Image alt text, which is short for alternative text, describes image details and its purpose on a website. It is also referred to as alt attributes and alt tags. You can find the alt text code within your website’s HTML code.
An image’s alt text may look like this:
<img src=“image.jpg” alt=“image description” title=“image title”>
or this
<img src="image.gif" alt="Image">
Alt text was initially created for the visually impaired to help identify online images. Screen-reading software reads this text aloud to its users. Alt text also appears in place of images on browsers that block them and shows up in place of its image when pages don’t load correctly.
In addition to making your site more accessible, alt text is read by search engine crawlers. It is important to develop a web design and format that optimizes SEO and crawlers. When ranking websites, crawlers view your images using this portion of code. It then decides the value of the image in relation to its page and your site overall.
Whether you Google “Bluetooth speaker” or “Benjamin Franklin,” images appear in the search results. For years, Google has increased the importance of visual media for several reasons:
Ultimately, good alt text should be descriptive. In a few words, describe what’s in the image and include any related keywords. If you’re unsure whether or not your alt text makes sense have it read to you with your eyes closed.
<img src="speaker.jpg"/>
<img src="speaker.gif" alt="">
These are examples of bad alt descriptions because they don’t include any actual alt text. If your image doesn’t need any alt text, consider adding it to your CSS.
<img src="speaker.gif" alt="speaker speakers small speaker home speaker wireless speaker Bluetooth speakers black speaker buy speaker">
This is an example of keyword stuffing in alt attributes. Keyword stuffing is widely regarded as a bad practice because most search engines evaluate it as spam.
<img src="speaker.jpeg" alt="black speaker">
This is a better example of alt text because it includes a one-word description of the speaker.
<img src="speaker.png" alt="small black wireless speaker sits on table">
This is an even better example of an alt attribute for the speaker image because it provides a brief illustration of the image. A few, wisely-chosen words can detail even simple pictures.
Writing better alt text is a key on-page SEO tactic that improves online users' access to your site and experience. Use the tips below as guidance when writing alt titles and descriptions for your site’s images.
At Cork Tree Creative, we are skilled and experienced in writing for SEO to optimize alt text, improve user- experience, and gain higher search engine rankings. Our SEO and strategic planning services work together to successfully optimize your images.
The first Cork Tree Cares initiative was making fleece tie blankets for Linus Blankets. This organization has donated over 70,000 blankets to a variety of organizations, helping those in need. Linus Blankets will be distributing our blankets to Family Hospice.
We recently donated a week's worth of meals to Touchette Bicycle Food Mission, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide members of the Centreville and East St. Louis community with healthy meals every Thursday evening. The organization is completely funded by donations and made up of volunteers who deliver meals on bicycles each week.
Our donation provided 1.1k meals that week, including 800 burritos and 500 sandwiches. Our team also provides marketing support to Touchette Bicycle Food Mission, helping promote the amazing work they do.
With over 4 billion email accounts worldwide (more than half of Earth’s population), the potential value of growing an effective email list for your company is particularly high. Today, social media is at the heart of many marketing strategies, although organic reach for sites like Facebook is down to about 6%. Conversely, email open rates across most industries fall between 15% and 25% – with rates even higher in some niche industries.
Truly, a thriving list of email subscribers can give your company a competitive edge. To tap into this prospective market, you’ll need to convince them of a few key (yet simple) things.
First, customers need to see that it’s easy for them to subscribe to your email list. No one wants to waste precious time searching for a way to give away their contact information. Second, your audience needs to see the unique value in doing just that. By demonstrating value with a subscription to your company’s emails, you’ll have a direct resource for releasing company updates and new products or services.
Depending on the type of products offered by your company, there are several ways to lead customers to the Subscribe button on your website. Most importantly, it should always be easy (and fast) for people to sign up for your company’s email list. If you use website builders like Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace, you then have access to their email capture boxes using their site building tools.
If you have social media accounts on sites like Facebook or YouTube, use their promotional signup tools to drive traffic to your email list – or to a landing page on your site for signing up. Other online tools to integrate into your company’s website to make subscribing to your email list easier include:
What They Are | What They Do |
|---|---|
| Call-to-action text on homepage | On the homepage of your company site, a call-to-action in featured text below your header (but above the rest of the page’s text) is an excellent place to promote your email list because it is usually the first thing people see. |
| Embedded form | The easiest embedded form for capturing emails is a newsletter signup form. More complex versions may use customer feedback surveys or quizzes that require an email address to complete. |
| Pop-ups | If you use the right messaging, you can use pop-ups to convince people already scrolling your website to sign up for additional valuable content. |
| Scrollbar and sliding text | Website tools like Hello Bar and certain plugins on WordPress can add scrolling text or a scrollbar to your webpages. These tools allow customers to subscribe no matter where they are on your site. |
| Signup at checkout | Shopify and other ecommerce platforms let shop owners toggle a selection to add an automatic email signup for customers at checkout. |
| Social sharing buttons | Adding “Email To A Friend” buttons at the bottom of blogs and other shareable content lets you capture a wider audience through direct referrals from existing customers. |
If you’ve used any of the above email capture methods, you may have a list of subscribers ready. Unfortunately, email lists shrink by nearly 25% each year through abandoned email accounts and those who unsubscribe. Consequently, you’ll need to replenish these numbers in your email list by consistently demonstrating your company’s value to new and existing customers. Although this sounds like a colossal task, organizations have found countless ways to market their products while introducing customers to all aspects of their brand.
How you choose to demonstrate your company’s value will largely depend on your industry and the services/products you provide. Nonetheless, you can motivate customers using any of the below strategies by giving them an incentive to subscribe. By entering their email address, customers can:
Maintaining the addresses in your company’s email list is as important to its effectiveness as your marketing strategies. Therefore, use the following three tips to maintain a “clean” email list.
Want to take advantage of the above digital marketing strategies without having to learn all of the lingo? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
Neglecting the use of promotional products is a huge miss for advertisers and businesses alike. In fact, eighty-eight percent of promotional product recipients remember the name of the advertiser on the products; and 85 percent of the recipients do business with the advertiser on the product. We have found that promotional products do work.
Now more than ever, businesses have to be strategic to stand out. In order to do that, we suggest offering a free gift to customers. This will go a long way because it adds a personal touch.
On average, promotional products are kept in homes for seven months. Calendars are a good option because they last for a year. We have also found that promotional products last on average for 26 weeks longer than digital ads!
Promotional products create free brand ambassadors. In fact, more than 63 percent of those in the United States give their promotional products away once they are finished using them. This expands the reach of your advertising message far beyond those who are initially targeted.
People have trained their minds to ignore advertising that isn't useful to them. However, advertising is hard to ignore when you’re pouring a cup of coffee into a mug. People want products that are practical. There is something memorable about an item that you can actually see, touch and use.
Research conducted by the Advertising Specialty Institute in 2016 shows the cost per impression for promotional products is only $0.70. In addition to being cost-effective, promotional products are a dependable method for advertisers to reach their target audience.
There are a lot of options when discussing promo items. That means, implementing the strategy comes with hard decisions. That's why we are here to help.
First, you will want to select the item. Selecting the perfect item for your target audience can elevate your brand. Our team is here to help you with every minor detail of your marketing strategy, including picking the most effective merchandise.
Next, we need to have the artwork or logo ready. Our graphic designers can assist you in developing a logo that stands out and fits your brand and will look great on your promotional product.
And finally, distribute your items. In order to be effective, the right people need to receive your product. We can help you create a distribution plan that is guaranteed to be effective.
Cork Tree Creative is a promotional product distributor with items from over 3,000 suppliers. Contact us today to get started on your next project! 618-656-7333
Have you considered franchise marketing? We work with national franchises to provide them with marketing support at a local level. For this reason, a variety of franchises have partnered with us to cultivate a loyal fan base, including Dunkin, Diamonds Direct and Orange Theory.
We can welcome your franchise to the community and generate buzz about your grand opening through PR and a variety of marketing tactics. At Cork Tree Creative, we are experts in all things local, allowing us to connect you with fellow businesses to cultivate lasting partnerships. In the event that you don't have a marketing plan, we will brainstorm ideas and present you with suggestions. Our team of social media specialists will create high-quality content for your business with custom photography and videography. In addition, we encourage our clients to utilize social media as a marketing platform. SproutSocial suggests, 71% of customers are more likely to purchase from a brand or company after a positive social media experience. However, we won’t stop there. Once we have a social media strategy in line, we will develop a digital advertising campaign to create brand awareness.
Our franchise marketing services include:
Are you in need of franchise marketing? Then, we are the team for you! In addition to providing a strategic marketing plan, we serve as a partner to your marketing team. If you want to learn more about our comprehensive marketing services, call 618-656-7333 or email fr*******@**************ve.com. When you're ready, we look forward to working on your franchise marketing plan!
Fall has finally arrived! With the brightly colored fall foliage, it really is a beautiful time of year. There are so many activities, family traditions and community gatherings to celebrate fall. While the trees and their changing leaves are beautiful, we often forget that this is a season of transition for trees and other plants. It’s necessary for plants to die in order to survive the winter season that is coming. This can be true for marketing strategies as well. As technology is constantly updating and consumers’ interests change, marketing strategies must adapt, which means some will become obsolete. We have gathered five outdated marketing strategies that are in their fall season, and should be left there.
Blogs currently reign superior when it comes to digital marketing trends. Many companies use blogs in their day-to-day business, in fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a company that doesn’t utilize blogging. Blogs are a great way to establish brand authority, engage customers, and offer valuable information. They can also boost your company’s SEO. But, many companies only focus on the SEO aspect of blogging. This results in pages of blogs that have very little content and, instead, contain the company’s target keywords over and over. These blogs will show up on search engines, but they are pointless and useless for customers.
Even those who work in the marketing and advertising field hate pop-up advertisements. They are intrusive and annoying when trying to explore different websites. Thankfully, pop-ups and banner ads are on their way out due to the success of native advertising. With native advertising, the ads follow the natural flow of the website in which it’s placed. Native ads reach the same audience and are 53% more likely to generate leads, according to Jameson Slattery, VP of global marketing at Colorescience.
Email marketing is one of the most reliable digital marketing trends. Email has withstood the test of time and is still widely used. It is one of the best ways to inform your customers as well as offer coupons and sales. If you keep sending generic advertisements to your customers over and over, it’s only a matter of time before they click “unsubscribe.” Use the data you have collected about your customers to tailor emails to them and make them relevant. Know your sub-audiences, and use those to your advantage.
Naturally, you want your product or service to stand out above the rest with superior ratings. Don’t be the company who has employees leave fake, positive reviews online. It is pretty easy to tell which reviews come from employees versus the reviews actually left by satisfied customers. When customers start noticing the fake reviews, they will not think of your company as credible anymore.
This season, embrace the fall spirit and lay these outdated marketing strategies to rest. Do you need help preparing your marketing strategy for the ever-changing digital world? Our team of marketing gurus can create and carry out a comprehensive marketing plan for your business. Contact us today at 618-656-7333 or visit http://corktreecreative.com/contact.
Cork Tree Creative, Inc., a marketing and public relations firm located in Edwardsville, Ill., announced its recognition on St. Louis Small Business Monthly’s Best in Reliability List.
This recognition honors the 25 most reliable businesses in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.
“Many of our clients have been with us since the inception of Cork Tree Creative. We attribute their longevity as clients directly to our ability to be a trusted, reliable partner in their marketing,” said Laura Reed, co-owner of Cork Tree Creative. “We are proud of each member of the Cork Tree family for making this recognition possible and thank the St. Louis Small Business Monthly for the recognition.”
Cork Tree Creative serves more than 30 clients ranging from local small businesses to national corporations, such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Diamonds Direct.
Cork Tree Creative, Inc. is a certified women owned business led by Jan Carpenter and Laura Reed. The firm specializes in social media, public relations, website design, graphic design, digital marketing and more. For more information, please call (618) 656-7333 or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
Similar to being certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Cork Tree Creative is also certified by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting Program. All these certification abbreviations can start to get confusing. Let’s break it down a bit.
As we discussed in a previous blog, WBENC is the leading advocate for women’s business enterprises in the U.S. Any business that is WBENC certified can also apply for WOSB certification. This is because WBENC is an official third-party certifier of the WOSB Federal Contract Program.
The WOSB Federal Contract Program specifically provides women-owned businesses with greater opportunities to secure federal contracts. Federal agencies are currently required to award five percent of federal contracting dollars to WOSBs. This gives Cork Tree Creative the unique opportunity to expand as a marketing company.
Cork Tree Creative is proud of all the certifications they have thus achieved, and are currently working towards even more accreditations. Are you a federal agency in need of partnering with a Women-Owned Small Business for your marketing needs? We can carry out a comprehensive marketing plan in house. We provide public relations, graphic design, website development, photography, videography, social media management services and more. Contact us today at 618-656-7333 to learn what we can do for your company.
You're already familiar with the friendly faces at Cork Tree Creative and the work we do, but did you also know we are a WBENC certified marketing firm? The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council is the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the country. As a leading advocate for women entrepreneurs and business owners, they promote diversity in the world of commerce. Additionally, the WBENC expands opportunities and eliminates barriers for strong female business owners.
WBENC certification is important for any business, especially ours. Why? More than 1,000 corporations accept the certification. Major brands across the country receive recognition for their WBENC certification. Second, the certification demonstrates our dedication to improving our business and serving clients. There are no “participation trophies” here.
To qualify for certification, women must own, operate, control and manage 51% of the business. A business must also complete formal documentation and undergo a site visitation process as part of the certification process.
Our WBENC certification provides access to business opportunities and resources. These opportunities and resources help us to grow our business and better serve our clients. Along with connecting us with potential clients, the WBENC holds workshops, events and networking opportunities.
Are you a business looking to outsource your marketing needs? Look no further than WBENC certified marketing firm Cork Tree Creative. We are a full-service public relations and marketing firm. Furthermore, we are proudly owned by two talented marketing gurus. With an impressive set of skills under their belt, Laura Reed and Jan Carpenter are eager to help you achieve your business marketing aspirations. Ready to get started? Pop on by our office sometime, or give us a call at (618) 656-7333.
Marketing can be overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be when you have a reliable partner to help. Receive a free assessment to see how your marketing efforts stack up and how you can take your brand to the next level.
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