatever your choice, edit the image size and file size before uploading – read my post on optimizing image size for a tutorial on exactly how to do it.
• Harder to quantify but what energy does the image carry? Does it feel depressing and boring, or uplifting and exciting? What emotions are you trying to evoke within your reader? Will your image help build connection and warmth by making them laugh, smile or feel something? Depending on your niche, this approach can add real value and impact to a post.

Have a look through some of the pictures I’ve used on my other blog posts. See if you can pick up on why I’ve chosen those particular images. Some are obvious, others less so.

When you’re reading other blogs, notice which kinds of images work, which add value to the page, which attract your eye, and why.

After you’ve shared this post with your social networks, leave a comment below.

What else would you like to know about using pictures in your blog posts?

What kind of images ‘do it for you’ on yours, and other blogs?

Where to Find Fantastic Free Pictures for Your Blog © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy

This Blog SEO Tips post is a guest post from Vineet Saxena, and marks the end of a holiday here at Blogger’s Alchemy. Part of this time away has gone into changing url’s from jymtarrant.com to bloggersalchemy.com – not an easy task!

3 Quick Blog SEO Tips

Your blogging future depends on the amount of traffic you receive, which may well depend upon your search engine rankings.  If your blog is properly Search Engine Optimized (SEO’d), then you’ll rank higher in the search engines and ultimately the increase your blog traffic significantly…

SEO is not confined to only keyword research and keyword targeted content. A lot of things have to be kept in mind to gain good reputation with your readers as well as search engines. Now I am going to share some of the most simple and useful tactics to gain SEO benefits.

1. Social Bookmarking - This is the one tactic which most of the successful bloggers have been using to increase traffic and links to their blog or website. Make sure to bookmark each post you publish. I personally use StumbleUpon, Digg and Facebook to bookmark my each post and the results have been great so far. As the search engines see your website on more and more social sites, they give more value to your site. Also, bookmarking helps your content to spread in your community, friends and followers.  Provide share bars in your posts so that your readers can easily promote your content.
2. Keyword in anchor text of backlinks - Make sure to include your main keyword in backlinks you create . Your keyword tells search engines about your blog and is a decisive factor in the search engine rankings of your blog. For variations, slightly change the anchor text but the main keyword must be there. (note from Jym: read my post on Anchor Text for more on this topic)
3. Go for both dofollow and nofollow - Generally, many bloggers only focus on building dofollow backlinks and ignore nofollow ones. The fact is that nofollow backlinks hold a lot of significance too. Search engines sometimes consider those websites as spam which have no nofollow backlinks. Focus more on dofollow backlinks from high pagerank websites but do not completely ignore the nofollow ones. (note from Jym: read my post on nofollow and dofollow for a more in-depth look at this)

Above are the most basic seo tips which, if you practice them, will help you create a successful blog and even make money online fast.

What areas of Blog SEO would you like to learn more about or have explained further? Leave us a comment below…

3 Quick SEO Tips to Boost Rankings and Increase Blog Traffic © 2012 Blogger’s Alchemy