The reign of the phone book is long over – when people search for your business today, they do it online. As a local business owner, you know a website is a necessity. While social media marketing can be a powerful tool for building awareness, and old-fashioned advertising still has its place, you need a space that you control as your headquarters on the web. But is your local business website getting the job done? If it’s missing one of the key ingredients below, you could be missing out on a lot of potential business. Your website doesn’t have to have tons of content, advanced programming, or a complicated setup… but it does need the right ingredients in order to be effective.
#1 A Mobile-Friendly Design
How many of your customers are finding you using mobile devices? Of course it will differ depending on the business, but you might be surprised to know that mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic since 2014. Being mobile-friendly is even more important for local business. According to a study by Google, 88% of people who conduct local searches do so using a smartphone. 88% of people who conduct local searches do so using a smartphoneNote that there’s a difference between “mobile-responsive” and “mobile-friendly.” It’s possible to have a web design that’s mobile-responsive, while still having other elements of your site that make it difficult to navigate from a mobile device. A truly mobile-friendly site will:
NOT use pop-ups, floating share buttons, etc. that make it impossible to read or navigate your site
Devote most of the limited screen space to useful content
#2 The Right Information
Consider using a tool like Survey Monkey to find out what info visitors are looking for on your website.Your local business website doesn’t have to be complicated or have tons of content. In fact, when it comes to local business websites, it’s often better to have a very basic website. But deciding exactly what information is crucial to include and what information is superfluous can be a challenge. You need to make sure your website has exactly the information your customers are looking for, which means finding out exactly why people visit your website. According to Google’s study, people who search for local businesses are most often looking for your hours of operation, directions, or product availability. But, since your business and your audience is unique, you may want to consider doing a survey of your website visitors or existing customers to find out what information they’re looking for on your website.
#3 Local SEO
It’s not enough to have a nice-looking, mobile-friendly website that’s easy to use, if your potential customers can’t find it! You need to make sure that your website can be easily found by people in your area who are searching for the services or products you provide. That means not just SEO – but local SEO, which is a different ballgame. Submitting your business to directories like Foursquare will help boost your search engine rankings.Regular SEO doesn’t take into account the searcher’s location. For example, if someone is searching Google for “roasted eggplant recipes,” the results Google serves up won’t be ranked according to how close the website owner is in relation to the searcher, but by relevance to the topic. On the other hand, if someone searches Google for “car repair,” Google will give preference to local business websites: businesses in the same city as the searcher will be ranked higher than businesses that are located hours away. Optimizing for local search includes a few strategies and tactics that aren’t generally included in regular SEO, including:
That first factor, schema markup, is the primary way search engines can tell where your business is located, as well as other data including your hours of operation, phone number, etc. Using schema markup results in informative search results like thisWhen I search incognito for “car repair in los angeles,” Google can tell me this business’s address, phone number, and hours of operation. That’s because the website includes rich schema markup. SEO can be tricky to navigate if you don’t dedicate a lot of time to keeping up with all the latest developments. A good local SEO plugin, like Yoast Local SEO plugin, can do a lot of the on-page optimization for you, including schema markup, which is a basic ingredient for a successful local business website.
#4 Map and Contact Info
Many of your customers will be visiting your site in order to get directions to your business, or contact you with questions, and the perfect local business website will make it as easy as possible for them. One way to do so is with a dedicated “Directions” page with an embedded Google map, and including detailed instructions on how to locate your business, such as nearby landmarks. You should also make it as easy as possible for visitors to contact you with questions. Include a phone number with a link, so that visitors on their smartphones can call you at a click. The HTML code for a phone number link looks like this:
<a href="tel:5555551234">555-555-1234</a>
You should also include an email address and a contact form, so visitors can use the method they’re most comfortable with.
#5 A Way to Stay in Touch
Many of your visitors may intend to visit your store sometime, but forget about it as soon as they leave your website. That’s why it’s important to keep in touch with them! Asking visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter is the best option, because you have direct access to their inbox and control over exactly what you send them and how often. In order to convince people to sign up for your newsletter, you can offer them a deal, coupon, discount, or some kind of freebie for subscribers. Social media is also a good way to keep in touch with visitors, though it can be limiting since you have to play by their rules, and your access is more limited. The perfect local business website has an email newsletter with opt-in forms in prominent locations, such as after every post and on your “About” page. You can even A/B test conversion rates to find out what kinds of forms and locations work best for your audience.
How Does Your Local Business Website Measure Up?
Does your local business website have all the necessary ingredients? Do your customers find what they’re looking for when they search for you? Use these tips and you’ll benefit from local SEO.
Users love to receive recognition for their visits. Think of it: doesn’t it make a big difference when you enter a place where nobody even acknowledge your presence compared to a place where the host will greet you personally, even though they don’t know yet? I’m sure it does. And you will agree that it makes an even bigger difference when it’s your visitors whom you are trying to convert into subscribers or customers and not just one-time visitors. The five scripts in this post were written to add interactivity that will help with website conversions and please users, making them feel acknowledged and not invisible.
Notes about the scripts
All scripts are meant to work in a WordPress-based environment, however they are flexible enough to be implemented on other types of websites (with exception of #3, that is strictly WordPress).
With the exception of script #3, I wrote and tested all scripts myself and my fiancé Simone Cianfriglia kindly reviewed them. They should be error free, but let me know in the comments if you run into issues or have questions.
Say you run specific offers for different countries. You will want a user from a specific country to view offers related to their location and language and not general offers. The following script will greet users from countries you made special offers for while everyone else will be offered your default offer instead:
function getLink($country, $links) { if ($links[$country]) return $links[$country]; else return $links['default']; }
?>
<p>Hello! I see you are located in <?php echo $country_code; ?>!</p> <p>We have discounts specific to your market! <a href="<?php echo getLink($country_code, $links); ?>">Want to take a peek in?</a> </p>
With links.php being a file that contains this code:
Hello user from RU! We have discounts specific to your market! Want to take a peek in?
With “Want to take a peek in?” linking to the localized offer. The code detects if the user connected to the page from a Russian IP in this example, and it links the user’s geographic location to the country-specific offer page. See demo here: http://symphonize.org/php/localized-greetings.php
How the code works
The $country_code line retrieves the visitor’s country from a public database hosted at ipinfo.io
$links retrieves the array contained in the links.php file, that associates each country to its offer page URL
The function getLink checks if an association exists between a visitor country and its offer link and, if it does, it returns it (you will “echo” (display) it inside the HTML code of the visitor message); if there is no offer for the visitor country, the function returns the default offer.
How to use this script
Create two .php files:
localized-greetings.php
links.php
containing the code (customized to suit your needs) introduced above. Upload to the root folder or a subfolder of your website, then add this simple line of code to your sidebar or website page where you want the offer displayed:
Of course, /path/to/ will be the absolute path of your website folder (ask your host for guidance if you can’t figure out).
Why it improves conversions
It’s easier to make the right CTA convert when the user doesn’t have to click around to find them. This script displays the right link (or banner) as soon as the user visits the page. The offer link is there in front of the user’s eyes, ready to click and convert.
2. Time-Aware Contact Page
When a visitor hits your Contact page and wants to get in touch, they might know what timezone you are in but they may not be sure what exact time it is in your place nor if you are available to be contacted. The following script helps because it changes your availability message according to the time a visitor hits your page:
echo "<p>It's $localtime in my country (Italy). ";
if (17 <= $hour && $hour < 19) echo "I'm in the office. How can I help you?"; else echo "Office closed, sorry! I'm available 17:00-19:00 (5-7 PM) Mon-Fri.";
echo "</p>"; ?>
The code will output this message if the user visits your page at a time in your country (Italy in this example) when you are not available:
It’s 11:48 PM in my country (Italy). Office closed, sorry! I’m available 17:00-19:00 (5-7 PM) Mon-Fri.
Or this message if they visit your page while you are available:
It’s 5:48 PM in my country (Italy). I’m in the office. How can I help you?
date_default_timezone_set(“Europe/Rome”) tells the server that your default timezone is a specific one and not the server default. This is important because the location of your server may not be the same as your business. When the code retrieves your local time the moment a visitor hits your page, it will use the timezone you specified and not the server default. In this example, I used “Europe/Rome” as a timezone because it’s my location (Italy).
I have set three variables:
$time for the time() function
$localtime for the time calculated according to date_default_timezone_set; $localtime uses the strftime function to format the time string. You can choose the formatting; I chose “%A %d-%b-%Y %T %Z”, that means: %A – Sunday through Saturday %d – 01 to 31 %b – Jan through Dec %Y – Four digit representation of the year %T – Time in hour/minutes/seconds %Z – The time zone abbreviation
$hour to calculate the current hour in my country and check if the current hour belongs to the interval of office availability (5-7 PM in this example)
The if/else construct is the logic core of the script: if the time belongs to your business hours range, the code will display “I’m in the office. How can I help you?”; if not, it will print “Office closed, sorry! I’m available 17:00-19:00 (5-7 PM) Mon-Fri.”
How to use this script
Create time-aware-page.php file containing the code above (with your custom edits). As with the “How to use this script” tutorial for script #1, use the following line of code to call the .php in your page code:
<?php include("/path/to/time-aware-page.php"); ?>
Why it improves conversions
The script will essentially make it easier for yourself to get contact messages or requests only when you are available and not outside of your business hours. It also makes it easier for users to know if you are available or not, so they know whether they’re going to receive a prompt reply to their message or if they have to wait for the next business day. Overall, a simple script like this can help to keep communications focused during business hours and avoid wait for both you and your users.
3. An Helpful Marketing Addon for WordPress
Wouldn’t it be nice if your WordPress search form looked like this?
What are you looking for? Be specific! (e.g. “content marketing tools”)
With “Be specific! (e.g. “content marketing tools”)” as the text inside the search field. There is no PHP code you need to write here, as this is a simple HTML hack of your default WordPress search form — changing the display text for the search field and the button. You can do this by opening the searchform.php file in your WP installation and looking for the following tag:
“Search …” is what you should edit to customize the words inside the search form. In the example used at the beginning of this explanation, the words to replace “Search …” with are “Be specific! (e.g. “content marketing tools”)”. This small hack will improve user experience and help your users write and send more relevant queries to retrieve the best results in your WordPress database. However, you can customize your Search form and results page by installing one of the 15 WordPress Search plugins Hongkiat reviewed in 2015.
Why it improves conversions
Not every user knows how to search what they are looking for. The more guidance they can get during and after the process, the better. Sometimes a user will run a simple query in the hope to find what they are looking for among the results. This kind of query is unlikely to bring users the results they need, though, so to give users a hint on how to perform a better site search will lead them to get to the content they are looking for sooner and improve their overall experience (a satisfied user is a user who will come back).
4. Unique Blog Post Freebies
Post-specific CTAs are known to work much better than generic CTAs. You can work with content upgrades or you can automate some of your non-list conversion efforts with this simple PHP script for WordPress to show a unique offer at the end of each post:
<?php // FREEBIES BY POST
$postOffers = array( '1' => 'This post freebie is at URL1', '2' => 'This second post freebie is at URL2', );
function postFreebie($postId,$postOffers) { return $postOffers[$postId]; }
A demo screenshot: I edited ‘This post freebie is at URL1’ in the array as
'<p style="border:1px solid #535353;padding:10px;color:#161616;">This post freebie is at <a href="URL1">URL1</a></p>'
for this demo. Note that ‘This post freebie is at URL1’ will only appears for this ‘Hello World’ post and NOT other posts — this is the scope of the script. To make that same freebie offer available for more posts, you have to specify the post ID in the array; for example, if I want ‘This post freebie is at URL1’ to also appear for post ID 354, I will add it as below:
$postOffers = array( '1' => 'This post freebie is at URL1', '354' => 'This post freebie is at URL1', );
How the code works
The variable $postOffers is an array that links each post ID specified in the array (you can view your post IDs by hovering the mouse on the Edit link under each post in http://example.com/wp-admin/edit.php)
The function postFreebie() associates the post ID to its related offer and returns it in the code. Note that $postID uses a WordPress function that calls the current post ID
$freebie takes $postID and $postOffers and returns the right offer for each post, which you will ‘echo’ (display) with “echo $freebie”
How to use this script
Create a postoffers.php file and upload it to the root of your domain, a subfolder or within your theme folders. Then call the script inside your theme’s single.php template after the post content (<?php the_content() ;>) with this line of code:
<?php include("/path/to/postoffers.php"); ?>
Alternatively, you can simply copy and past the entire code into your single.php template (same position).
Why it improves conversions
Like with content upgrades for your subscriber list, downloadable freebies work better if they are unique to a specific post, so that readers of that post will have a chance to dive deeper in their favorite topic, while they might not be interested in another topic you wrote, say, a free e-book for. A good format for this kind of conversion ad is the leaderboard format, set at a slightly smaller width than your post content. If your blog runs on WordPress, you can use Electric Studio Download Counter to count download conversions for each freebie. Also, make sure to set Conversion Goals in Google Analytics, Piwik or other analytics software you use to keep track of conversions.
5. Day-Specific Offers
If you run offers specific to certain days of the week (e.g. 20% off your ebook sales on Tuesday and free counseling on Fridays), you will find this script handy:
See demo here: http://symphonize.org/php/day-specific-offers.php
How the code works
For timezone and time, I used the same code from script #2.
%w is a strftime() parameter that means “Numeric representation of the day of the week” and it counts Sunday (0) as the starting day of the week (ending with Saturday (6). So “if (strftime(“%w”, $time) == 0)” means “if current day of the week is a Sunday”, then display “Special Sunday Offer!”.
The rest of the code is an if/else construct to display different offers for different days of the week. In this case, only two days of the week have special offers (Sunday and Wednesday), while the other days have no special offers attached, so the code will display a “No special offers today” in this example.
How to use this script
See include instructions for the previous scripts.
Why it improves conversions
It’s a waste of time for the user (and very frustrating, too) to fall for an interesting offer only to find out it’s not available on any given day. This simple script will rotate your offer ads on a day basis to only show offers that are available on a specific day and feed the user default options on the other days. If the user is interested in today’s offer, today is the day that will bring in conversions and no frustrated users (who may not come back to check on the right day).
It takes the average person 0.05 seconds to make a judgement about your website. That translates to 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression on your visitor. In 50 milliseconds, it’s doubtful the person has time to read much of your text. What does that mean? That means most people’s first impression of your website is made based on the design and images, which the brain processes faster than text. In that short space of time, the person decides whether they will stay on your site and check it out further or whether they’ll leave and bounce to another site. Conversion XL took a look at some of the studies that have been conducted, such as the one mentioned above and studies performed by Google in regards to various types of conversions. They found across the board that people do judge a website on it’s visual appeal.
“Websites with low visual complexity and high prototypicality (how representative a design looks for a certain category of websites) were perceived as highly appealing.”
Images are the cornerstone of your site’s visual appeal. That includes design as well as images used within posts and as featured images. However, purchasing stock images can cost a small fortune over time. That is why free images are so important to utilize.
Fair Use/Copyright
There are a lot of finer points to fair use of items and copyright issues. In fact, I wrote an entire article on this topic titled Can You Use that Photo? Understanding Fair Use and What Photos Can and Can’t Be Used Legally on Your Blog. To be on the safe side, you’re better off either purchasing the right to use a photo or using a free image that has been marked as Creative Commons CCO license. This is basically where the artist has waived his or her copyright of the photo and is releasing it to the public to be used in any way. The original author does not have to be attributed with CC0, although it is a nice thing to do. There are also a variety of litmus tests as to whether something is fair use. You can find the details in the article I mentioned above.
List of Free Image Sites
Below is a complete compilation of sites that have appeared in a previous article, but the list has been updated. Old links that no longer work have been removed and new links added.
1. Pixabay
Image from Pixabay, source. Link added for your reference, attribution not needed for images found on Pixabay.This one is my personal favorite due to the flexibility. There are no attribution requirements, meaning that you can do whatever you want with the images you get from this source. Additionally, it’s super simple to use – there’s even a simple search right on the homepage available before you even log in. You’ll get access to photos, vector images, and illustrations and can filter down as needed. Downloading the actual images is incredibly easy and, again, comes with options for image size (pixels and MB) so that the image you have in-hand is clear and quality for whatever your purpose might be (in my case, most likely online for your blog – no huge file size necessary). Note: I call sites like Pixabay DWYW sites – “Do Whatever You Want” – which is awesome! Visit site: http://pixabay.com/
2. Unsplash
Image from Unsplash, by Jeff Sheldon.Unsplash is another one of my favorites that makes securing free images incredibly easy. With a free account, your quantity of downloads is a bit limited – you get 10 photos every 10 days (or an average of one per day)… but unless you’re a mega poster, that will likely suit your needs. The files are hi-res, which makes them crisp, clear, and easily re-sizeable. As is the case with Pixabay, the files are yours to do with as you please – no limitations. You will need to subscribe – which is really just a matter of providing your email address. Artists are constantly submitting new photos, so the database continues to grow and offer fresh content. Visit site: http://unsplash.com/
3. Compfight
Image from Compfight, credit: w4nd3rl0st (InspiredinDesMoines)This photo source is a bit different than the first two in that the images take a slightly more indy approach in many cases. You will search using a simple search, then be able to filter down by license type, whether they include the originals, and other various licensing elements. To stay legally compliant and properly attribute the photos you use, you’ll need to be familiar with Creative Commons, a fairly common requirement in the creative world. You’ll have access to plenty of free photos, but also to images that cost money for use, so be careful as you go through the download process to ensure you know of any potential costs upfront. Visit site: http://compfight.com/
4. UPICM
Image from UPICM, source.With a tagline that reads, “free picks no tricks,” UPICM provides a pretty straightforward and easy to use resource for securing free images for blog use and beyond. That said, there are subscription services available that do come with a cost, but also offer enhanced content and licensing options. One nice thing is that, if you do have an image budget, UPICM has buyout options – which means that you can buy out the creative license to ensure unique imagery (in contrast, many of the free image sites allow you – and anyone else – to download and use the same image). Of course, those buyouts do come with a price tag; but there’s plenty on the site for free, too. Visit site: http://www.upicm.com/
5. Public Domain Pictures
Image from Public Domain Pictures, source.As the name implies, this free image source specializes in providing images available through public domain (that’s how it provides them for free). Some of the images do come with release and licensing requirements, so be sure to thoroughly review each image and its attribution and licensing requirements to gain a full understanding (and stay legally sound). That sounds more daunting than it really is… This is actually a really cool site that provides unique imagery, thanks to photographers and creative professionals looking to sell work on an ongoing basis. All artists are vetted before submitting to ensure quality work… which then, becomes available to you! Happy searching. Visit site: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
6. Alegri Photos
Image from Alegri Photos, source.This is a fairly straightforward site, friendly for even the most novice of image providers to use. Browse among popular categories with the click of a button or search by keyword. You can also browse the newest images to the site by clicking on “Latest” or view popular images by clicking “Popular” from the top navigation. Images are very easy to share, thanks to the site’s built-in social media and share icons. Alegri Photos is a good resource if you’re short on time and need an easy find. Visit site: http://www.alegriphotos.com/
7. Dreams Time
Image from Dreams Time, source.Dreams Time provides a nice array of images and image types, especially for a free resource. Browse by category, keyword, or image type. Also, while there is a free images section, this site also does offer paid options, so if you’re looking for free, stick to the “free images” link. If you’re willing to pay, you can expand your options to include everything from stock photography to vectors, web design graphics, and more. There is a promo available to download five or 10 images upfront for free – to take advantage, check out the subscription plans under pricing and plans. Note: You will need to register an account and fill up your personal details before you can do a free download – which consumes slightly more time than the others above. Visit site: http://www.dreamstime.com/free-images_pg1
8. Open Clip Art
Image from Open Clip Art, source.Clip art is a bit different than your typical photo inclusion, but can come in handy for miniature page graphics or even for design elements within your blog (think arrows to the next page or for creating patterned wallpaper). This site offers access to free clipart, but unlike many of the other free image sources, does not delve into photography or more intricate design elements. That said, it’s easy to use and you never know what you’ll find – definitely worth a peruse. Visit site: http://openclipart.org/
9. Little Visuals
Image from Little Visuals, source.You know all of those “fun” boxes flying around right now that ship various goodies to your home on a monthly basis (think pet products, makeup samples, snacks, etc.)? Think of Little Visuals like that – but for your email account. This free image resource sends subscribers seven hi-res images via email every seven days. No, you don’t know exactly what you’ll get (nor do you get to choose), but that’s half the fun. You can use the images however you choose – so even if something isn’t quite up your alley right now, save the images to build your own image library… you never know when something will come in handy. Visit site: http://littlevisuals.co/
10. Death to the Stock Photo
Image from Death to the Stock Photos.This is another photos of the month collection subscription service. It’s incredibly easy to join – you literally just enter your email address on the join page – and bam! Free photos come to your inbox every month. Again, you don’t get to choose what you receive and you’ll only get them when they send (no searching databases or filtering by keyword), but the photos are different from what you’ll find elsewhere and again are available at your full disposal for pretty much any use under the sun. Of note, there is a premium service available – check the site for full details. Visit site: http://join.deathtothestockphoto.com/
11. Morgue File
Image from Morgue File, source.Morgue File actually has a really impressive database of free photos that includes – at the time of this writing – more than 329,000 images. Not shabby for a free image resource! Beyond the free photos, it does pull in images from various other sources, such as iStock, Getty Images, and more – however, conveniently, it keeps those paid images and their sources separated on different tabs so that you have clarity into what will cost you and what won’t. Photos span pretty much every topic and style under the sun – well worth a look. Visit site: http://morguefile.com/
12. Free Digital Photos
Image from Free Digital Photos. Originally sized at W: 400px, resized to 750px; source.This site offers great transparency and ease of use, paired with up-front licensing information. The free photos are always available for any application you can think of (yes, including your blog) – but, should you need larger image sizes for reproduction purposes than are available through the free portion of the site, you can always upgrade for a fee. One of the nice things about this site is the navigability – it’s easy to search by keyword, or, if you don’t quite know what you want, peruse by clicking on any of the categories on the left side of the page. Note: Did you notice that the quality of the image above is not as good as the others? This is because the original size of the image is W:400px. FreeDigitalPhotos.net is not the best place to be if you are looking for large free photos. Visit site: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
13. Creative Commons
Found via Creative Commons Search. Image hosted on Flickr, by Jürgen from Sandesneben, Germany.You’ll hear about Creative Commons quite often in the image and creative world, particularly since it’s a bit of an industry leader in terms of copyright and licensing standards. This site amalgamates images available through other image sites, pulling them into one easy feed for users – and, importantly, it does so for free. However, because of that amalgamation, you won’t have quite as much control over the results you receive back. For example, a simple search for “cats” returns a smattering of pages – but many of the results are clipart. But, hey – who can argue with free? Visit site: http://search.creativecommons.org/
14. Photo Pin
Image found via Photo Pin, creditt: christian.senger.This easy-to-use photo site is every bloggers friend, providing an easy way to search, paired with a visually pleasing and non-intimidating interface. A simple keyword or keyphrase search will return loads of photos that you can then filter down based on license type and sort by recency, relevance, or ranked “interestingness.” How does it work? It pulls in photos from Flickr via an API and also searches Creative Commons (sound familiar?). If you are looking for something a bit more predictable, Photo Pin conveniently offers a discount code for iStockphoto. Visit site: http://photopin.com/
15. Wikimedia Commons
Image via Wikimedia, source.Everyone’s heard of Wikipedia, but have you heard of Wikimedia? This is the jackpot for free, usable media assets. As of the time of this writing, this photo source has more than 23 million media assets available! Note that I said media assets – not photos or images. That’s because, in addition to static images and photography, you’ll also have access to video clips, drawings, animations, and more. Like I said, jackpot. Conveniently (and thankfully), there are some pretty sophisticated filtering tools to help you find the right media for your needs – search by keyword or topic, then filter by media type, source, licensing option, and more. Visit site: http://commons.wikimedia.org/
16. Stock Photos for Free
Image from Stock Photos for Free, source.As the name would imply, this is a source for free stock photos. Use either the simple search to search by keyword or browse based on pre-populated categories. There are currently more than 100,000 photos available – and importantly, your downloads are unlimited, meaning that you can download as many as you need without restrictions in quantity. All images automatically come with royalty free licenses, which removes any concern about copyright or licensing infringement – I love it when things are easy and clear. To start, you will need to create an account – but again, it’s free, so no worries there. Visit site: http://www.stockphotosforfree.com/
17. Free Range Stock
Image from Free Range Stock, source.To get started on this site, you’ll need to create a free account… assuming you actually want to download, that is. However, in the meantime, get the feel for it with the simple search that will pull in images based on the keyword or key phrase of your choosing. One nice thing about this site is that, beyond the qualification for a photographer to join and submit their work, the site puts some additional work into every image to ensure that it is of peak quality before they offer it for download. Visit site: http://freerangestock.com/
18. Big Foto
Image from Big Foto, source.This free image resource isn’t quite as “sexy” as some of the other sites, but if you’re in need of free photos, another resource never hurts. The photos are organized into pages by topic, allowing you to browse and even get ideas based on the pre-allocated topics. Since many amateur photographers submit to the site, you may be able to find something a bit “off the beaten path” – you never know. Visit site: http://www.bigfoto.com/
19. RGB Stock
Image from RGB Stock, source.Membership to this image source is completely free, as are all of the images on the site. The licensing agreement is pretty straightforward and using the images for your blog shouldn’t provide any complications. That said, one thing that is nice is that, if you have questions about use or would like to use the photos beyond what is allowed per the licensing agreement, the site provides a link for you to contact the photographer – this is also a great way to get in touch should you love a particular artist’s work. In terms of navigation and usability, you can search either with a keyword or key phrase, by browsing pre-populated categories, or by browsing through Popular or even a particular artist’s work. It’s really straightforward, which saves time – an awesome trait in our world. Visit site: http://www.rgbstock.com/
20. Image Finder
Image found via Image Finder; by Mike DixsonThis free image resource is about as straightforward and clear as it gets. Simply type in your search keyword and receive a plethora of results in-line with your needs. Upon receiving your results, you will have the opportunity to filter by license type and to sort based on recency, relevance, or “interestingness.” In my experience, the images are all high quality, making an impressive use of low and highlights and composition. Another nice feature: you can download the size image that you need, ranging from small (180 x 240 approximately) to the original size (which will vary). Visit site: http://imagefinder.co/
21. Wylio
Photo found via Wylio, by Alpha.This site makes use of the Creative Commons photo database, aiming to simplify the search and browse process. As a huge bonus perk, it has built-in editing tools which allow you to resize images with the click of a button. Additionally, it will create code to embed images on your pages as needed, simplifying the upload/download/enter URL process. There are more than 100 million free photos available – get started in just seconds by creating a free account. Note: You can speed up Wylio signup process by signing in with your Google account Visit site: http://www.wylio.com/
22. Pexels
Image from Pexels, source.All of the images available on Pexels are available under the Creative Commons Zero license, allowing you to access, modify, and distribute the images per your needs and as you see fit. Visit site: http://www.pexels.com/
23. Designers Pics
Image from Designers pics, source.Images available through Designers Pics cover every topic under the sun… as an example, in perusing the homepage, today imagery ranges from a windmill to paper people chains, eggs, a marina… you get the idea. And that’s just the homepage. You can either browse the categories or search by your own keyword. All available photos are hi-res, which ensures a quality reprint and an image that will certainly appear nicely on your blog. Visit site: http://www.designerspics.com/
24. FreeMediaGoo
Image from FreeMediaGoo, source.Images available from this site covers themes like beach, aviation, buildings, and France. The site also offers some free stock digital backgrounds (realistic and surreal) and royalty free textures that you can use in your design elements. Visit site: http://freemediagoo.com
25. StockSnap.io
Image from StockSnap.io, source.This site has a huge collection of stock photos that are free to use. If you need higher resolution images, theirs are photographer quality. You can search this site easily. The example above is one of many that turned up when searching for the keyword “horse.” You can also refine the search by using more than one word. You can also cross-search by the most popular photos. New photos are added each week and these are Creative Commons Public Domain. That means you do not have to offer attribution. Visit site: http://stocksnap.io
26. Gratisography
Image from Gratisography, source.This site is made up of photographs taken by photographer Ryan McGuire. He offers them free of any copyright restrictions and adds new pictures each week. You’ll find some high level artistic photographs on this site, such as a can of coffee nestled in coffee beans, or a little boy writing graffiti on a wall. If you’re looking for something unusual, this is the site to check out. Visit site: http://www.gratisography.com/
27. NegativeSpace.co
Image from NegativeSpace.co, source.Around 20 new photos are added to this site each week under CCO. They are searchable and high resolutions. They are also sorted by categories for easy browsing. You’ll find a number of stock looking photos that are appropriate for business websites. Visit site: http://negativespace.co/
28. Splitshire
Image from Splitshire, source.This website is maintained by Daniel Nanescu, a web designer. The photos are free to use on websites, in magazines, etc. The site does utilize cookies and will ask you to agree to them upon your arrival. Categories include fashion, food, landscapes, street, nature, and many others. You can also search for images based on keywords. Visit site: http://www.splitshire.com/
29. Picjumbo
Image from Picjumbo, source.Picjumbo is a terrific site for those who run any type of food related blog, because they have a wide assortment of food photos. All are royalty free with no attribution required. You’ll also find categories such as animals, nature, and people. Visit site: http://picjumbo.com
30. Free Images
Image from Free Image, source.This directory of open source images has nearly 400,000 images. You can search by keyword, or browse through categories such as health and medical, transportation, education, people and families, holidays and festivals, and more. The images on this site cover a wide range of topics and styles. You do need to watch the specifics as some of the photos on this site do require attribution. Visit site: http://www.freeimages.com/
Hotlinking
One thing you’ll want to avoid as you find free images online is hotlinking to them. This is a big no-no in web design. Hotlinking is when you link directly to the image on another person’s website instead of downloading it and uploading to your own site. You essentially are stealing bandwidth from the other website when you do this. It could get it blocked, cause an embarrassing image to pop up, or get you reported to your web server.
Attribution Requests
Each of these free image sites has different requirements. On some sites, different photographers require different types of attribution. You will find anything from the requirement to contact the original creator to no attribution whatsoever required. Be sure you read the details carefully and comply with what the photographer requests. With so many free image sites to choose from, you’re certain to find images that will make your website visually appealing to site visitors. Remember that great images can make or break a website.
Sometimes you just get stuck trying to come up with a great headline that will make your visitors go “Wow! I must read that!” and hook them to the post, start to finish. It’s difficult when you have to stick to an editorial calendar that is demanding of headlines and story ideas. The risk to come up with the same ol’ trite title is hiding behind the corner, as well as the risk to come up with ineffective headlines. Blog idea generators help because they take the burden of getting started off your shoulders, so all you have to do is grab the prompts generators throw at you and rework them into great headlines that convert. I have tried 15 generators over the last two months and they really helped with coming up with effective titles. However, I must warn you: Generators have a tendency to churn out the same headline structures for every blogger that uses them, so you can’t just grab a title and go with it— you have to get creative! In this post you will NOT find a detailed review of each tool, but a small introduction followed by tips to get the most out of each of them.
1. WordStorm
I found this tool on the HubSpot’s blog while I was looking for productivity tips. The tool struck me as helpful at first try — it was quite easy to get my first blog post ideas down for my technology and fiction blogs. For example, I stormed the word/topic “robots” and I found two interesting association on the grid: “robot visions” and “sophisticated robots”. WordStorm may not give ready-made titles, but it makes it easy to create word associations you can use in a headline. It works even better with the following workflow:
Use WordStorm to associate 2 or more words related to your topic
Run a forum and social media search to see what’s trending in your topic of choice
Come up with a blog post idea that puts your wordstorm and a trending angle together
A tool that generates silly titles?! How could that possible help you? It can help you when you want to add a bit of humor and catchy words to your headline, because sometimes the opportunity presents itself. You can use these titles as a base for niche headlines. For example, I could turn “I wanted to learn more about Horrid Henry” (??) into “25 Blogging Success Tricks You Absolutely Want To Learn”. What did I use here? The notion of “wanting to learn” about something, actually, and since my blog is about blogging success, there goes the inspiration. Visit URL:http://www.generatorland.com/glgenerator.aspx?id=122
3. The Blog Post Ideas Generator
Some ideas generated by this tool will not be good for a niche blog, but you can use some of the ideas it throws at you together with WordStorm or just get creative about it. For example, “How To Survive Your First…” became “Surviving Your Rejection – A Freelance Writer’s First Aid” for one of my blogs. Look at the example in the screenshot above: what would you turn “The All Time Best Way To____” into? Visit URL:http://www.buildyourownblog.net/the-blog-post-ideas-generator/
4. ContentIdeator
ContentIdeator is a keyword-based tool that generates titles of such a high quality that you could use them right away. However, as Neil Patel recommends in a short review of this tool, many bloggers will be using these same ideas, so the general rule of thumb of editing your generated titles stays valid. You can personalize “4 Great Content Marketing Tactics”, for example, by turning it into “4 Content Marketing Tactics That Worked For Me In 2015” or “4 Great Content Marketing Tactics To Use With Older Posts”. The tool allows you to save ideas you like in the “Saved Ideas” sidebar by clicking on the small arrows on the right of each title. Visit URL:http://www.contentforest.com/ideator
5. Blog About…
Blog About… is an heavily graphical tool that guides you through the headline creation process in an intuitive way. For example, it will give you a “fill the blanks” title like “____ Truths About ____ That Every ____ Should Know” and filling the blanks with your niche words is all you have to do. The way this tool works requires little brainstorming, as you can fill the gaps with much more that one word and you can edit your final result anyway. The headline formulae used will not lead you to trite titles if you play your cards well. As an example, the title I mentioned above can become “15 Truths About Successful Bloggers That Every Newbie Blogger Should Know (And Learn From)”. You can use the tool for the first part of this headline, then add the part in parentheses directly on your blog. Visit URL:http://www.impactbnd.com/blog-title-generator/blogabout
6. Portent’s Content Idea Generator
Portent’s tool is lively and playful in its appearance, but also powerful in the way it headlines that work, because it also explains why a certain headline structure will work.
I tried to generate some headlines for my “robocity” fiction blogs and I got this headline: “Why Our World Would End If Robocity Disappeared”.
Besides the fact this is a silly headline that could actually work in a fictional setting, this is what Portent’s tool tells me about the structure of this headline (in balloons):
“Why Our World” — Use contractions for a more conversational tone “Would End If” — Take a risk with your content and see if readers follow “Disappeared” — Someone can’t live without you. Make your topic essential
The great thing about these tips the tool throws at you is that you can use them to not just improve your final headline, but even to come up with more headlines yourself, without the help of the tool. Visit URL:https://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker
7. Blog Idea Title Generator (Kill Writer’s Block) by InboundNow
InboundNow’s tool generates headlines that are readable for humans and not just good for SEO. This is a plus point, because so far this tool has demonstrated one of the highest quality around. Look at the example in the screenshot above — the tool itself guides you to fill the blanks in the headline and does so with special attention to your audience and your niche needs (the prompts are spot on). Another example of good headline with tips this tool generated for me is: “Ultimate Guide To [something of popular interest]” If the generator is not enough to give you idea, the page also offers a “Need more Inspiration?” button that will get you a Google search form to run a keyword/long tail search in your niche. Visit URL:http://www.inboundnow.com/apps/kill-writers-block/
8. TweakYourBiz’s Title Generator
This generator churns out tons of headlines! Even too many, most of which have nothing to do with your niche, so this tool actually requires a lot of work on your part. However, it offers a good base for your blog post inspiration if you know what you need and in which category (Lists, How To, etc.). For example, the second title under “Lists” in the screenshot above is a good pick, but it would still benefit from some editing: “Believing These 8 Myths About Blog Marketing Keeps You From Growing”. Be careful, because some titles will make no sense with your keyword, so once again don’t go verbatim with usage. Visit URL:http://tweakyourbiz.com/tools/title-generator/
9. BacklinkGenerator.net’s Article Title Generator
Some topics generated by this tool are a bit generic, but still interesting and quality enough to take and edit to make them into something your readers will love. Like with other tools, you can mix two or more titles together to create something unique. Visit URL:http://www.backlinkgenerator.net/titlegenerator/
10. WebpageFX’s Blog Topic Idea Generator
The tool replaces their headline blanks with the keyword you entered, so choose your keyword carefully or the end result may not make any sense (like the example above!). As the main title for the tool says, it helps with killing your writer’s block but don’t rely on the tool without editing. Reword the title to suit your needs. For example, the title from the screenshot above may become “A Simple Guide To Blogging Success For New Bloggers”. Visit URL:http://www.webpagefx.com/blog-topic-idea-generator/
11. DIYToolkit’s Fast Idea Generator
It’s a PDF, not a generator tool! How many ways you can make a blog idea unique? Take the first suggestion in the document: inversion. If you were thinking effective networking tips for food bloggers, try to invert the rule — what about effective food blogging inspired by networking events? Follow the grid as it’s displayed; it guides you through all the steps. Visit URL:http://diytoolkit.org/tools/fast-idea-generator-2/
12. Seopressor’s Blog Title Generator
For my “content marketing” example and “a generic term” from the drop-down menu, the tool gave me these ideas in the list:
How To Learn About Content Marketing In Only 10 Days.
Learning Content Marketing Is Not Difficult At All! You Just Need A Great Teacher!
These ideas are quite interesting by themselves, but like with the other tools, I can’t rely on ready-made titles, so I put these two ideas together to generate this headline:
“How To Become A Good Content Marketer In 10 Days With The Help Of A Mentor”
Seopressor’s tool generates good titles that might be used verbatim in some circumstances, but it may also generate nonsensical post ideas, so always double check that the ideas you’re picking make sense in the context of you niche and won’t look like auto-generated spam. As a general rule of thumb, don’t use generator tool results verbatim. Always review your titles and improve them before using in a real blog post. Visit URL:http://seopressor.com/blog-title-generator/
13. Buzzsumo
You can use Buzzsumo to find the most engaged and shared posts in your niche and “join the discussion”, using these popular topics to come up with yours or write about the same topic but from a different angle. I searched for posts related to “blogging success” for the screenshot above and just looking at the first three titles I could brainstorm a new headline: “7 Tips to Start A Successful Fitness Blog On The Basis of Your Daily Routine”. Visit URL:https://www.buzzsumo.com
14. Twitter Trends
Hashtags.org reports trending topics in Twitter in the form of graphs and you can really use the homepage for this tool to choose what to blog about among the most trending topics in the last 24 hours. Just click the “Trending Hashtags” tab to view a list of trending topics on Twitter. For example, this is what I see today: For example, in the screenshot at the beginning of this subsection I asked the tool to analyze the #contentmarketing hashtag over the last 24 hours (a stable trend, as it seems). Browse tweets under your chosen trending hashtag: what’s the most shared post? What does it talk about? You can use this factor to create a post about your own angle of the topic. Also, as you can see, my example hashtag gets the lowest activity between 8 PM and 1:30 AM in the Chicago timezone, so you can also use this tool to know when to schedule your posts about a certain topic or when to join the discussion if your chosen hashtag is part of a Twitter chat or “forum thread”. Visit URL:https://www.hashtags.org/trending-on-twitter/
15. Klout
What Klout labels as “On Target” are topics that your Twitter audience is likely to be interested about (usually Klout gives you a percentage of interest, too). For example, I follow SEO news on my Klout account for inspiration. Today I’m given a few interesting news to share with my audience on:
How to improve Alexa ranking
Tips to attract more links to your content
SEO for WordPress
Traffic from Wikipedia
If I wanted to write a new post for my SEO blog, I could write about “How To Use Wikipedia As A Source To Attract Even More Links” or “Will Improving Your Alexa Rank Also Improve Your SEO?”. This is simple brainstorming, because all these topics are related and I could easily find associations to come up with my own headlines. Let trending topics on Klout inspire you and write your own angle of the topic. Also, it helps (especially for connections) to link to the blog post that inspired you. Visit URL:https://klout.com
… check its potential with CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer. Alright, now that headline is quite sci-fictional, but the example is just there to review purposes. ;) CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer is simple to use: just enter your headline in the field and hit “Analyze Now”. You will get a detailed analysis of your headline, including:
An overall score (65 in the case of my Sci-Fi headline)
A review of word balance that will show you how many common, uncommon, power and emotional words your headline contains
Your headline type (a List in my case)
Length analysis (character and word count optimization)
Analysis of keywords and sentiment
The analysis will help you improve your headline if it’s too weak (below a 50 score). Of course, this is just a tool and it will never beat your best judgment, as nobody knows your audience better than you do, but it’s helpful to keep around for when you are in doubt.
Your turn
What brainstorming tools or techniques do you use to generate blog post ideas? Share in the comments!
