Are You Optimizing Your Images for Better SEO?

You’ve tried everything you can think of to optimize your site, yet you’re still not getting the traffic you’d like. What else is there to do?

Consider optimizing your images and alt tags.

Take a look at the images on your site. If you were to view the image information (Right click > View Image info) for any given image on your site, would it tell you almost everything you needed to know? If it doesn’t, it should.

I recently paid a visit to one of my favorite gift e-commerce sites.  I thought I’d do an experiment with the image-laden site. When I checked to see what the image information was for this particular product, I was a little surprised to find that that the image name was not optimized and that it included very little contextual information about the product itself.

I’m not sure what this site’s analtyics are like or how they’re doing with their optimization, but I can guarantee that if they made a few tweaks they’d probably get even more traffic:

1. Get to know your keyword analytics and use them. Do people find your site because they’re searching for gag gifts, kooky gifts, fun gifts, uncommon gifts? Consider arranging your image hierarchy or image naming accordingly.
2. Use your analtyics information to create categories and subcategories for your images. In the example above, we know this is a product; however, they might have been better served by including “child” or “kid”  into their category hierarchy, subcategory “gift.”
3. If categories and hierarchies have you confused or you’re unable to change them with your content management system, at least use your analytics information to create more detailed image names. In this example 18615_med.jpg doesn’t tell me a whole lot if my images are turned off or if something is preventing me from seeing all of my images. Had the image name been funny-face-plate_medium.jpg, I would have known that I was should have been looking at a funny face plate.
4. Be sure you’re using similarly appropriate ALT attributes. Be forwarned, an ALT tag should not be used a description or label for an image (like most people do); it is meant to be the text equivalent that conveys the same information in the image would if it weren’t an image.  In the above example, the ALT tag could have read This 9-inch Funny Face Plate is $X.
5. Aside from the possible “visitor can’t see the images” scenario, another reason to optimize your images is that images, like links, H1 Tags and keywords are indexable and searchable. 1200×0-med.jpg doesn’t tell a crawler much; however, funny-face-plate_medium.jpg does. If I’m Holly Go-Presently searching for a Funny Face Plate, guess which image tag is going to help me get to your site?

An additional word about choosing the right file name

Make sure the word(s) you chose are logical and support your keywords. You’ll also want to use hyphens in the file name to separate words or phrases. Try to avoid using more than two hyphens and do not use underscores to separate words unless the word after the underscore doesn’t matter for your optimization. (Examples: facebook-seo_ecommerce.jpg; examples/how-to/optimize-keywords.jpg)

Last Chance for 50% off Ecommerce Amplifier

Just a reminder here. Today is the last chance you have to get 50% off your first month as a member of my exclusive online coaching program Ecommerce Amplifier.

If you’re still on the fence thinking about it, now would be a good time to take advantage of my proven system. Remember, this is a month to month program (no long term commitments) that you can easily cancel at any time from within your members area so you have nothing to risk (but so much to gain.) My system works with any shopping cart system you are using (open source, custom, hosted solutions, etc…), and don’t forget, as a member you get access to me as your personal mentor to help guide you toward success with your ecommerce business.

This offer is strictly limited and the 50% off coupon expires tonight. Once it expires the offer is closed. No exceptions.

Current store owners that have been a part of the system have seen fantastic results and continue to rave about it. Here are a few testimonials:

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity. Let’s build your business together.

See you on the inside.

How to use Google Analytics to Track Your First Time and Return Visit Buyers

More on advanced reporting with Google Analytics here.

Because your website is only as good as your ability to convert visitors into buyers, the following two advanced segment reports in Google Analytics will help you capture your first time visitor/buyers into repeat visitor/buyers. Follow the selections on the screen shots to set up your own site-specific reports.

First time buyer
This particular report can help you understand what motivated visitors to buy on their first visit. What you learn from this report can help you to motivate future new visitors to purchase in as few visits as possible.

Return visit buyers
You can use the return visit buyer reporting tool to understand your returning visitor’s behavior. If they didn’t buy on the first visit, use the data in the report to optimize your site or process to ensure you convert visitors to purchases sooner.

Ecommerce Amplifier Coupon Code Issue

Just a quick note here. Anyone that tried to join my online coaching program Ecommerce Amplifier yesterday with the 50% off coupon code may have got a message saying “the coupon cannot be used yet.” This was a temporary issue and has now been resolved.

If you tried to register during that time you can try again anytime again before the expiration date using that coupon and you should now get 50% off the first month as expected. I have also extended the offer one extra day due to this issue.

See you on the inside!

50% Off Ecommerce Amplifier. Limited Time Only

Ok, I’m looking for the next set of store owners who want to be part of Ecommerce Amplifier. The current group is working their way through the system having great success and now it’s time to add to the mix.

For a limited time only you can get 50% off your first month in my online coaching program. If you have been considering joining then now is a good time to take advantage of the opportunity. This is the first time this offer has ever been presented and likely the last time.

I’ve posted a coupon code on the front page of Ecommerce Amplifier that expires at midnight on March 11, 2010 (only 7 days from now!) Once the coupon code expires, that’s it. No exceptions.

Remember, as a member of Ecommerce Amplifier I give you access to the same tools resources and process I personally use to build very successful ecommerce businesses daily. Plus you get access to me as your personal mentor and can ask me anything you want about how to better your business.

Best of all, this is a month to month program (no long term commitments) that you can easily cancel any time you want by simply clicking a link—so you’re not locked into anything.

There’s no better time to start building your business. Let’s do it together.

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