5 Image Optimisation Tips For Search

Can you imagine a product page without at least one photo? Relevant images on your pages and posts help the page to stand out, help readers understand your message and can improve your SEO.

1. Image file types

Basic image optimisation begins with the original image file. There’s a huge array of image types to choose from. Let’s keep things simple!

JPEG is the traditional photo file. It’s great for photos, not so great for block colours, text and lines. JPEG also does not support transparency. They do lose quality when compressed but can be compressed quite a lot before it becomes noticeable.

PNG files can be rather large depending on its format. They support far more colours than JPG and GIF, which can make the file size huge. PNGs do support transparency and are good for images, logos and text. They don’t lose quality when compressed.

GIF images have been around forever (well almost, since 1987) and their small file size are great for the web. However, they have limited colours so often a PNG will work better for you. GIFs support transparency and animation.

It all boils down to file size. Yes, I am guilty for using PNG when JPEG would be better. The result is a larger file size than necessary.

Keep it simple

• JPEG for photos
• PNG for screenshots, logos, and other graphics
• GIF for animated images

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 1 – choose the right image file type for the job. #imageseo” quote=”Image optimisation tip 1 – Jpeg png gif? Choose the right image file type for the job.” theme=”style3″]

2.Image file size

The rise of Smart Phones and the mass availability of digital cameras almost makes everyone a photographer! The problem with photos from standard 8MB phones and digital cameras is they are physically large and therefore, have a large files size too. Your web pages really don’t need an image that is 3000px (and more) wide!

For example, you take a photo that is say 3264 x 2448px and then upload it to your website. You want it to display at 500px wide. What a browser actually does is load the full-size image then resizes it to 500px on the fly. Loading 3264 x 2448px takes longer than one at 500px.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 2 – Save space and load time, resize your images before uploading #imageseo” quote=”Image optimisation tip 2 – Save space and load time, resize your images before uploading” theme=”style3″]

3. Image compression

Even when you have chosen a suitable image file type and resized your image, the actual file size can be reduced further by compression.

Don’t panic!

There are online tools to help you, including:

• Kraken.io
• TinyPNG.com
• Compressor.io
• Optimizilla.com

Why is file size important?

Large file sizes take longer to load. While Google does count site speed as a ranking factor  your main consideration is the user. Research by the Aberdeen Group on e-commerce sites found that a 1 second delay in page load times resulted in a 7% loss in conversion, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and 11% fewer page views.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 3 – compress your images to improve loading times” quote=”Image optimisation tip 3 – compress your images to improve loading times” theme=”style3″]

4. Image file name

Shockingly, Google actually wants you to use descriptive file names for your images.

Why?

The filename can give Google clues about the subject matter of the image. Try to make your filename a good description of the subject matter of the image. For example, my-new-black-kitten.jpg is a lot more informative than IMG00023.JPG. Descriptive filenames can also be useful to users: If we’re unable to find suitable text in the page on which we found the image, we’ll use the filename as the image’s snippet in our search results.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 4 – Let search engines know what your image is with a descriptive file name” quote=”Image optimisation tip 4 – Let search engines know what your image is with a descriptive file name” theme=”style3″]

Basic image optimisation starts before you even upload your image to your website

Follow these 4 steps to optimise your images before uploading:
1. Choose the appropriate file type
2. Resize the image
3. Compress your image *
4. Rename the image with a descriptive file name

*If you run on self-hosted WordPress there are a range of plugins that will automatically compress uploaded images for you. I use the Kraken Image Optimizer plugin.

5. Image Alt Tags

As advanced as search engines are becoming at image recognition, they still struggle to “read” images. They rely a great deal on the image alt tag to provide more information.

The alt tag is also used when images are not displayed, for example when a person uses a screen reader. In this case using appropriate image alt tags improves the accessibility of your pages.

From a social stand point, Pinterest uses the image alt tag as the default Pin description when using the browser Pin button.

Using the image alt text is not only about image optimisation for Google and other search engines but is an important accessibility factor too.

Here’s what Google say about image alt tags. Note that Matt Cutts uses the term “alternative text”, he’s talking about alt tags.

Image alt tag best practices

As you can see, the image alt tag is pretty important when it comes to your image optimisation. Describe your image without going over the top:

• Yes, include your keywords if relevant
• Yes, include your location if relevant
• Keep it short and to the point – there’s no need to rewrite War and Peace in your alt tag. Is there an ideal length for alt tags? Hobo SEO suggest keeping them to less than 15 words.

Photo credit: jimd2007 via Fickr CC BY 2.0

Here’s an example:

This photo is a view of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station as seen from Spike Island in Widnes.  I chose it because the view will disappear soon enough when they close the power station and I am feeling almost nostalgic.

I downloaded the medium sized image from Flickr, it’s 640px wide.

The file name is now “fiddlers ferry power station widnes.jpg” changed from the original “1322965844_252c9a39e0_z.jpg”.  The file name says what and where, it’s descriptive.

The alt tag is “A view of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station from Spike Island Widnes”.  Again, it’s descriptive and contains the what and where.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 5 – Never forget the image alt tag for a quick #SEO win” quote=”Image optimisation tip 5 – Never forget the image alt tag for a quick SEO win” theme=”style3″]

2 Image optimisation tips for social media

6. Open Graph Tags

Way back in 2010, Facebook introduced open graph meta tags. Open graph tags allow you to define which images are important when sharing on social media. While Facebook created open graph, all the main social media sites recognisethe mark up..

Adding open graph tags to your website, pages and posts is the easiest way to get your chosen image from a page or post to be displayed when it is shared on social media. If you use WordPress, my weapon of choice is Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 6 – Facebook not showing the right image when you share? Use open graph tags” quote=”Image optimisation tip 6 – Facebook not showing the right image when you share? Use open graph tags” theme=”style3″]

7. Image sizes for social media

Each of the social sites have different recommendations for the optimum image size. When pulling through images from your pages and posts, some images can be cropped and lose impact.

You can of course, create several images ready for when people share your content on social media. Again, if you use WordPress, Yoast’s SEO has a section where you can add graphics for sharing on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.

Personally, being the least graphically talented person in the world, I tend to go for 2 image sizes.

The first is horizontal, my blog post header. I usually use Canva’s “blog header” template, which is 560px x 315px.

This image shows fine on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and G+ (although not wide enough to get a supersized G+ image). It’s worth noting that the sides and bottom of the graphic may get cropped so leave a margin either side and the bottom if you are using a text overlay.

I also create a longer image for Pinterest. Again, I usually use Canva’s Pinterest template which is 735px x 1102px.

You won’t see that image displayed in my posts unless you click the Pinterest share button.

[social_warfare]

I use Social Warfare, which gives me the option to define a Pinterest image without having it displayed on my blog. That’s just one reason I love the plugin – read “(Probably) The Best WordPress Social Media Plugin In The World” for more reasons.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Image optimisation tip 7 – Check your images display well when shared on social media” quote=”Image optimisation tip 7 – Check your images display well when shared on social media” theme=”style3″]

7 Image Optimisation Tips For Search And Social Media

With a bit of forethought optimising your images, you can really give your posts and pages some muscle and get them working harder for you.

1. Choose the right file type for the job
2. Resize images before uploading
3. Compress your images
4. Rename your images with useful file names
5. Use image alt tags
6. Use open graph tags
7. Check your images display well on social media

Effectively using images is also one way you can improve your business online visibility and reputation.  I loved this short course on Udemy, which explains reputation management including using images.

Over to you:

Do you optimise your images?  Which of these tips will you implement?  Do you have any useful image optimisation tips to add?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

The post 7 Useful Image Optimisation Tips For Search And Social Media appeared first on My Local Business Online.

The rise in free stock photo sites recently has provided us all with an invaluable resource.  When I opened my bookmarks folder I was a bit gobsmacked at how many free photo sites I had collected! It’s time I put some of these in a list and shared them with you.

More Free Stock Photos Than You Can Shake A Stick At…

But be careful!

As always, check the license requirements. Different stock image sites have different license arrangements.  Many release their photos and images under  CC0 (no copyright reserved). Play nice and fair – attribute where needed and buy people coffee on occasion too.

When using digital images for commercial reasons, please use due diligence.  Copyright is a murky thing and I am not a legal professional!  For more information about UK copyright notices, digital images and photographs see the PDF on Gov.uk

All the free stock photo sites below state that at least some of their images are available to download and use free, even for commercial reasons.  However, that does not release you from liability if you use photographs of copyrighted content or if the photo copyright is owned by someone else.

Warnings done! It’s time to get to the mega list of 50 free stock photo sites…

My Favourite Free Stock Photo Search Sites

1. Pixabay.com

Pixabay has thousands of free stock photos, vector graphics, illustrations, and video.  With a great search function, Pixabay is often top of my list to try when hunting for free stock photos and images.  All images are CC0 (released to the Public Domain, no copyright reserved)

2. Pexels.com

Pexels also has a great search function making it easy to find the perfect photo for your project.  You’ll also find free videos at videos.pexels.com

Free Stock Photo Sites

The following sites allow you to download a range of amazing photographs for free.  Do check the license arrangements!

3. Picjumbo

Picjumbo has a range of free photos for personal and commercial use.  Premium packs available.

4. Unsplash

Unsplash publishes 10 CC0 photos every 10 days.

5. Gratisography.com

CC0 free photos updated weekly by photographer Ryan McGuire.  You’ll often find fun and quirky images.

6. SplitShire.com

Free stock photos for commercial use by photographer Daniel Nanescu.  Premium packs available.

7. FoodiesFeed.com

Free food and drinks photos for personal and commercial use.  Premium packs available.

8. JeShoots.com

Free stock photos with CC0 license.  Premium packs available.

10. TravelCoffeeBook.com

TravelCoffeeBook has a wonderful range of photos from around the world, all with CC0 license.

11. StokPic.com

A wide range of free stock photos under CC0 license.

12. JayMantri.com

“free pics. do anything (CC0). make magic” Why, thank you!

13. CrowTheStone.com

Selection of free images released under CC0 license.

14. LifeofPix.com

High-quality free stock photos updated weekly.  CC0 license.

15. Picography.co

Free stock photos, CC0 license.

16. StockSnap.io

Free CC0 stock photos from the makers of the Snappa graphic editor

17. StartupStockPhotos.com

Free business stock photos with CC0 license.

18. Magdeleine.co

A free photo every day.  Choose license type either CC0 or attribution required.

19. New Old Stock

Vintage photographs from public archives free of known copyright restrictions.

20. PublicDomainArchive.com

CC0 public domain photographs  Premium packs available.

21. DesignersPics.com

Free photos for personal and commercial use.

22. GetRefe.com

Royalty free, natural looking photos. Premium packs available.  Login or email address required to download images.

23. Skitterphoto.com

A free photo uploaded every day with CC0 license.

24. Cupcake

Nothing to do with food but free photos to download.  CC0 licence

25. LittleVisuals.co

Sadly no longer updated due to the death of its creator.  His family maintain the site and request donations to go towards fundraising for portable defibrillators in his memory.  Donation not required to download images.  CC0 license.

26. Imagebase.net

Free photos (and some PowerPoint slides) for personal or commercial use.

27. Freejpg

Free public domain images for commercial and editorial use.  Also includes the option to download to mobile via QR code.

28. GoodFreePhotos.com

Large selection of photos released to the Public Domain.

29. KaboomPics.com

Free stock photos updated daily.  Attribution appreciated but not required.

30. ISORepublic.com

Free photos for creatives.  Free for personal use and commercial projects.

31. FancyCrave.com

Two new photos daily.  Free for personal and commercial use under CC0 license.

32. Skuawk.com

Small selection but lovely images. Free to download under CC0 licence.  Premium pack available.

32. FreeNatureStock.com

Does what it says on the tin… Don’t expect any laptops or buildings here. Lots of nature photos updated daily.  CC0 license.

33. Resplashed.com

670 free CC0 HD photos from Unsplash, but much better layout!

34. VisualHunt.com

Public Domains and Creative Commons license photos from around the web.  Download or embed.

35. Free-stock.photo

A searchable collection of public Domain CC0 photos, graphics and video.

36. Snapwire Snaps

7 free CC0 photos every 7 days.

37. Bossfight.co

Hi-res stock photos updated daily on CC0 license.

38. New York Public Library Digital Collections

Public domain photos from The New York Public Library

39. Shutteroo.com

Free stock photos from photographer Klaye Morrison.

40. Polarfox

Free CC0 stock photos.  Has a handy app for easy sharing from your phone too.

42. MoveEast.com

Photos by João Pacheco on his travels published on the CC0 license.

43.  MMT.li

Free for commercial use photos by Jeffrey Betts. CC0 license.

44. BarnImages.com

Free to use photos, attribution appreciated but not required.  Premium packs available.

45. OldDesignShop.com

A collection of vintage images believed to be out of copyright.

46. Tinyography.com

Photos by Ryan McGuire taken on his iPhone. Free to use under CC0 license.

47. Lockandstockphotos.com

Free stock photos under CC0 license.  Attribution appreciated but not required. Premium packs available.

48. Streetwill.co

Free photos licensed CC0.

49. MegaPixel.com

Free stock photos updated weekly.  CC0 licensed.

50. Tookapic

High-quality free and premium stock photos.

Spoilt for choice!

Good heavens, we’ve hit 50 free stock photo sites and I haven’t even opened my FireFox bookmarks yet!  Now you have no excuse not to bling your blog and social sites with fabulous images.

Over to you…

I know I’ve missed several free stock photo sites, what have I forgotten? Let me know in the comments.

The post 50 Fabulously Free Stock Photo Sites To Bling Your Blog appeared first on My Local Business Online.

In November, Google made an unprecedented move and published the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. Previously, we’d relied on an official 2013 condensed version or leaked copies of the Guidelines to gain insight into Google’s focus.

Your Business Website and Google’s Priorities

The Search Quality Rater Guidelines is a 160-page document issued to Human Quality Raters that outlines expectations with examples of what Google considers a priority and good practice. While the Quality Raters do not affect ranking, the Guidelines show us very clearly what Google’s focus is.

As a business owner with a website, it would be foolish to ignore such a large nudge! The great news is you don’t need an all singing, all dancing website with bells, whistles, and swirly bits to have a “quality” website.

If you are unsure of what a Quality Rater is, why Google uses them and an insight into 2014’s Guidelines, check out my Quality Rater Guide Leaked, What Businesses Need To Know post (it opens in a new tab so you won’t get lost and can come back here easily).

There are two significant changes in focus for Google in 2015:

1. Mobile everything (Raters are advised to rate from the perspective of a mobile user unless specifically requested not to).
2. A Needs Met focus (i.e. does it meet the search query and is it useful?)

Additionally, the 2015 Guidelines put a much larger emphasis on local search. Raters are advised to consider local intent when rating searches that could possibly be local queries.

What You Need To Know

I’m not going to go through every section of the Guidelines, If you want a blow-by-blow account I recommend reading The SEM Post’s review.

The concept of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trust) from the 2014 Guidelines is still very relevant and prominent in the 2015 Guidelines. Expertise has been redefined slightly and the standard of expertise will vary with the page purpose.

High quality pages and websites need enough expertise to be authoritative and trustworthy on their topic. Keep in mind that there are “expert” websites of all types, even gossip websites, fashion websites, humor websites, forum and Q&A pages, etc.

And go on to say:

High quality medical advice should come from people or organizations with appropriate medical expertise or accreditation.High quality medical advice or information should be written or produced in a professional style and should be edited, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis.

High quality financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, etc., should come from expert sources and be maintained and updated.

High quality advice pages on topics such as home remodeling (which can cost thousands of dollars) or advice on parenting issues (which can impact the future happiness of a family) should also come from “expert” sources which users can trust.

High quality pages on hobbies, such as photography or learning to play a guitar, also require expertise.”

Keep that in mind and I’ll include topics to address in the checklist below.

New Mobile Section

While the April 2015 Mobilegeddon was a bit of an anti-climax, it was the beginning of Google starting to distinguish between mobile-friendly and non-mobile-friendly web pages. The new Guidelines state Raters should rate from the perspective of a mobile user.

Mobile is now front and center of Google’s focus. As a local business, much of your web traffic will likely be from mobile users as people look for directions, opening times and contact details on the go.

As a bare minimum, your web pages should pass Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.  Note: The test looks at individual pages, not the whole website.

New Needs Met Section

Needs Met is a brand new section and once again the main focus is on mobile users with lots of examples and mobile screenshots. In fact, the Guidelines go on to say that any web page that is not mobile-friendly should receive a “fails to meet” lowest rating.

The main outcome here is can users easily see authoritative, trustworthy content that is useful and matches their query without jumping through any hoops.

The Relationship Between E-A-T and Needs Met

A web page can have a high E-A-T (expertise, authority, trust) score and a low Needs Met score. This is because Needs Met is reliant on the search query. E-A-T looks at the quality of the page content regardless of the actual query.

We’d all have bad hair days visiting MLBO for hairdressing advice…

An example that springs to mind is when I wrote a post that mentioned the term hairdressers in Widnes. The post itself wasn’t about hairdressers, in Widnes or anywhere else. I was using the term as a search example with screenshots.

For months, my post ranked for the term hairdressers in Widnes.

Months!

Now with the best will in the world, anyone searching for a hairdresser would not get the information they need from that post. It is totally irrelevant to the query and would not be useful.

Useless results should always be rated FailsM, even if the landing page has a high E-A-T rating. Useless is useless.

Conversely, a page with a low-medium E-A-T score but relevant to the search query, will not obtain a high Needs Met score. Google says:

On-topic, helpful, but low E-A-T results should get lower Needs Met ratings than on-topic, helpful, and high EA-T results. The Needs Met scale encompasses all aspects of “helpfulness,” and many users find low E-A-T results less helpful than high E-A-T results.

Your Local Business Website Google-Worthy Action Checklist

1. Showing E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trust)
A basic local business website should clearly show, who you are, where you are, what you do, when you do it and who is responsible for the website.

• Provide information about your business. This can be on your About page.
• Have a Contact page with full contact details. You can also include social pages and other points of contact.
• Check your location or full address is available location-specific product/service pages.
• Do you sell from your website? Provide customer service details (delivery, returns, refund policies and contact info etc.) where people expect to see them.
• Add your opening hours to your location pages.
• Add details of any trade or professional memberships if relevant. This can be on your About page.
• Include registration numbers (Companies House, VAT, and professional regulators if relevant).
• Provide Privacy policy, T&Cs, and other relevant policy documentation.
• Update or remove out of date information.
• Ask for reviews and testimonials – on your website and external review sites.
• If you blog, monitor comments and remove spam.
• Check for broken links and remove or replace.
• If you have additional monetisation on your website ensure that ads are not distracting and are relevant for your audience.

Your business website should be useful and well maintained. Google knows that small business websites may not be updated frequently, but does expect that information provided is current. Some websites are expected to be updated frequently:

Websites with medical information, legal information, tax information, etc. must be updated frequently. Users expect information about the most current medical thinking, current laws, this year’s tax information, etc.

• Do all pages serve a purpose and it is clear what the purpose is?
• Is it clear what the main page content is and not obscured by ads or other supplementary content?
• Is information provided current and up to date?
• Is your website is maintained – do pages display, images load or links work as expected?

2. Mobile-friendly

Many local business websites have a relatively high proportion of mobile users as people search for local information on the go. Pages should pass the Google Mobile-Friendly Test as a bare minimum. Also look at:

• How easy is it to read information on a small screen? (Avoid arty unreadable fonts and small font sizes)
• Do images fit on a small screen?
• How easy is it to navigate around your site?
• Can forms be completed easily?

To Sum Up

Along with the push to mobile, there’s a shift in search expectations from relevance to usefulness. A website with bells and whistles is not required, but your site does need to be functional. Does your business website provide information people need?

While this action checklist is by no means complete, it will give your local business website a solid ground to build from.

The Search Rater Quality Guidelines also cover:

• Know and Know Simple Queries (affects what information is displayed in search blocks)
• Supplementary Content
• Product Pages
• Advertising and Monetisation

Further Reading:

The Search Rater Quality Guidelines PDF 
30 Important Takeaways From Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines
2015 Search Quality Rating Guidelines Checklist: Aligning with Google’s Focus on Usefulness
The SEO Implications of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines

Over to you…
Will this latest edition of the Guidelines affect how you run and maintain your business website? I’d love to know in the comments!

The post Is Your Business Website Google-Worthy In 2016? appeared first on My Local Business Online.

That strange period when people plan fresh starts – in their business, with their health, in their finances and personal lives. We look to make changes, to be inspired and even motivated into action.

It’s a great time to be blogging and connecting with your audience.

While I don’t make resolutions, I too am guilty of “Wait till the New Year” syndrome.

Well, that was until now.

I decided to do a business blog challenge. Why start in the New Year when now is as good a time as any?

So two weeks before Christmas I dove in head first. This post is task 2. It’s not too late to join me – dive in the Build a Better Business Blog Challenge here, the water is lovely.

In the spirit of the business blogging challenge, I thought I’d put together a selection of business blog post ideas ideal for the New Year. Which ideas will resonate with your audience?

Business Blog Ideas For The New Year (And Beyond!)

Inspire and encourage

1. Highlight how you helped a client and the results achieved in a case study
2. Write an “actionable tips” post or series of posts that will help your readers improve their skills
3. Interview a client, why do you work together?
4. Embed a video that inspires you – why does it inspire you?
5. Pick a charity to support for the year – what do they do and why did you pick them?  Don’t forget follow-up posts throughout the year!

Share the love

6. Highlight another business in your local area and why you recommend them
7. Create a blog round up of your favourite posts from last year
8. Share with your readers – who inspired you last year and why
9. Interview a related business blogger and introduce them to your audience

It’s all in the data

10. Share results of a survey, study or research you conducted
11. Create an infographic from the results
12. Use an infographic created by someone else and write your opinion about the information

Look back

13. Review your year in business – what have you learnt?
14. Review your local area or business sector – what’s changed?
15. Create a “best of” your business last year post

• best blog posts
• best photos
• best videos
• best sellers
• best customers

…and add commentary. Why did you pick those choices?

Look forward

16. Interview people in your local area or business sector – what are their predictions for this year?
17. Share your plans for your business this year – give your readers a sneak peak
18. Discuss trends in your business sector – how will they affect your readers?

Look behind the scenes

19. Profile a member of staff or someone who supports you in your business
20. Follow the journey of a product from concept to creation
21. Create a photo or video tour of your workplace
22. Share your vision, tell the story of why you do what you do

Use the news and events

23. Share your opinion about a news story in your local area or business sector
24. Newsjack celebrity news and relate it to your business
25. Get involved in “national days”. Can you relate to any of these days?

• Festival of Sleep Day (3rd January)
• Trivia day (4th January)
• Twelfth Night (5th January – the last day of Christmas hurrah!)
• Old Rock Day (7th January – not music, but actual old rocks…)
• Bubble Bath Day (8th January)
• Play God Day (9th January)
• Houseplant Appreciation Day (10th January)
• STIQ Day (14th January)
• Wikipedia Day (15th January)
• Winnie the Pooh Day (18th January)
• Penguin Awareness Day (20th January)
• Employee Motivation Day (21st January)
• National Hug Day (21st January)
• SOS Radio Week (22nd – 30th January)
• Measure Your Feet Day (23rd January)
• Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (24th – 30th January)
• Breakfast Week (24th – 30th January)
• Global Belly Laugh Day (24th January)
• Blue Monday (the most depressing day of the year! 25th January)
• International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27th January)
• Chocolate Cake Day (27th January)
• Data Privacy Day (28th January)
• International Puzzle Day (29th January)
• Fun at Work Day (29th January)
• World Leprosy Day (30th January)
• National Story Telling Week (30th January – 6th February)
• Inspire Your Heart With Art Day (31st January)
• Backward Day (31st January)
• National Bug Busting Day (31st January – head-lice beware!)

26. Make up your own “National Day” – everyone else seems too

Get others involved

27. Hold a question and answer session on one of your social sites. Post the questions and answers on your blog
28. Host a competition
29. Conduct a survey and publish the results
30. Interview a reader or commenter on your blog
31. Accept a guest post from a related business

There you have it. 31 business blog post ideas to bring in the New Year.   Still short of ideas?  You’ll find more at “A Month of Blog Ideas for Your Local Business Blog“.

Summing Up

New Year can be a great time for bloggers.  As people commit to resolutions and change (for a few days at least!) they’re actively seeking inspiration, motivation and help.  How can you help your readers reach their goals?

Over to you…

Which ideas inspired you?  What blog posts will you be writing in the New Year?

Do you have any business blog ideas to add? Share in the comments, I’ll extend the list and credit you

The not so small print. I take no responsibility for the accuracy or even existence of the national days listed! Dates are for 2016.

The post 31 Inspiring Business Blog Ideas For The New Year appeared first on My Local Business Online.

It’s been weighing on my mind I am neglecting the My Local Business Online blog and therefore, YOU again.  But, I am back!

Over the following weeks, I will be building up a library of short, two-minute(ish) Boost Your Biz Online Visibility easy to action tips.    The tips will have a local business focus, but will also be useful for any small business who want to boost their online visibility too.

Very conveniently, #BYBOV isn’t in use by anyone that I have found so far on Twitter, which lends itself nicely to another tip in the pipeline.  There’s method in my madness!

#BYBOV Video Tip 1 is all about location.  There’s also a transcript below for those who prefer to read.

#BYBOV 1 – Location, Location, Location

Did you find this tip useful?  Please share!

[social_warfare]

[clickToTweet tweet=”Don’t state your location? You’re not in the game, you’ve not even got out of the changing room #BYBOV” quote=”Don’t state your location? You’re not in the game, you’ve not even got out of the changing room #BYBOV” theme=”style3″]

Boost Your Biz Online Visibility Tip #1 Transcript

Hi it’s Jan Kearney from My Local Business Online with a boost your biz online two-minute tip

These short online visibility tips are small, simple actions that you can implement easily.

Boost your biz online tip 1 is your location. For small businesses location is important, not just for Google or local SEO.

The web has always been about people. It is no surprise to you that people have purses and they’re the ones who buy from you not search bots.

There is also this momentum these days to shop local and use local services. On one hand the internet has broken down barriers and opened up the marketplace – even traditionally local based businesses tied to a specific area can sell nationwide and even worldwide.

On the other, there is still that human need to be part of a community – for human interaction, and to speak with real people. This is where small businesses really can excel.

How do people know you are local if you don’t tell them? Raising awareness doesn’t need to be in your face waving flags or banners and planting the biggest signpost.

Often online, the first point of contact with your business is not your website. It’s pretty standard practice to have at least one (if not more) social profile. And yet…

How many small businesses include their location at least on their profiles? That’s not including all the geo-tagging you can do on videos and images you can do on several of the social sites. Sometimes you may see a “UK” or even better, the county they’re based in.

Many social sites have some form of location-based targeting or location-based search function. If you don’t state where you are then you are not even in the game. You’ve not got your ball, you’ve not even got out of the changing room at this point.

Today’s two minute tip is to review your social profiles. Include your location on your profile. Adding your location to public social profiles works for you on several levels.

It gives a signal to real people, the most important thing, where you are based.
It also gives a signal to the social site you are on so they can use your information for geo-targeting and location based searches. It cements that online footprint of yours – showing you are who you say you are and where you are based.

It’s a simple action that builds benefits over time. What are you waiting for? Review your online profiles and include your location.

If you liked this tip, don’t forget to share it! I’ll speak to you soon.

Over to you…

Do you include your location in your social profiles?  Will you be adding your location now?  I’d love to know – share your opinion in the comments below!

The post Boost Your Biz Online Tip 1: Location, Location, Location! [Video] appeared first on My Local Business Online.

Facebook recently announced that they’re listening and have given users more control of what they see in their News Feed. It’s about time!

Now you have the option to indicate to Facebook those friends, Pages and groups you wish to appear first. The video below shows you how to better control what you see in your News Feed on a desk/laptop.

Select Friends And Pages To See First In Your Facebook News Feed

Video first appeared on Facebook here

On a mobile device, scroll down and look for the “More options” link.

Image source Facebook.

How Does Facebook Decide What You See?

It still amazes me that many people are not aware of the extent Facebook filters what you see in your News Feed. They have to, could you imagine seeing everything your friends and liked Pages posted? The News Feed would whiz past faster than Twitter’s and you’d never actually see much of anything at all.

Facebook use a secret mathematical formula to decide what you see in your News Feed. It’s constantly tweaked (I hesitate to use the word improved…) This year alone we’ve seen update announcements about:

• more updates from friends rather than Pages,
• less “Friend X liked” updates,
• less “promotional” posts from Pages

The algorithm also “learns” to varying degrees what you prefer to see by your actions on the Feed:

• Click,
• Like,
• Comment,
• Share

A recent addition is time spent on a specific update without doing any of the above actions. If you stop on an update flying through your Feed, that information will be fed to the algorithm too.

Not only will the algorithm attempt to show you more of what you tend to interact with, but it feeds this info into the ads selection too. You see more ads based on your interactions and interests.

It’s not quite as simple as all that – I can hear you yelling at the screen, that doesn’t work for me!

6 More Ways To Control What You See In Your Facebook News Feed

Obviously, you don’t want to add practically every friend and Page to your “see first” preference. It would defeat the object! How else can you control what you see in your News Feed?

1. Lists

Facebook automatically creates a few lists for you. These include:

• family,
• close friends,
• acquaintances,
• area (if friends add that info),
• schools (if friends add that info),
• people who work with you (if friends add their workplace)

You can also create custom lists and filter your News Feed to see only updates from particular lists. Facebook prioritise updates from family and close friends. It makes sense when you add friends or like Pages to add them to a list.

Lists allow you to post updates for specific groups of people, not just public, friends or friends of friends.

You really don’t need more than 1 Facebook account. Yes I am looking at you who has one for this business, one for that business, one for this selling site, one for that, one for real friends, one for family, one for friends who I don’t want them to know I really don’t like them and I’m stalking them…

Not only is more than 1 Facebook account against their TOS, you really do run the risk of your profile(s) being closed or changed to a Page therefore losing control. But you’re not actually “teaching” the algorithm in a consistent manner.

How to create a custom friend List on Facebook

A custom friends list will also allow you to post updates to specific groups of people.

• Scroll down and hover over friends in the left side menu and click more
• Click the Create List button
• In the pop-up, give your list a name and add members. NOTE you can only add friends at this point, not Pages
• Click the Create button
• On the new list page, click Manage List and select Edit List to add more friends and Pages if you wish

How to create an Interests List on Facebook

Interests lists are an ideal way of sorting all those pages and people you like into groups. You can filter updates by list and actually see updates from Pages you Like.

• Scroll down and hover over Interests in the left side menu, click more
• Click Add Interests
• Now you can choose to follow other people’s public Lists from the suggestions or you can create your own List
• Click Create List
• Select the people and Pages you want to appear in your list and click next
• Give your list a name, select who can see the list and click done

How to view your Lists News Feed

• Scroll down and hover over Interests in the side menu, click more
• Select the list you want to see updates from

Now when you add a new friend or Like a new Page you can add them to an appropriate list and be able to see updates when you view your List News Feed. Hover over the Liked or Friends button and choose a list from the drop-down menu.

2. Most Recent

Facebook shows you “Top Stories” by default in your News Feed. A simple way to control what you see is to switch to “Most Recent”.  The Most recent News Feed shows you updates in chronological order.

You still don’t get to see every update friends and Pages make – that would be too overwhelming!

In the left menu, click the drop-down arrow next to News Feed. Select Most Recent.

3. Unfollow people

Facebook filters your News Feed so much mainly because there are simply too many updates to show you everything. This is particularly true if you have a lot of friends and/or Like a lot of Pages.

One way to see more from people and pages you actually want to hear from is to unfollow people and pages you aren’t particularly interested in. You aren’t actually unliking or unfriending anyone, just choosing not to see updates.

Unfollowing is ideal if you have that 3rd cousin twice removed who insists on posting everything the kids do or you’ve liked your aunt’s new Facebook Page to show support, but you’re not interested in her business. It’s an easy way to cut down on updates without causing family feuds and mass fall-outs.

If you have “friends” you really don’t want to see updates from or like Pages you don’t care about – do both of you a favour and unfriend/unlike. Facebook isn’t a numbers game.

How to unfollow friends, Pages and groups

a. See the video above to unfollow several people/Pages at once, choose the unfollow option rather than “see first”.
b. To unfollow individual Pages and people from an update, click the drop-down arrow and select Unfollow.

I’m not for a minute suggesting you unfollow Wood For The Trees Coaching – she just happened to be in the feed when I took a screenshot

4. Hide all option

The Hide All option is great when you have that friend (you know the one…) who constantly shares articles from MostAnnoyingSiteEver.com You made the mistake of clicking once 3 years ago and now every share from the site turns up in your News Feed…

You can stop seeing shares from particular sites, pages and apps rather than unfollowing your friends totally.

Hover over the update, click the drop-down arrow and select Hide All From

5. I don’t want to see this

This option now seems to be reserved for ads and apps. Sorry, you won’t stop seeing ads but you may start seeing more relevant ads! I’ve also tried it on those annoying time-hop posts. Facebook is like a stroppy Teen, it has selective hearing – the damn things still keep turning up in my feed after a week’s absence…

Hover over the update, click the drop-down menu and select I don’t want to see this (if it’s available)

The update will disappear and you can click the message to let Facebook know why you don’t want to see the update.

6. Actually interact with your News Feed

By interact, I mean do more than like a few updates because you feel you need to (guilty!) The Facebook algorithm does (sort of) learn from your actions, but it’s a formula. A bit of maths doesn’t understand human nuances.  A like can mean so many things:

• I’ve seen this,
• I agree,
• I enjoyed it,
• I appreciate it,
• I like it,
• I like you,
• I’m liking so you know I am watching (creepy)

A like is quick and easy. The problem is if all you do is Like then the Facebook algo starts miss-interpreting your likes.

I noticed this on a personal level. I’m not the most social of people, I don’t keep my Facebook profile updated with everything I am up to, neither do I comment much on Facebook. I DO tend to Like things flying through my feed when I think on.

During the run up to the General Election I “liked” a few political based posts. Facebook then took it upon itself to show me more political based posts – most of which were Kippers or Conservative. I’m not the most political of people either, but those who pay attention would notice I tend to lean left of centre. I have no interest in and definitely do not like UKIP or the Conservative Party.

On a larger scale Mat Honan did a bit of an experiment. He liked everything (yes EVERYTHING) he saw fly through his Facebook Feed for 48 hours. What happened? You can read his findings over on Wired.  In a nutshell, his News Feed was intensely polarised – far-left and far-right interspersed with gossip column crap with very little coming through from his friends. His friends thought he’d gone nuts, or at least been hacked.

At the other end of the spectrum, Elan Morgan stopped liking all together and started commenting instead.  While she can’t scientifically say her News Feed is better, she feels it is – more conversation and connection with less crap. I think we all need a bit of that!

7 Ways To Control Your Facebook News Feed

There you have it, 7 ways to control what you see in your Facebook News Feed.  To recap:

1. Use the see first option for your favourite people and Pages
2. Cultivate lists of people and Pages you can switch your Feed to
3. Unfollow people, Pages and groups you cant bear to unfriend, unlike or leave.
4. Try using the Most Recent option to see a different view of your News Feed
5. Hide All from sites that just drive you nuts
6. Use the “I don’t want to see this” option on apps and ads
7. Actually interact with your News Feed rather than mindless liking – does it make a difference for you?

Over to you…

How many of these techniques do you use to control your Facebook News Feed? What works for you? What doesn’t? I’d love to know in the comments!

The post Facebook News Feed: 7 Ways To Control What You See appeared first on My Local Business Online.

What are Twitter Hours?

Twitter Hours or Tweet Chats are real-time discussions taking place on Twitter. They often revolve around a common theme or location. Taking part in a Twitter Chat is perhaps the easiest way to connect with compatible businesses and potential customers. All you need to get started is a Twitter account and a Tweet Chat to join.

Local Twitter hours are great for connecting with other local businesses and get your Tweets in front of more eyeballs. Like everything else “social media” local Twitter hours work best when you are actually social (shocking right?)

10 Top Tips for Local Twitter Hour Chats

1. Tweet chats can move very quickly – especially the large chats! Use a tool to help you follow the chat. [clickToTweet tweet=”Tweet chats can move very quickly. Use a tool to help you follow the chat.” quote=”Tweet chats can move very quickly. Use a tool to help you follow the chat”]  I have a set column for each chat in TweetDeck. You can do the same in Hootsuite or try Tweetchat or Tchat (both automatically add the # to your tweet).

2. Prepare! Some Twitter hours and chats have set topics and questions, check them out beforehand and have your tweets ready to take part.

3. Check out the rules of individual local Twitter chats before taking part. Some allow promo tweets, others don’t! [clickToTweet tweet=”Check out the rules of individual local #Twitter #chats before taking part” quote=”Check out the rules of individual local Twitter chats before taking part”]

4. In local Twitter hour chats, stay local with your Tweets – people really don’t care and it’s not relevant if you are UK or Worldwide [clickToTweet tweet=”In #local Tweet chats be local with your Tweets – people really don’t care if you are UK or Worldwide” quote=”In #local Tweet chats be local with your Tweets – people really don’t care if you are UK or Worldwide”].

5. Tweet live – don’t just schedule your Tweets into a chat. There’s nothing more annoying than replying or asking a question and having no response.

6. Use the # tag in your conversation.

7. Say hi and have a natter – get to know your fellow local Tweeps. Just like regular networking, follow up!

8. Reply to 1-1 tweets! Use .@ (a “.” in front of @) so your tweet shows up in all feeds.

9. Re-Tweet and follow others taking part in the chat. You don’t need to RT every tweet or follow everyone. But remember, the more you put in the more you get out

10. Show rather than tell – even with promo tweets, showing your expertise is better than a straight ad [clickToTweet tweet=”Show rather than tell – even with promo tweets, showing your expertise is better than a straight ad” quote=”Show rather than tell – even with promo tweets, showing your expertise is better than a straight ad”] …and is more likely to be re-tweeted.

Free Twitter Chat Tools

It can be very difficult following a Tweet Chat directly on Twitter.  The larger the chat, the more confusing it can get!  I know I go bog-eyed at the speed Tweet Chats move.  Brandwatch have a great list of 10 Free Twitter Chat Tools. To get you started, here’s 4 Tweet Chat tools I recommend:

TweetDeck: https://tweetdeck.twitter.com
Hootsuite: https://hootsuite.com
TweetChat: http://tweetchat.com
Tchat: http://www.tchat.io

Most important of all…

Dive in and enjoy! Local Twitter Hour hosts are generally great (and patient!) people. They’re are happy to answer your questions, help you out and point you in the right direction

The (Almost) Ultimate List of UK Local Twitter Hours and Chat Hashtags

There are literally hundreds of Twitter hours and chats available. New local Tweet Chats pop up all the time and old ones die out – it’s impossible to keep up with them all.

I have not included Hours and Chats in this list with inactive hosts. Of course, I may have missed many UK Twitter hours that I am simply not aware of – do tweet me @jankearney if you love a UK local Tweet Chat that’s not listed here!

I’ve focused on UK Twitter hours and chats and you’ll find a range of regional chats and interests chats. Both are a great way to connect with people.

Without further ado – here’s the (almost) ultimate list of UK local Tweet Chats!
Updated February 2016. Now 112 regional UK Twitter hours, 67 topic/interests Twitter hours, 20 UK promo Twitter hashtags

Thanks to…

I originally started compiling a list to help clients who wanted to get more active on Twitter.  It also came in handy when managing clients Twitter accounts too!  While I no longer manage Twitter accounts (frankly, there are people who love social far more than I do – give Alex a buzz over at Swift VA who manages social accounts) Twitter Chats keep coming up in, well chat.

Recently, local Twitter Chats came up at a BizMums meeting.  Since I am sat on my spreadsheet, I dug it out, dusted it off, culled a few chats that appear to have lost their hosts and published it with 10 Twitter tips as a PDF shared with the Cheshire BizMums Facebook group.

That PDF formed the basis of this post. I’ve updated the PDF in February 2016 and you can have a copy too, just pay with a Tweet (or share!)

A year has flown by since I asked, but many thanks to lovely members over on G+ UK Connect Community who let me know about their favourite chats.

Drew Patterson – #AVYourSay and Julies Picks
Donna Beckett
Mark Tillison – for a whole slew of ideas, he has a fab list over at Tillison Consulting
Michelle Masters – hostess of #CumbriaHour
Julia at Elite Cleaning
Kerry Field
Kaelia Preston

Join me on Twitter

I’m the host of my local area Twitter hour, #HaltonHour. It runs on Thursdays at 8pm.  If you do business in and around Widnes and Runcorn, I’d love to see you there!

Over to you…

Do you have a favourite UK local Twitter Chat that’s not on the list?  Let me know in the comments or tweet me @jankearney

The post The (Almost) Ultimate List of UK Local Twitter Hours Hashtags appeared first on My Local Business Online.

Email spam has to be one of the most irritating things online. For me, email spam is up there with bloody annoying pop-ups and website sliders.

On the other hand…

As someone who should use email marketing more (I know – practice what you preach Jan!), getting your email to actually land in the recipients inbox can prove challenging. If you’re not careful, your email is locked outside the castle inbox and someone with a very bad French accent is farting in your general direction.

I did get the giggles seeing this Monty Python inspired infographic fly through one of my many feeds and just had to share it here. I do like a bit of Monty Python silliness from time-to-time. Just ask my daughter, she hasn’t forgiven me for skipping around Tescos in Leeds pretending I was riding a horse humming, “Bravely Bold Sir Robin, rode from Camelot” years ago…

Onwards and upwards!

While this infographic is a bit wordy, it is worth a read. Thanks Novastor for the chuckle this morning with my coffee.

How to avoid the Spamish Inquisition, email filters and blacklists (in brief)

No single action is likely to trigger a spam flag or block.  It’s often a mix of actions.  Every spam filter is different and have different trigger scores.

1. Watch your language!  Some words are more likely to be seen as spammy than others, for example:

• money
• cash
• buy
• free
• offer

2. Avoid excessive urgency.  Act now!!!!!!! (should have fingers chopped off for excessive punctuation too!)

3. Get permission.  (Giving you my card at a network meeting is NOT permission!)

4. Change your template regularly.  Or better still…

5. Use default formatting.  Plain text is just fine…

6. Don’t buy bulk email lists.  (Don’t start me on the number of mails I get PER DAY that I haven’t asked for, don’t want and really am not interested in…  Yes, I’m looking at you franking machines, photocopiers, utility suppliers and the rest.  I don’t even bother unsubscribing these days, just marked as spam.)

7. You need words!  An email with just images or video is asking for trouble.

8.  Slow down...  A wall of emails all in one day does you no favours!

Email Spam and the Law

You’ll notice the infographic talks about CAN-SPAM and the FTC – very American.  Over here in the UK we also have laws about spam:

Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations – E-Marketing Guide

And now for something completely different…

For your viewing pleasure, why not have a sing-a-long with Brave Sir Robin too.

Over to you…

Does your email spam filter work overtime? Are you a Monty Python fan? Most importantly did you sing a long to Brave Sir Robin? I’d love to know in the comments!

Don’t forget, if you found this post useful to share it with your network too

The post No-one Expects The Spamish Inquisition! (Email Spam Infographic Guide) appeared first on My Local Business Online.

You click the share button or start to comment and see you are logged in as your Google+ Profile.

There are work-arounds for sharing to your Google My Business Page. A simple copy and paste of the link to your Page or use a scheduling app like Buffer. But no matter how you hold your mouth, stare and swear at the screen is it possible to +1 or comment as your Google My Business Page on blogs around the web.

How To Comment And Share As Your Google My Business Page

Of course, it is possible to +1, share and comment as your Google My Business Page.  You need to be logged in as your Page’s Google Account.  You can’t access it by default, but need to set up a password in your settings.  The video below shows you how.

How To Create A Google Account For Your Google Plus Page

1. Sign into your Google My Business Page

2. Go to settings

3. Scroll down to ‘Third-party tools’ and click the set up a password button

4. Re-enter your Google password

5. Choose a password for your Page Google Account

You can now login to Google directly as your Google My Business Page and +1, share and comment where available around the web.

A Handy Tip Or Two

You’ll notice in the video I log out of my personal Google account and log back in as my Google Plus Page.  I do this because I have access to several Google accounts for clients and I prefer to log out to avoid embarrassing mistakes!

If you use the Chrome browser you have access to the Chrome profile management tool.  Here you can log into different Google accounts without logging in and out by selecting a Chrome profile.  Logging into Chrome automatically logs you into Google.

Just click the profile selection button in the top right corner of Chrome to set up a profile for your Google Plus Page.

Select switch person then click add person in the new pop up

If you want to comment on Blogger blogs as your Page Google account, make sure you are signed in Google and pop over to Blogger.com before you leave your very first comment.  Blogger should show your Page description, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click the button.  Now when leaving a comment on Blogger, you’ll show as your Page account rather than Google (unknown profile).

Over to you…

Will you now use your Google My Business Page to share and comment around the web?  Feel free to try it out in the G+ comment section below  (Good old fashioned WordPress comments are also welcome!)

The post How To Comment And Share As Your Google My Business Page [Video] appeared first on My Local Business Online.

It should be easy to add social share buttons to your site – in fact it IS easy to add social buttons and that’s part of the problem.  It’s a choose your own adventure story right on your WordPress site.

The Problem With WordPress Social Media Plugins

The hunt for the best WordPress social plugin for your site is frustrating.

You find a social plugin you like the look of and discover its not mobile friendly or incompatible with other plugins. Perhaps you need to choose between speed and functionality or have a degree in reading set up instructions to get the plugin to do what you want it to do.

Getting more common with the shear volume of plugins available is finally finding a social media plugin:

• you like the look of,
• does what you need it to do, and
• you can live with the speed

…to wake up one morning to discover it’s no longer supported and it crashes and burns on a WordPress update.

Over the last 4 years, I’ve tried more social share plugins than I dare count and recommended quite a few depending on needs. Because of the amount of testing I do here on the blog (and the fact I am a plugin-a-holic) I usually have far too many plugins installed. It’s an ideal testing ground for seeing what falls over and what doesn’t!

I’ve been through a lot of social media plugins and killed many…

Why change social media plugins (again)?

The speed of my blog went from bearable (2-4 seconds depending on time of day and where it was tested) to horrific double digits. So slow it annoyed me let alone anyone else.

A clean-up was needed. My share buttons along with a few other WordPress plugins were consigned to the deactivated and deleted plugins in the sky. I tweaked and twiddled a bit and really should find the courage to move my host again…

Shareless, my quest for the ultimate WordPress social media plugin began again in earnest!

Plugins on, plugins off. On, off… Nothing just right – I felt like Goldilocks tasting porridge.

At this point I’m almost tearing my hair out. I’m sure you will sympathise as a WordPress user who has struggled to find the best social share plugin for your blog.

Thoughts went back to earlier in the year when a new premium plugin I loved the look and sound of was released. The problem was comments about being incompatible with Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin.

Not to mention, the name is a total turn off for me. My ingrained hype filter is so powerful – killer, ninja and anything remotely similar has an uphill battle to get my attention more than a tut and roll of eyes.

Who thought of Social Warfare? Really? Was that name necessary?

BUT I’m seeing the plugin on a few blogs I pop in and read. Don’t tell me you don’t check the source code to see what theme or hint at plugins used on a site – I’m sure it’s not just me who does that!

The plugin does look rather nifty. I can close my eyes so I don’t see the name. AND the conflict with Yoast was fixed…

The do I, don’t I dance

It’s a premium plugin with a horrific name. There’s no trial or free version – will it kill the blog? I’m very good at killing the blog with plugins. I class myself as an expert in blog killing.

Other than seeing this plugin pop up on blogs I read and finding the sales page, I had no reference point on how good it actually is. I dithered, hummed and arrhhhed about buying the plugin.

Obviously, I caved in because I’m writing this.

What this particular WP social sharing plugin does is well worth throwing $24 at (about £16 in real money) and trying it out.

What’s so good about Social Warfare?

Where to start?  It’s a fab little social media plugin.  I’m so impressed I couldn’t resist borrowing Carlsberg’s tag line.  Indeed, if Carlsberg made social sharing plugins, this is what it would look like!

Every post can have a custom title, description and image for sharing on social media.
Yes, I know Yoast does it and I am incredibly lazy using that function. Social Warfare also includes the ability to upload (hold on to your seats, this is cool) images for sharing to PINTEREST.
No more faffing with bits of code or inserting long images in posts!  Even someone like me who can’t create gorgeous graphics loves Pinterest – it’s still my largest social referrer.

Every post can have a custom Tweet – I really need to do that!

Social share buttons can simply be turned on and off, both above and below the content for each post right in the post editor or site-wide in the display settings.

You can manually place your share buttons in your post too, with a nifty shortcode like this…
[socialWarfare]

Feel free to click it!

Customise the colour of your share buttons if that’s what floats your boat.
Personally, I like share buttons to look like share buttons in share button colours.  Call me old fashioned…

Include a click to tweet quote in your post.
Again, something I don’t use enough.  Currently I have Co-Schedule’s plugin installed.

Turn on a sniply buster to bounce your pages out of any frames.

Turn on and off social share counters.

Have a floating share bar that moves down the screen with you.
I like mine at the bottom. A recent update now allows you to set the floating bar to the side vertically too.

Oh and not forgetting it’s:

• mobile responsive,
• light weight,
• quick to load.

I’ve not killed the plugin yet…

I took the leap.  I closed my eyes, ignored the horrific name and bought my Social Warfare plugin a couple of weeks ago. So far I haven’t killed the plugin.  That’s always a good sign.

It’s been an unusual couple of weeks of pushed out WordPress security updates quickly followed by WP 4.2 and 4.2.1.  It really isn’t normal to see so many WordPress updates in such a short space of time.  Social Warfare has had its time with a multitude of updates and plugins being installed, activated, deactivated and deleted.  It’s still standing.

If the plugin was going to fall over, this last few weeks would be the ideal time.  Of course, no one can say it will work on every WordPress set up.  As someone who doesn’t know good code from bad, my acid test is can I kill it on my blog.  Social Warfare has passed a battering and I am a happy bunny!

What don’t I like about Social Warfare?

Originally, I didn’t like that there was just one set of social buttons. They are lovely modern looking buttons but you’d expect more in a premium plugin. A recent update now has more styles available. Combine those with the colour and fading variations you can select, apparently you now have 72 varieties of social button.

No-one I actually know uses Social Warfare. I’m not one to take a great deal of notice of testimonials.  It was a close my eyes and leap decision based on what I had seen on blogs I pop in to read.
A trial would be nice, just to see if I could kill the plugin. $24 isn’t a huge amount to spend, it’s great value now I know the plugin is as good as it looks.

There’s no matching social follow buttons. It would be nice to have a coordinated set!

How does Social Warfare stack up against other WordPress social media plugins?

The additional functions really make Social Warfare stand out from free plugins.

• Add images for pinning without having a long image display on your blog,
• Ability to turn social share buttons on and off at post and page level.
• The click to tweet function means I can get rid of another plugin!
• The frame breaker is a bonus.
• The plugin is very easy to set up and use

I’ve not tried other premium social media plugins to compare against Social Warfare. To be honest, even free plugins with a premium option I haven’t upgraded because they didn’t do everything I wanted them to do, something wasn’t quite right or I struggled with set up.

The free lightweight social media plugins simply don’t have the functionality you get with Social Warfare.

Free lightweight social share plugins I recommend:
Genesis Simple Share (Genesis themes only)
Social Media Feather
Simple Share Buttons Adder

I also like Shareaholic because it’s several plugins in one:

• share buttons
• follow buttons
• related posts

The downside of Shareaholic is:

• it does collect data for advertising,
• you need to set it up on their dashboard off your WordPress site to stop ads showing in your related posts.
• it slows down your site a LOT with all the data calls

For me, there’s no contest. My quest for the best WordPress social media plugin has finally come to an end. I give Social Warfare 5 stars and wonder why it wasn’t created sooner.  It’s definitely time for a Carlsberg coffee to celebrate!

Over to you…

What WordPress social media plugins do you use? How many battles have you had trying to find the perfect social plugin for your blog? Do share in the comments!

Don’t forget! If you are still hunting for the perfect social plugin for your WordPress site check out Social Warfare.  You’ll be as pleasantly surprised and chuffed as I am with what it can do!

[schema type=”review” url=”http://www.mylocalbusinessonline.co.uk/socialwarfare” rel=”nofollow” name=”Social Warfare WordPress Plugin” description=””Beautifully responsive, lightning fast share buttons for your WordPress blog”” rev_name=”Social Warfare” rev_body=”The best WordPress social media plugin I have come across. Does what it says on the tin. Looks great, fab functionality, easy to use and I haven’t killed it yet…” author=”Jan Kearney” pubdate=”2015-04-29″ user_review=”5″ min_review=”1″ max_review=”5″ ]

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