Thinking of passion-based business and Eileen Fisher quote (see below), I am inspired to share my observations of myths I have observed over the years, and the truths I practice myself and with my clients.

From the time my daughter was young, I let go of asking her for A’s at school. I invited her to follow her passion. I then gave her space to find her passion and her authentic voice. I also suggested that when she was not feeling successful, to check in to see if she had listened to her voice and was actually (still) following her passion.

Fast forward to today, following her passion, she speaks of how easy grad school is. No surprise she received straight A’s to affirm her commitment to her passion.

THE PRACTICE

Let’s be clear, she is studying at an ivy league grad school so the work is not easy. During the year I heard about late hours and assignments due over holidays. What she shared was her perspective on the work. Her feelings about the work from her place of passion.

Like many of you, she is multi-passionate. During her “free” time, she lives into another of her passions, creating graphic art for both peace of mind and profit (some of you may have seen my recent posts about her pet-commissions). Living into her heART as an entrepreneur. Somehow, she makes the time to do both and more. We often speak about how this “work” nurtures her passion-energy and balances the grad work.

My daughter, my tribe and I know this as the Way of the YINpreneur. It is about the true meaning of R.O.I. = Return On Intention. Getting clear on your passion and authentic voice is your #journeytocenter.

THE MYTH & THE TRUTH

Following your passion isn’t only about you or the work you are doing in the world being all woo-woo or easy. It is about leading from your heart, being clear about your passion, and speaking from this passion in your authentic voice. In this way, you are renewing versus draining your energy and moving forward. From this place, you can accept the work as part of your journey to realizing your magic. This is what I believe people mean when they are busting their buns to get things done yet say, “it doesn’t feel like work”.

[[firstname]], speaking of authentic voice… I was inspired to use the time given to me as I waited out the pouring rain before heading out to connect with family members visiting from California to create a Facebook live video to complement this share.

Let’s get started. If you are serious about branding and building your home based business, you should definitely have your own web site. Your web site is how your business will make its first impression, share information, and if set up properly, help you generate new leads.

The simplest way to get started would be to register your domain name and start building a blog using the WordPress platform.

You should absolutely set up social media accounts on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc… Social media sites provide a quick way to generate interest, inform potential customers, and if set up properly, help you generate new leads.

As your follower count grows, your opportunities for marketing, customer reach, and research also grow.

You will want to set up and publish a regular newsletter to keep prospects and customers informed and updated on new events, pricing discounts, limited time offers, and any changes you may be experiencing.

This is a great way to build rapport, establish yourself as a professional, and build the know, like, and trust factor.

When designing your newsletter, pay attention to branding, colors, layout, etc… to make sure your newsletter content is reinforcing your overall marketing brand.

One of the most important home based business tools you will use is an autoresponder service. This is a great way to generate leads, follow up with prospects, reinforce your brand, and ultimately generate more sales. Your best approach is to integrate your autoresponder with your web site or blog so you can begin generating new leads, sending out your business newsletter, and drive new sales growth as well as bring in repeat business.

If you are just getting started with your home based business, you will want to select those tools that are absolutely necessary for your success. The basic web site, social media accounts, and email marketing tools are the most important home based business tools you should get started with.

The best news is that these tools are typically very inexpensive. For example, social media sites are typically free. Web sites can be started free or very low-cost, and you can start your email marketing account with a 30 day free trial.

Feel free to respond or comment with any questions or thoughts you have about the tools you are using to build your home based business. We always enjoy hearing from our readers and we look forward to talking with you.

If you are a smart marketer or an ambitious entrepreneur, chances are that words like website translation are not alien to you. You must have already grabbed the opportunity to make your product and brand stand visible and comfortable on a global stage. You must have started having conversations or strategies to shape your significant content formats like website or apps into a translation context.

It is very helpful at this point to understand some details that go into the making of this magic called effective translation, the wonder called ‘translation with a global impact’.

Have you covered aspects like content template or source code sharing with the service provider among other elements? It would help if your code or format, whether it is a word document or an in-CMS transition, aligns well with the overall translation process and expertise.

It would also assist in a major way if you make a clear and informed choice about some not-so-easy decisions well in advance and carry these postures throughout the association – like, use of translation proxy or avoiding it; picking development server, having or not having multiple instances, the repository of documents and the technical language (HTML or PHP) deployed in the process. Sometimes, choice of local domain and hosting provider can make a lot of difference in optimization, reach and accessibility for the website. Certain decisions can be tough to make but if they are made with discretion and prudence then they pay off well in comparison to unexpected, unpleasant surprises.

Do not leave the task only to developers and translators. Website translation includes and but is not all about grammar and vocabulary only. Even punctuation or sentence construction or use of colloquial impact can be the game-changer. This is a realm that should incorporate linguistic experts and cultural natives to weed out any gross oversight or errors that might skip the eye of the technical professional.

Website translation and localization can seem like a one-off job but, in reality, it could be a real-time, iterative and a continuous process that could span other parts of the marketing chain and lifecycle easily. Be ready for the onerous demand that could arise from this nature and also make sure you pick a team that can deliver them. The process entails but is not limited to content. The layout of the new content, effective localization and visual characteristics matter equally when it comes to successfully translating a website. They should be envisioned in time and not addressed as a quick-fix or knee-jerk treatment.

Testing is a crucial ingredient to facilitate a smooth and actionable translation process. This should be both functional and user-oriented. Just ensuring that the content appears in a specific language is not enough unless the user can relate to the website in a way that is easy, engaging and familiar.

Accessibility is usually an afterthought for many translators. But in this Internet-dominated age, SEO context and Meta tags or Metadata are very important in driving the right traffic and optimizing visibility. Onboard a language service provider that thinks of these parts as an overall strategy and not as an add-on.

Images, cultural nuances, choice of appropriate words, confirming the connotation of a slogan etc. are some more areas that need more than a technical approach to the translation process. One should have a team or an expert who can point out misalignment or misinterpretation possibilities for a new audience before they blow out of proportion.

Have a consistent strategy, both for website translation and localization and also for aligning it well with the overall branding framework.

All in all, you as a brand and as a brand custodian have to be as devoted and clear as you would expect the translation provider to be. The job entails an investment of thought and the use of right strategy and this also connects to the kind of service provider you ultimately choose and continue.

Starting an online business is an altogether complicated thing to do. Many have failed because of the inability to cope with the ups and downs, attributed to a lack of foresight and planning.

To have a better shot at success, here are 7 things you should not do:

1. Do your homework.

When starting an online business, preparation is crucial. Think of it like cooking: you start by preparing your ingredients. How do you decide on what ingredients to prepare? It’s through research.

Without doing any research, the consequences that await you are dire. Research who your customers will be, your product, and what people are willing to pay for your services. Give yourself a good start by preparing before the real business begins.

2. Plan with data

Do not plan unless you’ve done your research thoroughly and gathered data. You need to have sufficient data before you can even start to make out a plan. With data, you’ll be able to come up with a recipe for success that will likely work – and sell.

3. Worry about the money

Money is what sustains a business, and without it you’ll never be able to make your business stand up and. In business, there is always a chance that you’ll run out of money before you can even make a profit.

Plan out your financial goals in advance, don’t wait until it’s too late. Have a safety net or contingency plan already prepared in case something happens.

4. Setting the price right

Sometimes when you’re desperate in selling, you’ll set the price at a very low cost. This is something you must avoid, for this means the business is not working. Do not undervalue yourself. Set the necessary price to be able to make a decent, worthy profit.

5. Have a friendly, catchy domain name

Your domain or web address is an important tools for online businesses. Your customers’ first impression will rely heavily on how your website looks and works.

You must have a simple and clear navigation so that your customers can browse leisurely. Also, another important thing is to ensure the web hosting of your website. Choose a trustworthy host to avoid downtime.

6. Consider SEO and branding, and being active on social media.

Make your online business work by generating massive amounts of web traffic. Even if your product is great, without search engine optimization (SEO), it will be buried by thousands of websites. You must be active in major social media sites as well. This means advertising and cultivating brand awareness. Facebook and Pinterest are good places to start.

7. Value Customer service and experience.

Remember customers are looking a good buying experience as well a good product. Interact with them, and answer their questions promptly. That can be through chat, e-mail, telephone, or surveys. Make them feel welcome to share their concerns. In all likelihood, they will return to your website.

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When you write and post content, there are several different results that you expect to achieve. One of those results is engagement with your readers. Ironically, that is the easy part. What is much more difficult is measuring the engagement in a way that gives you a clear understanding if what you are doing is working effectively.

The vagueness of the term, “engagement”
When it comes to a typical conversation that you might have with another person (face to face), you probably have a good idea about what engagement is. You converse with the other person and the conversation is exciting and compelling. Both you and the other person are interested in what you both have to say. You have succeeded at engaging each other. However, as obvious as it may be in that context, it may be much more difficult to determine engagement online. Basically, you need to figure out if your content is engaging in general.

What is content reach?
What is meant by the term, “content reach” is the number of readers who read your content, even if they don’t read it all the way to the end. Of course, if a person reads your content for three seconds and then walks away, how much good does it actually do you and your business? It is not particularly useful. In fact, to take it one step further, it is practically meaningless because if the person is not willing to read your content all the way to the end, there is no chance that the person will share your content with anyone else.

Your goal is that the person reads your content (and, of course, becomes highly engaged) and wants to continue to read what you are sharing on an ongoing, long-term basis. That is one of the many good ways that you build a solid relationship with the other person.

A better solution
One of the extremely important elements to your content is your call-to-action (CTA). Your CTA should tell your readers exactly what you want them to do. Interestingly, they will probably be willing to do whatever you want. That is exactly why your CTA needs to be as effective as it can possibly be. Part of your CTA should be gathering contact information of your readers. That way, you will be able to keep in close contact with them. That is a way to determine how well your content is doing with those readers.

Don’t mistake the amount of time spent for the actual engagement
If you can track how much time a person spent on your content page, it is a measure of how much he or she was reading. However, with that said, if a person spends two minutes on your page, that doesn’t go a long way to saying that he or she actually read your content from beginning to end. It is just not enough time for most people (unless that person is an amazing speed reader).

Of course, a positive thing that you can say in that case is that the person didn’t leave right away. That should count for something. Sometimes, in that situation, what seems as though the person is staying on your page for a long time may be giving you a false impression. Perhaps, that person walked away while still on the page and came back quite a while later. There are several possible explanations.

Just because a person is sharing doesn’t mean that the person is reading
That seems rather ironic but the fact is that you can read the first sentence of a particular piece of content and consider it good enough to share with others. However, you may not have read any more than that first sentence. How crazy is that? Of course, you want your readers to share your content; however, you also want them to read your content regularly. One thing that is for sure is that a person will not leave a comment, question, etc, regarding your content if that person is not engaged. That is just a fact.

Conclusion
Measuring engagement can be daunting, difficult to initiate, and overwhelming. The fact is that after you write and post your content, your objective is that your readers become engaged by it. If that doesn’t happen, you need to rethink your content. If you determine that your content is not engaging, you need to write new content that is engaging. It is that simple. Of course, engagement also goes beyond just posting content and waiting to see if your readers are engaged. You should also take the opportunity to initiate some valuable interaction with them. That will serve to deepen the relationship.

Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company’s Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.

His expertise includes business analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and management of off-shore development.

In the spring of 2007 I hosted a conference for a group of insurance professionals. One of the most popular speakers was my old friend the economist Roger Martin-Fagg. He was his usual entertaining self, but took everyone by surprise by suggesting that the world economy was on the brink of a meltdown the like of which we had never seen before, and it was going to happen soon – probably within 12 months. Yes, he predicted the financial crash of 2008 a year before it actually happened.

Now in Spring 2007 the world economy was doing very nicely thank you. Following three consecutive years of good growth, averaging 3.8% it was expected to fall only slightly in 2007 to 3.6%. Meanwhile the UK was doing pretty well too. House prices had risen from an average of £150,633 in January 2005 to £184,330 in May 2007 – a rise of 22.4%, whilst wages grew by an average of over 5% per annum between 2004 and 2007. Inflation on the other hand was under control and only rose by an average of 3.25% in the same period. Furthermore, between 2003 and 2007 the FTSE All Share Index grew by 49%, so overall everyone was feeling pretty optimistic about the prospects for the future. No one, other than Roger was saying anything about a recession, never mind a full blown crash!

So, when Roger issued his dire warning, the overwhelming response was to laugh it off – in the same way that we would laugh at a soothsayer predicting the end of the world. Eccentric yes, and likely to happen eventually, just not anytime soon.

You can imagine that those of us who were there in 2007 are far less likely to write off Roger’s opinions now than we would have done previously.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised, and heartened to receive his latest Economic update, penned on 16 June. Once again he is at odds with the mainstream view, and indeed is critical of others talking world economic prospects down. He opens his piece by saying that the press is being irresponsible in the way it is reporting our economic outlook. His opening paragraph reads:

“Last weekend the Daily Telegraph had a banner headline: ‘Britain’s biggest ever collapse in GDP wipes out 18 years of growth’. This statement is completely wrong. I am concerned that individuals who are trying to make the right judgement call are being fed this nonsense. To be clear: 18 years ago our GDP was £1 trillion. It is now £2.2 trillion. The reduction in spending in April was 20% on the previous April. The monthly flow of spending averages £200bn. 20% of that is £40bn. The media, as we know, impact emotion and decision taking. That Telegraph article is therefore both economically illiterate and irresponsible.”

Wow! Hard hitting stuff. And the perpetuation of such comments is still evident a week later. In the Sunday Times on 21 June Sajid Javid is quoted as saying:

“We’ve seen a 25% fall in GDP in two months. To put that in some perspective, that is 18 years of growth wiped out in two months.”

And that’s from our erstwhile Chancellor of the Exchequer, who should be anything but economically illiterate!

In his update Roger goes on to suggest that, despite what the world and his wife are saying, we are not going to have a recession. Indeed, whilst he acknowledges that quarter 2 of 2020 will be significantly negative, he expects quarter 3 to be significantly positive, and predicts that the UK economy could grow by 8.5% in 2021, with the World economy back to 2.5% growth next year too.

His argument is that the fundamentals for a recession don’t exist in the same way as they did for previous recessions; rising prices and interest rates squeezing individuals and companies alike in 1979 and 1989, and banks stopping lending in 2008. The common factor is a shortage of money available, and that’s not the case this time around. Households have seen a reduction in income, but a larger fall in what they’ve spent, and the UK Government is spending an extra £40bn a month pumping new money into the system, so no shortage here. Roger predicts a mini boom to take off in the next few months as a result of this excess cash in the system, with the only thing that could dampen it being the media reporting company closures, an increase in the R well above 1, and stories of mass redundancies.

I don’t propose to reproduce all Roger’s arguments here – you can read the whole article at https://www.ellisbates.com/news/june-2020-economic-update/ to get the complete picture, but I would say his reasoning and logic are very persuasive. And I for one would not bet against him. I also fully endorse his condemnation of sensationalist reporting in the media. They have to take more responsibility for the message they send out as, rightly or wrongly, people do listen to them. A more even handed and less melodramatic approach to reporting would benefit us all. After all, we all know the power of ‘fake news’ by now, don’t we?

Bitcoin, the most popular crypto that exists is now considered as one of the most popular investments. But do you know that this has given rise to a lot of new bitcoin scams? Yes, that is the truth and sadly, you can be a part of it if you don’t know anything related to these scams. This article lets you know about all the types of bitcoin scams that exist.

These are the types of bitcoin scams that exist -

Phishing Scams

Always be on the lookout for phishing frauds. Phishing attacks certainly are a favorite among hackers and scammers. Within a phishing attack, a concerned person typically impersonates a service, business or individual simply by way of e-mail or other text based communication, or by hosting a fake and manipulative website that seems like a real one. The aim is always to trick a victim into uncovering their private tips or sending bitcoin to an address the particular scammer owns.

These kinds of emails often appear like they are legitimate ones but are fake in nature.

Fake exchanges

Surely one of the least difficult ways to fraud investors is to pose as an internet marketer branch of a good and legitimate business. Well, that’s specifically what scammers within the bitcoin discipline are doing.

Many such exchanges exist and they presented themselves being a place to exchange and trade bitcoin, but was eventually fraudulent. Many exchanges have thus scammed people away from their money by simply posing as a new respectable and legit cryptocurrency exchange.

Fake ICO’s

Together with the increase in blockchain-backed firms, fake ICOs shot to popularity as a way to back these kinds of new companies. However, given the not regulated nature of bitcoin itself, the door has been wide open for all kinds of fraudulent activities.

The majority of ICO frauds took place through obtaining investors to commit in or by means of fake ICO websites using fake bitcoin wallets or other crypto wallets, or by appearing as real cryptocurrency-based companies.

Many have already been accused of such malpractices hence it is better to verify such wallets before actually deciding to place your money with them.

Humongous returns

If you are into the trading industry, you must have known by now that humongous returns are simply not possible when it comes to bitcoin trading, or crypto trading in general. Hence, when a broker tries to provide you with the promise that your money will be doubled within a specific time frame, then the best option in such cases would be to stay away from such brokers as much as you can. They will simply take your money and run away and you would be left with nothing but grief and remorse.

Introduction

Davenport Laroche is a company based in Hong Kong which rents the containers you have bought. Giving you interest of around 12% while taking 4% of the profit you make for acting as the middle man. As promising as it looks and sounds, it isn’t trustworthy. Because when it comes to profit, low risk and high returns never go hand in hand.

Davenport Laroche promises

They promise you low risk by ensuring you are not the only one in this market. Davenport Laroche is making a statement such as “100% capital preservation,” which is practically not possible-being able to sell your container at cost price even after five years!

They tell you about investment security as solid material’s value does not fluctuate in large numbers. Promises are made of 12% every year later, leading to higher output of around 24% per year.

How does it work?

Investing in Davenport Laroche is a little different. You need to understand how it works most simply. Consider that every shipping container is a rental property. A firm helps you (investor) purchase several shipping containers depending on how much you are ready to spend.

They hand the containers over to Davenport Laroche to manage the shipping containers on their behalf. The method used by a property manager to maintain a rental home. After you have bought as many containers as you want, you will receive a full deed of sale documentation in your name, saying you are legally the rightful owner of all the containers.

These containers are then leased to major fortune 500 companies and the government of individual countries. They are in constant need of these containers for their humongous development plans such as construction, infrastructure projects, and product movement.

The business model of Davenport Laroche

They have a straightforward business model in which they partner up with giant enterprises and government organizations to provide shipping containers for logistical uses on secure contract bases.

After a secured container deal is signed off, you have minimal time to make your financial move. The reason why Davenport Laroche encourages you (investor) to stay in close contact with your investment team so that you can be warned when it is the right time to make investments.

Shipping container demand is on the rise.

The global economy is booming, and the markets are growing, subsequently making the demand for supply containers a never-ending urge. To feed this demand, they need people to invest in the shipping containers.

Recently Davenport Laroche signed a deal to help in the construction of three new airports in Tibet. Such projects help the investment firm to grow.

Are you investing in supply containers VS investing in cryptocurrencies or OTC stocks?

It is like comparing oranges and apples. You cannot compare the two. Shipping containers are straightforward. You invest in hard assets and collect the cash returns monthly. At the same time, cryptocurrencies and OTC stocks have a long history of scams.

Davenport Laroche insists you invest in a shipping container as your initial investment capital investment are preserved. They advise their investors to stay away from scams.

Why is Davenport Laroche so successful?

It is effortless because of supply and demand and because they have maintained their spot as a producer in the world market. Davenport Laroche knew that when they make shipping container investment an opportunity for the public, the industry would see phenomenal growth, and it has.

Davenport Laroche Scams

Many supply container scams are going on right now, and many new ones are showing, but the Davenport Laroche scam is still at the top and will remain in the coming times.
Davenport Laroche Scam is very easy to understand. They promise you a fixed return of 12% on any amount invested per year, sometimes more than 24% (according to their official website).
They confirm that all the company’s supply containers are trackable, and the investor has the full legal right over the containers they buy.
Most of them independent trackers in various countries who act as recipients of the container owners and the money is transferred to the scammer’s account in those particular countries. The majority of the accounts belong to underdeveloped nations like Cambodia, Ghana, Vietnam, and Lagos.
Such frauds are exposed when companies like Davenport Laroche play different writers to write them a fake blog or a review. Their services are the best, and how the company looks after its investors, gets the best investment, and fake a lot of stuff.
They post a lot of fake reviews about the company on different forums and social media websites. A little in-depth research can reveal that it is fake. This is only done to attract more investors and get more investments, and people fall into this trap and invest. They end up losing a lifetime of savings in such scams.
Before the expose
Davenport Larches’ website said the supply containers have 60 years of track record and are the most profitable and safest income source. It is a false claim.

If something is promoted as being highly profitable and low-risk at the same time, there is a high chance of it being a fraudulent practice. One needs to note that storage containers already have many financial backers, and one doesn’t need to have individual investors to bring money to the table.

If shipping container investments were such a high-return investment, it would be full of investors, which unfortunately is not. Hence, it’s better not to invest in them, and if you have already, it better to look for a good fund recovery group that can help you recover your money.

Have you been a victim of the Davenport Laroche scam?

If yes, you have been a victim of the Davenport Laroche Scam. It is suggested that you come in contact with the fund recovery agency. You can go to various legal firms. They will help you irrespective of how much money you have lost.

Over the past few years, SEO has evolved faster than the previous decade. And this has made it harder for users to keep up with most recent updates. The launch of Penguin and Panda changed the way things worked in the past. In short, the way Google used to rank website has changed a lot. But if you want to reach your objectives, make sure you avoid some common SEO mistakes.

1. Avoiding RELEVANT CONTENT

In the start, Google said that it would rank websites that have the most relevant content on its first page. This statement is still valid. What has happened is that the search engine has become a lot better at achieving the objectives. In other words, now, Google is in better position to know what is relevant and what is not.

So, what you need to do is offer content that is relevant and avoid content is not relevant to your niche. Of course, the content should be informative and unique.

2. Following Tricks

People have been using many illegal ways of cheating the search engine algorithms for traffic, exposure and backlinks. Some of these tactics can still give you a temporary edge, but they are bad for your blog or website for the long-term.

So, you should avoid using low-quality, duplicate content, keyword stuffing, questionable redirects or cloaking for traffic. It may be tempting to go for these short-cuts, but they will just hurt your ranking, and may even get you banned for good.

3. Overloading your site

It has been a common perception that photos, videos and other graphics make a website more appealing for the viewers. To some extent, this perception is true; however, there should not be too much of it or your website will take ages to load. Your viewers don’t have all day to wait for your site to load. If your blog takes longer to load than other websites, the viewers will just click away. You will not only lose viewers, you will also lose ranking against other websites.

4. Making navigation difficult

Navigation is one of the most important factors for any website. It’s important for both viewers and search engines. Ideally, your viewers should be able to get the desired information from your website in one or two clicks. This may not be an easy task for you. So, what you can do is put important content on the main page of your site. This the users will be able to get what they want more easily.

5. Misunderstanding THE BACKLINK PROCESS

You may not want to be obsessed with obtaining a lot of backlinks. Although you don’t have to have backlinks from authority websites to establish your credibility, it helps a lot. However, what you need to do is try to get backclinks in a nature fashion. But it’s not a good idea to buy backlinks. This is one of the worst mistakes that you can make.

Quality content is the key to SEO success. Content doesn’t just mean your text contents. Images must be an integral part of your content strategy. At times, single images can be far more effective than your 1000 word blog post. It also helps you improve blog post quality and performance.

Images, Infographics, Videos and all other multimedia contents on your web page will help you in increasing the user engagement on your site and makes the visitors stay on your site for longer duration which helps in reducing the bounce rate.

Not just adding images to your contents, you should also optimize those images for better SEO performance. Optimization of images must be the one important aspect of your on-page SEO process.

If you are using images in your content, there are many aspects to be considered related to SEO.

Relevancy

Using images doesn’t mean that you should fill up your content with loads of pictures. You should use it only when it is required and also you should use images that are more relevant to your content.

Placement of your images is an another important aspect. It should be placed at a relevant location in your content according to your text content.

Use original images

Originality always helps in improving your user experience and your authority. Usage of original images will be helpful in improving your SEO performance. You can create original images with a graphic designer or you can take your own photographs with a quality camera. It is the reason top White hat SEO companies employ talented graphic designers for creating quality images.

If you are not able to employ an in-house graphic designer or if you are running out of time, you can always use high quality images from the web. But the important factor to be considered is it should be copyright free.

There are many tools available for getting copyright free images without any cost. The most popular ones are Unsplash, Flicker, Freeimages.

Image Size

Images are the main source for damping your site’s speed. And site speed is a crucial factor in your SEO performance. So, you should be extra cautious in using images without compromising your page speed.

It should not also affect your image quality, you should have a correct balance between. You can achieve this by reducing the file size by compression. You can use tools like Photoshop for compression.

File name

Search engine crawlers are visually impaired, it can even interrupt a 5000 word text content, but it cannot interrupt a single image and what the image is about. It is the reason using a keyword rich file names for your images is an important aspect in image optimization.

Google bots and other search engine crawlers can read your image’s file name and if it is named with your target keyword, it gives a signal to search engines about the image topic and thus helps your SEO performance.

For example, if your image is related to selling sports shoes, rather than using the file name as “IMG_89868″ you can use it as “Black_Tennis_Shoes”.

Alt text

Similar to the file name, search engines can read Alt text of the images. Alt text is known as “Aleternative Text”, is an HTML attribute used to describe the content of images.

You should use Alt text which is relevant to your images and it should be clear and descriptive. You can use your target keywords in the Alt text but be cautious about Keyword stuffing.

If you are not focusing on Image optimization, you are missing a huge opportunity in improving your SEO performance. You can use above mentioned best practices in your on-page optimization process.