The Blog Herald

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Do Your Readers a Favor by Incorporating Web Page Screenshots and Thumbnails Posted: 27 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST With the overwhelming amount of content to be found online, it is a wonder than anyone can catch – and keep – the attention of readers. There is the “old” adage that content is king, but with so many excellent copywriters and bloggers making a living out of content creation, what else can you do to make sure that your blog or web site gets the edge that you need? Source Images. Photos. Screenshots. No matter how many times the phrase “a picture paints a thousand words” may be used, no matter how much it may grate on your nerves because of overuse, it rings so – especially online! Think about it… What are you more likely to click on: a simple hyperlink or a web site preview/thumbnail? If you’re like most people who go online, you’ll go for the latter. And that is why bloggers and web designers are putting a premium on incorporating images, including web page screenshots and thumbnails, in their work. Do you really have to? Well, no. If you don’t want to use web page screenshots and thumbnails, you do not have to. But, do you really want to lose out on the advantages it brings? Give your readers a better idea of what’s in store. Online readers have short attention spans. They don’t have time and patience to go through an entire page and really pore through the details. If you want something to stand out, then giving a preview will give the reader enough information to decided whether to click or not – with one glance. Provide added authority value. Providing links is easy. Anyone can do it in their sleep. Hence, readers can develop a “resistance” to links. They may even reach a point where they simply ignore them. With a preview, you actually add authority to your content. The message that you send is that you exert extra effort to make sure that what you bring to the table is worth your readers’ time. Additionally, think of search results. When you have a whole page of links in front of you, chances are your eyes will gloss over the text. What stands out? The result that has an image attached to it! Now, what if there are several results that have very similar URLs and descriptions? Again, the result which has an image preview will add authentication – depending on what is shown. Increase advertiser interest. Advertising is one of the main streams of income online, and it works both ways. You can earn from your web site through advertising, and you can expand your readership by advertising yourself. Either way, web site screenshots and previews will help in this regard. Put both points above together, and you have a better chance of winning it in the advertising arena. How to do it Now comes the million-dollar question: how do you go about integrating previews? This concept is nothing new, so you can do it the good old way: manually capturing a screenshot and going through the process of displaying it on your site. Of course, with our instant/automated culture, there is a better and easier way to do this. There are now many services which offer web page screenshots and thumbnails generation – all done with either a plugin or simple line/s of code. ShrinkTheWeb Certified Screenshot Integrations is one generator which can very well become an indispensable tool in your arsenal. It doesn’t matter what platform you are using, because they have a huge integration library and have 3rd-party software plugins which are certified, so you know that you are using something trustworthy. What are you waiting for? Do your readers – and yourself – a favor, and incorporate previews in your site now! The post Do Your Readers a Favor by Incorporating Web Page Screenshots and Thumbnails appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Beyond Google: 5 Social Media Strategies for 2014 Posted: 27 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST It doesn’t take an expert to see that Google search no longer has the same reach that it had just a few years ago. Sure, Google still controls more than two-thirds of American search, but it isn’t the only platform by where people connect online. Thanks to social media, your customers may be just as likely to find you on Facebook or some other sites as they are using Google search. Here are five social media strategies (websites) for 2014 that every company should consider. Facebook — What are you using Facebook for? Hopefully, your business has its own page there, perhaps multiple pages for different and distinct products that you sell. Facebook can no longer be ignored: there are more than 1 billion global users engaged. Use it post new information about your company, to elicit feedback from your customers, and make special promotional pitches. Encourage people to “like” your pages and to reshare your information. Twitter — There are many ways to approach Twitter, but it should be approached with care. The site still attracts an overwhelming share of spammy posts, but it is also being leveraged by businesses to reach out to their tribe. Where Facebook is about telling your story on your page, Twitter is a collaboration that benefits all. Moreover, you’re considered a more constructive user if you shout out (retweet) other helpful and useful posts more than your own. Through that effort you’ll attract more followers and loyal ones at that. LinkedIn — The most popular website for businesses is LinkedIn. And your customers will be there especially if they are also other businesses. Even if your business model doesn’t include the typical LinkedIn user, the site is very useful for people that need to connect with other businesses such as suppliers, end users, and competitors. LinkedIn also allows you to share a post, reaching an audience that may not be found on the other sites. GooglePlus — The youngest, but one of the fastest growing of the large social media sites is Google Plus. You might think that Google is hedging its bets with this site as it sees people devaluing search in favor of social media. That’s a correct assumption too. Google Plus allows you to connect with people by circles and stay in touch with them. You can reach a broader audience or narrow your updates to your core group, an especially useful option if you have a strong following and want to limit sharing your information with your closest followers. Pinterest — If you cannot reconcile Pinterest with your business model, do not lose heart. After all, how can pinning photos online attract people to your business? It can if those pictures are unique, interesting, entertaining and valued by other users. People that use Pinterest are quick to like and share the photos that they find. The great thing here is that one repin can generate a lot of traffic as the photo links directly to your website. Check your web analytics and you may be in for a surprise too as Pinterest sends people to visit your site. The Rest Beyond the five, there are other sites that may work out well for your business model. Instragram is popular with some, providing yet another way to share pictures and short videos. Digg, Reddit, and a handful of others are also highly engaging sites for certain businesses. What it comes down to is finding your areas of strengths and weaknesses, and directing your sources accordingly. You’ve suspected that search was just one way or reaching your customers and these five social media sites prove it. Jason Bayless is a professional blogger that gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice. He writes for BestSEOCompanies.com, a nationally recognized comparison website of the best SEO companies in the United States. The post Beyond Google: 5 Social Media Strategies for 2014 appeared first on The Blog Herald.

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