Twitter is a great tool to help you connect to current and potential customers, just be careful what you say.

While working with a client to create a blogging plan and editorial calendar, we reviewed the firm’s website.

I realized that the company didn’t have proper Alt Tags for their images and that their images were named with the “out of the camera” names common to digital cameras, like image5678.jpg.

Search Engines Like Alt Tags

When they support your SEO goals with proper Alt Tags and image names

By not having keyword relevant Alt Tags and image names as well as captions, this client and you may be missing an opportunity to increase your website’s inclusion in search engine results pages (SERPs.)

Google Likes Keyword Alt Tags

Google and other search engines search the Alt Tags and image titles and include images in their organic search results. In addition, web searchers are now getting more sophisticated in their searches and are searching images just as we search “normal” web content.

Image Properties

If you have a content managed website with a framework such as a Joomla, Drupal or WordPress you have the ability to make these changes. Image Properties for each image allow you to set the Alt Tag for each image. In WordPress, for example which is our preferred CMS, you can set these properties for each image in the Media Library or in an image gallery, such as a gallery created with NextGEN. Use your targeted keywords when adding Alt Tags and you’ll help your SERPs.

WordPress Media Library and Image Names

In the past when naming images, webmasters often used underscores between words in an image name. Underscores are not comprehensible to search engines so you should instead use hyphens between words. If you are using WordPress, you can set the name of the image in the Media Library when you import the image. WordPress does not require you to add the hyphens. Just remember to use keyword rich names for images that are relevant to the image content and post content.

Image Selection

When you select images for your blog posts, select images that are relevant to the post’s content and give them captions that are also relevant to the content. When you place the image in the page, place it near the most relevant content.

Images Can Support SEO Goals

Following these few guidelines will support your search engine optimization goals and will help your website’s rankings. If you’ve not followed these procedures in the past, you can update your site or have your webmaster do this for you. By doing this you will also be freshening up your content as well.

**picture frame image courtesy of designshard on flickr creative commons

She took note of my use of subheads and the way images were being displayed in the posts and said she’d like to “dress up her posts a bit.” Here are the things that I suggested to her.

Use subheads like this

First, using subheads related to the following paragraph is a tidy way to eliminate long blocks of unbroken copy. Second, for the reader with little time, subheads allow for quick scanning of pages as well. Third, you can make them keyword rich and support your SEO goals.

Use images to add impact

There are many sources of images. A few that I’ve used are royalty free stock sites such as iStock and Stock.XCHNG. Another good source of images for blogs is flickr creative commons attribution license area. A note:  There are restrictions on the usage of all these sites’ images. You must adhere to the terms of use for each site and each work.

I like to use image management extensions that provide more flexibility in your blog posts. In our WordPress based blogs and websites created for our clients, we use the NextGEN gallery tools. You can display a group of images as thumbnails, as a slide show or as an image gallery. While the gallery options in WordPress have improved, they are still not optimal. NextGEN is very easy to manage and use and really dresses up your blog posts.

Other tips on writing better blog posts

Several posts of recent have offered tips and thoughts on how to create compelling and punchy content. HubSpot’s blog post addresses ways to create posts that are designed to support your SEO and Internet Marketing goals. Robert Holland on Ragan offers his tips to make blog posts sticky.

To paraphrase what my high schools friends would say to me in 1973, “write on.”

Here’s my follow Friday list—this Friday we’re focusing on writers we love to read:

@CPEats – her local food Tweets keep us up to date
@thepioneerwoman – her images and words are the heartland
@ruthreichl – her Tweets are food/sensual poetry
@IsabellesTravel – her travel Tweets keep us in the know
@TannerLatham –he writes about the real life
@maryalicemonroe – because she’s always sharing something great
@angiemizzell – great local voice
@TLynnNews – she is always in the know about what’s happening in Charleston
@TheGourmetGirl – sharing the best news about food, drink, eating.

Bloggers are not a target. They are a source. Listen to them.

This morning one of my ad agency colleagues phoned to ask (on behalf of a client who posed this question to the ad agency) how best to create a list of bloggers so the client could “shoot out a release to them.” At which point, I said, “Ummm, I wouldn’t encourage that if I were you.” My colleague said the client wants to send a release, implying that they just wanted to shout out the message into the ether and hope that someone hears it.

He doubted that they would heed my advice; the best way to get the attention of bloggers is to have a relationship with them. You can’t just fire off a release to a blogger and expect that they’ll show interest unless it’s a world-class, earth shattering story. Bloggers have their own voice and editorial calendar.

In case you haven’t been around in the past few years, professional bloggers have developed compelling content rich blogs that many readers subscribe to. Each bloggers’ voice is the equivalent of a direct line to people very interested in the topic of the blog or the bloggers thoughts/ideas.

Being able to successfully pitch bloggers requires that you subscribe to and read their blogs. That you follow them on Twitter. That you comment on their posts and understand their editorial tone. Not too much different than what one should have been doing with print publications; advice which is often ignored. Don’t wait around to create relationships. Do it because it is the right thing to do. You can learn a lot from reading the same information your customers are interested in. And if you can’t take time to do this yourself, consult with a public relations professional who is familiar with bloggers in your industry.

If you want to have bloggers interested in the story that your company has to share, plan ahead. Read the top bloggers in your industry or for the customers you serve. You can find them by looking at which blogs are top ranked on Technorati, or most frequently bookmarked on Delicio.us.

Don’t wait until you just want to “shoot out a release” to develop relationships with bloggers and understand what their audiences care about. Do it now because they offer invaluable insight into the mind of your consumer.

As Twitter has matured, many small business owners have joined the conversation. However, there are those out there who have tried it and don’t understand how it works. Or they have “looked into it” and are not sure where to begin.

Recently I’ve discussed social media with several groups. There are so many who feel that the whole Twitter world is going to swamp them. And there are those who are afraid of appearing silly. My number one tip is to remember that this is social media. Your goal is to be social. Your task is to engage, learn about your neighbors and develop community.

If you’re having issues trying to determine how to tweet, what to tweet or when, this post from Mark Hayward on Twitip will help you understand some of the fundamentals.

According to Forrester, Conversationalists are,

56% female, more than any other group in the ladder. While they’re among the youngest of the groups, 70% are still 30 and up.”

Recently I was a presenter with Shauna Heathman of Makenzie Image Consulting at the Columbia, SC National Association of Women Business Owners discussing personal branding whenone of the attendees asked others at the meeting, “Do you read blogs?” Her question stimulated discussion about of who reads and publishes blogs. Only a few did not regularly read and comment on blogs. However only 2 attendees maintain and write a blog. Earlier in the presentation the majority of the women recounted using their Facebook profiles to support their businesses’ marketing.  Forrester’s more scientific research confirms my “woman on the street” first-hand knowledge.

If you want to reach the customers (and I mean women) who make 85% of brand purchasing decisions, you need to be active in social media. Eight-six percent US women now have a profile on at least 1 social networking site a 48% increase. (Up from 58% in 2008.)

Women are conversationalists. Our brains are wired that way and data show how we have leveraged our innate ability into a powerful force.

…But a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, …suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media—particularly newspapers.

The study, which examined all the outlets that produced local news in Baltimore, Md., for one week, surveyed their output and then did a closer examination of six major narratives during the week, finds that much of the “news” people receive contains no original reporting. Fully eight out of ten stories studied simply repeated or repackaged previously published information. more

Last year as ad revenue declined, we saw our area newspapers shift to more local content. The shift was happening all across the country.

The research from the Pew Foundation tells us that we are right to have some concern about the changes.

Pew notes, “The local papers, however, are also offering less than they once did.” That is because there is less ad revenue. Newspapers can only print what they can pay for. As one area editor shared with me his publisher said, “That’s a great story idea, but if we don’t have ad revenue to support an additional page, we can’t print it.” However, in the meantime, random column inches here and there contain uninteresting blurbs like the one in today’s Post and Courier, “Shed damaged by fire, no one injured.” That’s a news story?

The Pew study also confirms that the web is the first place of publication and an alert system. In addition there is another interesting tidbit in the study that we PR people have known, media releases are often the source of much of the information contained in the newspaper.

The takeaway from this is:

• Newspaper journalism is important as the foundational source for most local news
• Original stories have declined
• Well crafted media releases may be used to place news because there are fewer journalists with less time and column inches to give to originally sourced stories.

So, it is the job of public relations professionals to craft news worthy well written items for our media colleagues use and consumption. There is an even greater chance that your firm’s news will end up right where you want it to be.

Loosing sight no deterrent to living life

Former truckdriver, avid horsewoman Andi Mills only ‘sees’ the positive side of life as she heads back to school

Charleston, SC, December 3, 2009—“I don’t beat on closed doors,” says Honea Path resident Andi Mills. “I find the open ones and go through them.” Mills, who lost her sight in 2008 as a result of congenital factors, has every right to feel bummed about life. But she chooses to continue to live positively, recognizing the abilities she has. Part of her plan for her new life includes attending Lander University to earn a degree; that is if she can find a daily carpool to Greenwood. Mills said, “When I found out that I would be blind and there was nothing I could do about it, I decided to be the best, most productive blind person I could be. Going back to school is a way for me to be productive and help others.”

Greenwood's Index-Journal wrote this story about Andi.

Mills who is no stranger to accomplishing her goals and who in 2007 rode her horse a total of 1,528 miles to advance “Stroke Awareness and The Value of Early Detection of Strokes,” is determined to keep on living. “I’m going to be the best blind person I can be.”

She spent the first five months of 2009 at the South Carolina Commission for Blind learning the adaptive techniques and technologies she needs to live without sight. “My computer talks to me; I have devices that tell me when a cup is full and a one foot by one foot kitchen timer. My washer and dryer have Braille on them and now I have Mr. Tibbs.” Mr. Tibbs is her yellow Labrador Retriever guide dog who in Mills’ words, “gave me back my freedom and independence.” Mills spent one month earlier this year at Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, California learning to work with Mr. Tibbs.

With Mr. Tibbs, her training and adaptive tools, Andi is now ready to earn her degree in English. The University will set up a place for her to study between classes, allowing her to have a comfortable place to study between classes.  But she needs to get back and forth daily to Lander. Andi is hoping to meet someone from Anderson or Honea Path who commutes daily to Greenwood and who will allow her (and Mr. Tibbs)  to carpool with them.

Mills reached out to Nelson Ohl of CarolinaCommuter.com who is committed to helping her find transportation.  Referring to Mill’s inquiry received through CarolinaCommuter.com., Ohl says, “Over the last year I’ve been wrapped up in the obvious reasons for carpooling, environment, congestion, etc.; and then along comes a sincere call to share a ride that, well, hit me like a freight train.” Ohl is convinced that someone is “out there” who will help Mills by forming a carpool that includes her.  Mills’ story has been made public through CarolinaCommuter.com’s blog (http://carolinacommuter.blogspot.com/2009/09) and by his personal e-mail campaign to friends and now he’s taking the call to the public media.

People who would like to assist Mills can reach Ohl at nohl@carolinacommuter.com or by phone at 843-870-0821.