Affiliate Programs

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As I browse the Web any given day, I look at how Webmasters and Blog owners optimize their pages (or DON’T). One thing I keep seeing is the lack of optimized links. Google loves optimized links and images. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that with all things being equal, a site with optimized links and images will outrank the ones that aren’t optimized every time.

Optimize Your Links with the “Title” Attribute

I covered Anchor text in my post Overlooked Steps To Boost Traffic and Rankings, but it’s important enough to go over here again. 

This is how most links look if you look at the source code of a website.

<a href=”http://www.yoursite.com” mce_href=”http://www.yoursite.com”>www.yoursite.com</a>

That’s okay, but by adding Anchor text and a Title, you can change that little link into a Superstar.

Here’s how to structure your link.

<a href=”http://www.yoursite.com” mce_href=”http://www.yoursite.com” title=”your keyword here“>Your Keyword</a>

Notice the “Title” at the end of the URL? You should always have a descriptive keyword between the quote marks. Also, instead of using www.yoursite.com, use Anchor Text instead. Anchor text will be a keyword, preferably one you want to rank for.

For example, if you had a Dog Grooming business in Akron, one of your keyword phrases would be “Dog Grooming Akron.” Your Anchor text and “title” attribute would then read “dog grooming Akron.”

This will help you rank much higher in Google than not performing these extra steps. It may just shoot you right past your competitors!

 How To Optimize Your Images for Higher Rankings and More Traffic

Another area where Webmaster and Blog owners fail to take advantage of on page optimization is with their images.

Believe it or not, some people actually browse the Internet with Images turned off. The pages load faster and most of the time the ads won’t show up either.

There are two reasons to optimize your Images.

1. Higher SERP rankings
2. Google Image Search

Using keywords in the “alt” attribute for an image will help you rank higher in the SERPS. It also describes the image to someone who has the images disabled in their browser.

Another benefit of labeling your images in the “alt” attribute is that they’ll show up in Google’s image search.

For example, let’s go back to your Dog Grooming business in Akron. Let’s say you have a picture of a Beagle on the front page.

Here’s how the link structure normally looks.

<img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/beagle.jpg” mce_src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/beagle.jpg”>

And here’s how it will look after you Optimize it with the “alt” attribute.

<img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/beagle.jpg” mce_src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/beagle.jpg” alt=”dog grooming akron”>

Now, if you were a Kennel selling Beagles, your “alt” would be “Beagles”. Be just as descriptive with the “alt” attribute as you were with the “title” attribute!

This way, if someone goes to Google and types in “dog grooming akron” and then hits the “Image” button at the top, it’s likely the picture of that adorable Beagle will show up. When they click on that adorable little Beagle picture, it will shoot them to your site.

See how simple that works?

Now go and optimize your links and images for higher rankings!