The way to think of ALT attribute is if the image was not in place then what would the text be in its place to convey the same information or purpose as if the image was there. You have to provide the same functional information that a visual user would see and therefore ALT attribute acts as a place holder say if for some reason the image isn’t showing so as not to affect your website structure.

You should always add ALT attributes to all images and it is valid for XHTML but what you should also try and do is to blend the text in with the rest so that if the image wasn’t present it wouldn’t be noticeable.

It is becoming more important to optimise images in regards to SEO and Google recommend that the ALT attributes should be readable by a human and not stuffed with keywords and phrases. They ask for this because search engines are prime examples of someone who would use the ALT attribute; they do not have eyes and therefore require this description of image.

As mentioned it is not recommended that you stuff your ALT attribute with keywords and phrases as this can actually alert spam filters resulting in a penalty on the website and even in such penalty isn’t incurred it still isn’t good. People who use screen readers because say they are blind actually have the content which is on the screen read out to them and thus ALT attributes are read aloud so repetitions of words over and over is rather annoying.

To optimise your images you need to firstly choose a logical file name which will reinforce your keywords. Next you should ensure that the next near to that image is relevant and therefore it isn’t just a random image plonked on the page.

Images when correctly labelled and when ALT Attribute is used correctly can actually be a great source of generating traffic to your site. If you are not sure then why not speak to us today, our expert team is on hand to help and guide you.

For more information then please call us on 01254 277190 or email infobrickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/alt-image-and-seo.html

In order to make your website more visible to the search engines then it is important that you do think about link building and implement it into your internet marketing strategy. When talking about link building a term you will often here from SEO consultants is link popularity and this refers to the number of links which point to a website and where they actually originate from.

Why is link popularity important?

It is of extreme importance that you note where your links are coming from. Many other SEO companies may well say that they can get you a hundred links to your site however, what we say to our clients is if these are all from dodgy sites then it isn’t going to do all that much.

You need to gain links from websites which are similar to your own as these are a lot better quality than gaining links from irrelevant sites. Links from sites which are popular with the search engines are seen as more valuable and can boost your own search engine rankings.  

The majority of visitors to your site will click through from a search engine rather than links on other sites however, some will come through off other sites and if as mentioned above they are popular then you could see these links generating traffic and every bit of traffic that you can get helps! Having large numbers of quality links to your site will make the search engines perceive your site as being more important.

This will result in a higher page rank even if the links aren’t generating mass amounts of traffic. There are two types of links:

Reciprocal Links, these are exchanged with other websites and it works by you linking to them and they then link back to you. Although these are helpful they are not as useful as they once were in the past.

Non-Reciprocal Links, these are links which point to your website from another site which yours doesn’t link back to and these are the ones which are considered important by search engines. If people link to you without expecting a link back the search engines recognise you as an authoritative source of information.

These non-reciprocal links are the most valuable and most sought after links but it is important to note that reciprocal links though not important they still matter. Another thing which matters is keywords which you optimise for as link building works using these as a foundation to build upon.

For more information concerning link building then please contact us on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/what-is-link-building.html

Already the site has managed to register more than 7 million unique visitors in December and this was up 1.6 million than that recorded in September. More and more traffic is being driven to company websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined.

Why would a business care about this?

You need to realise as a business that consumers using Pinterest are given the ability to organise images into boards for specific image categories and when you “pin” something new all your followers see it.

If they want then they can comment or re-pin it onto their boards. It’s a bit like Facebook content in that items which you “pin” can go viral within minutes. Right now companies are using Pinterest to post images of their products and services and then linking these images to the relevant page on their website.

Think of this as almost like a virtual store catalogue. But just as with other social networks Facebook and Twitter it is important to note that people don’t want products and services rammed down their throat – it is social and so you need to remember this and intersperse it with other social imagery.

Already it has been proven to drive sales and buyers to a company website but it does have some drawbacks to it. Businesses with products that aren’t all that visual will struggle to gain interest on here. The only way to test whether or not it will work for you and your business is to trial it and start out by pinning things which are relevant to your business but not overly promotional otherwise people will simply turn off.

Give Pinterest a try and see what it can do for your business today; remember it is social for business and personal use and the idea is to make your images the best! Whether they are funny, stunning or provide a user with inspiration you need to pin images which attract the most attention and followers.

For more information then please contact Brick technology on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/move-over-facebook-twitter-and-google.html

From this point you can then have a conversation directly with our support team until they resolve your issue for you. Following the chat you will then be sent a transcript of the conversation to the email address you provided and this will be logged for future reference too so if the issue is not resolved or you have further problems arise it can easily be found.

This feature is so much more useful and convenient for our customers to gain the support they need instantly without having to call our main office, get passed around various members of our team who will then speak to support.

The only time you should speak to our main UK office is when you cannot access the support in the control centre or when you have gone through support and still not reached a conclusion or solution to your problem.

Brick technology is always looking for ways in which we can improve our services in web design, web development, internet marketing and media production so our customers get the most out of their website. However, sometimes you may experience issues and it is for this reason that we have our own dedicated support team on hand to help you instantly so please does use them.

If you want more information in regards to this or need help accessing your control centre then please contact us on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/chat-with-us-live.html

Quality and Authoritative Content

As much as our clients hate it there is so much value in having content which is high quality and extremely authoritative. Among the considerations following an algorithm change are page quality, relevance to a search query and the number of quality inbound links. These are important but search engines provide the highest quality results for their users. Publishing content on your site in the form of blogs, latest news and even information or product pages is a great way of ensuring you rank highly. This content needs to be unique, engaging and fully optimised so as not to have the reverse effect and damage SEO.

Avoid Bad Backlinks

Other internet marketing providers may well get you numerous amounts of backlinks; these are any links to your site from another website. However what you need to ask is how qualitative these backlinks are. Search engines will be looking out for backlinks which are back and have come as part of say a “buy 100 backlinks for £80!” so you have been warned. Bad backlinks will have your website penalised within the search engines and even in future algorithm updates. To get around this try and get links from high quality and relevant websites. Publish authoritative content which people want to share amongst themselves through say social networking and then you will gain natural high quality backlinks to your website.

Put An Investment into Socials

Google the major search giant is using socials and social signals inclusive of links from Twitter and Facebook “shares” as one of the ranking factors which will influence where sites fall within the results for a particular keyword and phrases. You need to be active on social networking sites and find out about your ideal customers and start to share content and connect with them on here.

Note Your Web Design

Perhaps one of the trickiest ones as web design is forever changing its definition about what is good and what isn’t. What you need to ensure though is that you do not make a visitor to your site have to keep clicking through various options to get to the page they want. You need to make your content accessible to them and also do not duplicate content across pages. Add internal links from page to page just to make the navigation of your site simple and easy.

Get Those Eggs Out That Basket!

Bit of a strange one but never put your eggs all in one basket is a common saying and this needs to be applied when your thinking about where you’re going to source your traffic from. If the majority of your traffic comes from search engines how would you manage if suddenly your ranking dropped? What you need to do is have a diverse variety of traffic sources from socials to email campaigns, advertising and other items. Just ensure that if one fails you’re not left with no visitors to the site.

Be Current and Be Relevant

This year we have seen Google make several updates to Google Panda and these changes were supposed to reduce the presence of low value content farm sites on search result pages. It affected around 12% of search queries and so in order to stay ahead you need to ensure your aware of any Google Algorithm changes and then follow the trends so you can anticipate and prepare for the future.

Follow our six step survival guide and you will ensure that even when Google changes or search engines change their algorithm then there will still be traffic to your site and less damage will be caused to your positioning.

For more information then please contact us on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/six-step-survival-guide-search-engine.html

Many new business owners have to commit to whatever it takes in order to get things moving. Now a highly successful Entrepreneur a woman opened a shop which sold unusual boutique handbags however as it was just starting she was situated a little bit out the way and she barely survived the first year in business.

She went to a family member for a loan however, they were unable to help and so she took on a gruelling schedule of having another job. During the day she worked in the store and at night she worked in a bar until she saved enough money to quit.

Many business owners are ashamed to bring up that they are working say two jobs to make ends meet however, it shows real passion and determination to make the business a success and that is something never to be ashamed of.

What are you willing to do for your business to get it through the tough times?

Brick technology are not ashamed to admit that we have a fantastic team here who are determined to make a success of your businesses no matter what it takes. We will come to you with fantastic ideas on ways in which you can be successful.

We already have over three hundred clients which make up our client base and just through our e-commerce websites we are responsible for the turnover of around one hundred million pounds per year!

We are not just your average web design company but instead we have passion and drive and offer to you a full digital marketing agency right at your fingertips. Where the majority of companies would hand you your website never to be seen again we don’t! We want to grow with you through web development and also to help you with online marketing and advertising through our internet marketing services.

In addition to this we have our design studio which offers our customers a whole range of media production services. We are perhaps the only web design company in Lancashire who has a dedicated Web Editor on the team full time working on content and updates for our clients. Already many of our clients are realising the importance of having all things going in the same direction and towards the same goal.

When you come to Brick technology and become a customer you will leave our doors as a team member because that’s what you are to us. The only limitation we have is with you; how far are you willing to go to launch your business?

We can make you and your business shine, with professional web design, web development and other services in internet marketing and media production as well as having a wealth of business experience which we are happy to pass on.

For more information and to book a consultation direct with our managing director then please contact us on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/how-far-would-you-go-to-launch-your.html

What you need to bear in mind is that Facebook should never be relied upon as a main source of generating leads for your business. It’s great for telling people about events and new products or services as well as special offers but many businesses are not taking advantage of Facebook Advertising.

Can Facebook Advertising Benefit You?

If you have a local business with a physical location then it could well be suitable for your business. Already there are a number of dentists, doctors, lawyers, restaurants and similar businesses who are benefitting from the advertisements on Facebook. You can target your adverts to people who live within a few miles of your location in order to gain local customers and so if you want to sell products or services within a certain area Facebook can help you to reach just this demographic.

You need to ask yourself how easy it is to sell your product on Facebook is, some are really easy to sell whilst others can be hard to shift. The only way of really knowing this is to do a low-cost trial run which Brick technology can help you to set up and run.

Online Facebook is a target audience of people who want to express themselves as a individual and so if you’re selling something unique and quirky then you need to advertise on Facebook and engage with potential customers on a one-on-one level.

For businesses selling to businesses then maybe Facebook isn’t the right route to take however, for those selling to consumers then Facebook is perfect!

Why not trial Facebook advertising and see what it can do for you? Already Brick technology are managing a number of our clients Facebook advertising campaigns and these are a huge success for them because of the way in which you can narrow down and target specifics. Ask yourself, is Facebook advertising you? If the answer is no then why not!

For more information then please contact Brick technology on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/is-facebook-advertising-you.html

Crowdsourcing is going to play a key part this year for content creation. A key move which emphasised this point was when AOL purchased the Huffington Post which relied heavily on crowdsourcing for its content. This marked a turning point; suddenly it has become acceptable for businesses to have people create content for free or very low pay and in return they get online exposure.

Many businesses are now using consumer crowdsourcing and one of the main ways this is being done is through social networking sites such as Facebook where companies invite people to be friends with them, upload photos and videos and tag themselves creating the content for that particular company Facebook page.

Crowdsourcing is going to be big this year as budgets are tightened and this is a great way of generating free content for businesses online.

Another big thing you are going to be seeing a lot more of this year is brands as media. You are going to see brands publishing content which is very similar to content produced by media companies however, social media is going to play a huge role in this as more and more marketers and advertisers move from traditional marketing methods.

As more people realise that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are better platforms for advertising we are seeing these used rather than traditional marketing pitches. Socials are great because it connects a company with their online target audiences through informative content and various other information, photos, videos and special offers. Socials will define branded content online and with more mobile devices being purchased you need to ensure that any content is mobile friendly.

Our final what is hot pointer is perhaps the most important in regards to internet marketing and content marketing:

All roads must lead back to the same destination!

No matter what internet marketing or offline marketing you are doing they should all be linked into a harmonious relationship whereby they feed off one another. You need to ensure that customers can relate to your business and want to interact too. Content marketing is forever changing and it will continue to do so but staying focused on key aspects in 2012 will provide you with the necessary skills to be prepared for these changes.

If you are thinking about internet marketing and how you can better market online through content marketing and other items then please speak to our professional team.

For more information then contact us on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/what-is-hot-and-whats-not-for-content.html

Many of our client’s websites have been spruced up and had their web design changed slightly in order to make it look like it’s in the Valentine’s Day spirit. With so many men and women forgetting about this crucial date many go online to shop for last minute gifts and usually flowers which can be delivered straight to the person they love.

With love very much present in the air it has been stated that 32% of consumers will do their shopping for this special day online. This is a 9% increase over the last year and even though we are in a recession and people are supposed to be cutting back 19% of consumers plan to spend more money this year.

It would seem that not only is there going to be a change in the place where consumers choose to shop, from brick and mortar to online as well as them choosing to spend more but they are also changing what they plan to buy.

There may have been a shift from guys purchasing the normal and average gifts of flowers, chocolates and stuffed toys holding phrases like “I Love You” and “Your My One in a Million” instead:

• 18% will purchase a gift card for their Valentine
• 60% will purchase something other than chocolates or flowers this year – thank goodness!

It’s that age old saying of “It’s the thought that counts” and it is so just remember that this Valentine’s Day!

However, believe it or not a massive 47% do not have any idea about what to purchase and it is these people which can be won over online by retailers who could get themselves a sale.

A big day in retail, Valentine’s Day has seen many spend hundreds of pounds on TV’s, Mobile Phones, Cameras, engagement rings and anything else imaginable! It’s great for our web design industry to know that more shoppers will be choosing the internet today to choose and send their loved ones a present. Let’s hope that today is a great day for our e-commerce clients and all of our other clients too!

Happy Valentine’s Day from everyone at Brick technology!

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/e-commerce-on-valentines-day.html

This isn’t the way to do it and so here Brick technology tells you how to build a fan worthy Facebook Page.

Most important is your URL and what you need to ensure is that it is branded and isn’t just the generic bunch of numbers which Facebook hands out. These numbers mean nothing to a potential customer and your actually making it really hard for them to find you. For instance:

1. http://facebook.com/brickweb
2. http://facebook.com/47643584758475

What would you rather search for?

In the past Facebook made it where you had to have 25 likes on the page before you could name the fan page however this has now been lifted and all you need to do is go to Facebook username page and set your chosen name in the URL which is better for your company branding.

Be warned though! Once you reach 100 friends then you cannot change the name of the page so choose wisely and don’t pick something which obviously will reflect badly on the company. Try and get your brand name like Brick technology web design has we choose Brickweb. However, if your brand name is unavailable then go for something relevant.

Once you have a profile set up on Facebook then imagine this as a landing page; potential customers are going to come into this page and so take them to a proper welcome tab and not just your wall. Facebook pages are becoming more and more popular and if you would like one designing then speak to us today! Brick technology create some really welcoming pages which link right back to your main site and already many of our internet marketing clients have taken full advantage of these.

Next you need to get sticky! The idea behind this is you need to make it so that people want to keep coming back to your Facebook page and engaging with you. Whether this is through a weekly competition, daily discussion or something else the visitor needs to feel they are getting something out of your Facebook page.

Break up your wall comments, news updates from your website and customer comments with images of say new products and even videos are great!

Facebook and other socials like Twitter have officially arrived! They are going to be a big thing and for businesses to erase them from marketing plans and choose not to get involved then they are going to find themselves losing out. Believe it or not 600 tweets are made on Twitter every second whilst Facebook sees 700 status updates every second!

Can you afford to miss out on all those visitors who are actively using the social networks? If you can’t then come to us and we will help you to get a social media strategy for 2012!

For help with your socials then come to Brick technology! Call us today to discuss internet marketing on 01254 277190 or email info@brickweb.co.uk.

Article source: http://www.brickweb.co.uk/news/2012/february/build-a-fan-worthy-facebook-page.html