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Your blog post thumbnail will play a big part in how your users see your website, and how they navigate it. A well designed post thumbnail can really engage your visitors and help encourage them to explore your website.

Examples of Post Thumbnails

A very Unique Solution on Tutorial9

Introducing, a true master at making an interesting post thumbnails, Mr David Leggett. In this case a very bold & unique use of the content (icons) to create a memorable thumbnail.

Clean and crisp thumbnail on AppStorm

A very clean lighting effect in the background with a modern font & great colors to catch attention. Notice the 1pixel white drop shadow on the word “interview” - a simple & effective approach.

Keeping your Photographs Relevant (UX Booth)

Another fantastic example from David Leggett. This time he’s not relied on his skill in Photoshop, he’s simply relied on that old favorite the photograph. A good looking, and relevant photo perfects your content perfectly.

Clever use of Screenshots on Obox

This example by Obox shows how placement of the elements on the thumbnail can generate interest. You get a sneak peak at the content with some cleverly placed screenshots with a good background lighting effect and the all important text which looks fantastic and the contrast is perfect.

Picking the Perfect Image, Courtesy of DesignShard

Again, Keeping your image relevant is a must. And in this example another photo, but it has 3 things: simplicity, visual impact and relevance.

OutlawDesign Makes the Thumbnails Part of the Design

Two great examples on Outlaw Design Blog. We see a stunning Photograph on one, and on the other one of the logo’s from inside the post has been chosen for the thumbnail, a great visual impact.

You can also start to see how the blog design benefits from showcasing multiple good looking thumbnails. The post thumbnails really become part of the design in this case.

UxBooth again with Text Over Photographs

Using fantastic looking text on top of some really appealing images can be a real hit. This is a great example of strong typographic elements on top of a crisp & relevant photograph.

WebDesignLedger Improve Exploration

Apart from looking great, a relevant & good looking thumbnail can help visitors navigate through your posts. This is particularly important if you have a lot of posts on your blog or site.

WebDesignerDepot Keep it Simple & Effective

If you are lucky enough to be writing about something that includes a lot of great looking content, show off this content. It’s not just a quick solution but a very effective one, and again it would help people who are scanning your content understand what the post includes.

Read the whole article at Wefunction.com

Do you have other tips? Please post a comment so we can make this list bigger.

1. Use text links

It hardly matters, whether you are using image links, image maps or even the drop down menus. Just make sure that they have text links incorporated with them, so that the search engine spiders can easily locate them.

2. Right selection of keywords and key phrases

Unless you have precise and simple keywords, with proper sentence construction and grammar, your site will not make ample money. Even the images and navigation cannot give competition to the content. After all, the content makes or breaks the site!

3. Do not forget the links

Link building and structuring of keywords and key phrases with proper back link is a mandatory aspect of search engine optimization. At the same time, link with sites only when they are related to your page. Do not overcrowd your web pages with unnecessary links, because they act as mere distractions.

4. Page Ranks are not the only deal

SEO is not just about page ranks; therefore, do not blindly run after them. In many cases, sites, which have had higher PR, get outsmarted with sites with lower PR.

5. Use specific title tags

Your title tags present on every web page should be focused on keywords. Always have the name of your company towards the end and understand that keywords matter more than your company’s name. However, in case your company is a brand name, you do not have to follow this tip!

6. Do not rust out, have new content

Page ranks can be dramatically improved by using the new content and having your site revamped, once in a while. Always add content on a regular frequency and do not let your traffic to get bored!

7. Uese Targeted Keyword phrases in your site

After linking, the specific keyword phrase should be very well incorporated in your web page, rather than making it sound as word fluffing. Do not use terms like “click here” rather specific keywords are appreciated, so that the customer knows why he is clicking on the link.

8. Highlight the search phrases

Be informative; always have the links properly mentioned. Avoid the usage of single words - instead of “Our Store”, it would be better to use “Our Computer and hardware utility store”.

9. SEO is a must

Designing of your site, without making it fit for search engine optimization is not proper. Organic SEO should always be the guiding aspect for web designing.

10. Keyword phrase to match the site

The keyword phrase, which has been used by you, should be matching the domain name, the image ALT attributes and even the text links.

11. Canonicalization issues should be checked

Always check the non-www and www domains for better utility. Decide which better suits your site demands and proceed accordingly.

12. Proper Homepage links

Throughout the site, check out whether the links added in your web page function or not. You can also split the links in the internal and external pages. The links should be directed to your domain.

13. Choice of tools

Websites designed by Flash, AJAX and Frame have the problem of linking to different pages; this may prove a hindrance for proper SEO functioning. If at all necessary, you may use AJAX and Flash in limited quantity, but always restrain from Frames.

14. File extension in SEO

You can easily use .php, .asp, or even .htm for file extensions, as they do not have any different results with the SEO.

15. Link to another quality site

This works the best for the optimization for the newly launched sites because submitting to the Google’s regular submission can be time consuming.

16. Have blogs for the crawlers

You can assure that your site is picked by the search engine spiders, but at least, maintaining blogs, with at least 3 posts being uploaded per week, can be really impressive.

17. Use natural language in your content

Make sure that your content has a natural flow of language, rather than simply stuffing of words; this looks like it is fresh and in continuous text.

18. Quality in link building

Give more importance to quality, rather than giving preference to quantity. Maintain the keyword density because the addition of more links can give negative results.

19. Descriptive text associated to your links

Keyword anchor text is a must for the links; the words around your link should also be descriptive and associated with the keyword.

20. Avoid proxy

Proxy with the banned site and the spammer can be avoided by doing a backlist check, when your site is on the shared server. Do not let the infamy of these proxy sites affect your search engine ranks.

21. Do not get labeled as a spammer

This can be easily done by searching about the steps through which the blocking of the domain name can be done.

22. Blog optimization

Just as the site is optimized, the blog needs to be optimized as well, by optimizing the title tag of the post differently from the main title of the blog.

23. SEO’s Bottom-line

SEO is all about reputation, links, popularity and building links, of course.

24. Ease of Use

You should develop your site such that it is easy for your visitors to operate in it. This would help in popularizing the site and your ability to link; automatically increasing your ranking.

25. Link as much as possible

The more you link with others, the more they will link to you. Do not be stingy with the number of links, but at the same time do not let it get overcrowd either.

26. Content differentiation

Ensure that the content used in your site is flawless, both in terms of being of higher quality and of greater uniqueness.

27. Splash page

In case, you want your main web page to have images or flash, always ensure that navigation links and texts are placed below the flash or the image.

28. E-mail communication

It can be used for the publicity of the most important links of your specific site and to gain more traffic.

29. Pay per click

It is important to know that one does not get heavy remuneration from the pay per click. Only few clicks can be assured and they do not matter quite a lot. Make sure the links are embedded in the text and should not act as sponsored links.

30. Sponsor non profit sites

To easily catch the attention of the search engines, you can also look forward to more .edu sites and sponsor them accordingly.

31. Link baiting

Good content is similar to link baiting; after all, your site should be making news.

32. Keyword optimization

Instead of using several keywords on a single page, make sure that only one specific keyword is optimized in a particular page.

33. Call to action

It should be flawless, functioning and feasible in case you want to reap maximum benefits out of SEO.

34. Constant maintenance

As already mentioned, the SEO landscape changes every day! So always be prepared to maintain your site.

35. Influential Bloggers

Authority sites and few influential bloggers can give limelight to your site by linking with your images, audios, videos and even content.

35. Let the CEO Blog

This is absolutely priceless, as nobody can be the voice of your company apart from the CEO. The credibility of your site will enhance, when there is response to user’s comments from the owner’s side. It will make your site very interactive.

36. RSS Feeds

Optimize your text in the RSS feed, just as you optimize your web pages and posts. The title should be very descriptive, clear and keyword rich.

37. Add captions to images

Always have captions and titles to the images; also make sure that your captions are rich in keywords.

38. Images and the context

Along with the image, the context which surrounds the image should also be taken into consideration. The ranking of the images should be well maintained and discrete.

39. Global navigation

It aids in automatic and natural finding of your site by the search engine crawlers. Do not rely simply on the XML site map.

40. Turn off the personalized Google search results

This can be easily done by logging off or even by adding Append&pws=0, at the end of the search URL.

41. Deep links

Association with the High page rank sites and their deep links can be considered a very rare opportunity. It will give more preference to the back links.

42. Absolute links

Such links helps in navigation, which is on site and also in getting profit if someone else uses your content.

43. Sticky Forwarding

In this case, there is temporary forwarding and also direction to the newer domain name from the older one. The new URL can be retained in this case and users get automatically used to the newer version of the URL also.

44. Social Marketing

SEO is incomplete without social marketing. You need to get more accustomed to sites like face book, del.icio.us, Yelp and Digg.

45. Video Sitemaps

These aids in letting your target audience know about the videos on your site. The content around your video should be rich in keyword and descriptive. The videos should be added in the Central account of Google webmaster.

46. Submission of videos

You also need to submit your videos, just like link submission, which can be done to sites like Yahoo, AOL, MSN and Metacafe.

47. Make your videos useful

This can be done by making sure that the content, which is surrounding your video, is very informative and knowledge providing.

48. Use of right words

Always use words like “picture” and “image” for describing the photo ALT descriptions.

49. Enhanced image search

When you ensure that the enhanced image search works, in your Google webmaster central account, you have made sure that your images blend with the Google search results.

50. Use H1 tags

 The proper use of heading tags will improve your SEO. Search engines look for header tags because they are beacons for finding content as well as pathways on your blog or web site, so use them wisely to lead the search engines to the most important points of the site.

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land is a news and information site covering search engine marketing, searching issues and the search engine industry.The site is led by journalist Danny Sullivan, who has been covering search since 1998

SEO Moz

SEOmoz serves as a hub for search marketers worldwide, providing education, tools, resources and paid services to help every SEO to be the best they can be

Matt Cutts

Matt Cutts works for the Search Quality group in Google, specializing in search engine optimization issues. He is well known in the SEO community for enforcing the Google Webmaster Guidelines and cracking down on link spam. Cutts also advises the public on how to get better website visibility in Google.

Search Engine Watch

Search Engine Watch provides tips and information about searching the web, analysis of the search engine industry and help to site owners trying to improve their ability to be found in search engines. The links below provide more information about the site and its operation.

Search Engine Roundtable

Search Engine Roundtable reports on the most interesting threads taking place at the Search Engine Marketing forums. By enlisting some of the most recognized names at those forums, the Search Engine Roundtable is able to not only report on these outstanding threads but also provide a synopsis that provides greater detail into those threads.

Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal specialises in search engine news.

ToprankBlog

Since December 2003, TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog has provided insights, resources and commentary on a range of digital marketing and public relations topics including: Search engine marketing and optimization &  Social media marketing

Marketing Pilgrim

MarketingPilgrim.com was launched by Internet marketing expert Andy Beal in September 2005. As a follow-up to Beal’s award-winning search marketing blog, Marketing Pilgrim expands its coverage to bring the latest news, rumors and reviews of all things related to Internet marketing and online advertising. The site is constantly rated a top 10 media and marketing blog by Advertising Age.

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