A Helpful Hint about Sharing Images #atozchallenge #blogging

Thanks to J Lenni Dorner of Arlee's Ambassadors for the following info that some of you might find helpful.  It might be a bit technical for some of you, but those who understand might be able to put this to good use.  

I am not a coding expert. I learned all of this by watching other people, Google searching, and trial with lots of error. (Ha ha) But here's an important tip on something I do know about-- using the img alt in the HTML of your posts.

1. Blind and visually impaired people sometimes use the Internet. There are programs that read to them, partly using the HTML of websites. I didn't know this when I started blogging. A blind woman told me about it. She said the "img alt" tag is used to read what the picture is of... assuming there's an alt tag, of course. "Image of a woman on horseback." vs "32343" You can understand now how defining your image is more useful than leaving just a number or something.
2. Pinterest captions your pin based on what is written inside the alt tag. Readers hitting the share button might be too lazy to edit that. What do you want people to read when your image is clicked from the Pinterest (or other sharing) site? Tag yourself with your Twitter handle if you have one! It works.
3. Sometimes image hosting sites go down. The picture you used doesn't appear. What you wrote in the alt tag will show in place of the image. Consider what you'd at least like your readers to imagine for the downtime duration.
4. With Internet Explorer, hovering the mouse over the image will create a small pop-up text block of the "alt" words. (Firefox and Opera do this with the TITLE tag instead of ALT. The two seem similar otherwise.)

Always keep it relevant, meaningful, and short!
And now it's example time!
The A to Z Challenge

WHAT DOES ALL THAT MEAN?

center means that it will be in the middle of post, not to the left. a href I have hyperlinked my image. If you click it, it takes you to another webpage. target=_blank That other webpage will open in a new window or new tab, so you don't leave me! img means image src means source -- that's always the URL where the image is hosted alt THAT'S what this image is about. I have Twitter handles and a hashtag to increase the viral trending. backslash close your tags

NOW YOU KNOW!
J Lenni Dorner can be found at the blog http://jlennidornerblog.what-are-they.com, on #TeamArlee Arlee's Ambassadors, @JLenniDorner, and on Facebook.com/WhatAreThey.

Do You leverage #Socialmedia for #blogging? 20 #atozchallenge Tips

 Today, one of #TeamDamyanti , Vidya Sury , tells you how to spread your blog far and wide via social media.

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A blog hop is all about interaction, making friends and getting to know new bloggers. The #AtoZChallenge is a readymade opportunity to connect, interact, and take your blogging motivation to new highs.

So you've signed up for the A to Z Challenge (do it now if you haven't), and perhaps even the  A to Z Theme Reveal Blogfest where you join a huge group of AtoZers to post your theme reveal post. You're also busy outlining your posts and scheduling them for April, so you can be free to party.

Yes, it is a month-long blogging party that will change your life forever!

So, besides visiting other bloggers, how can you amplify your blogging presence?

Use social media!

Social media is a great way to attract new readers and engage with your existing ones. As bloggers we cannot afford to ignore social media.

If you’re still wondering why you should use social media…it helps you

·      increase your reach on social media

·      build a loyal fan base

·      invite collaboration opportunities

·     get a book written (yes!)

·      create community

·      make new friends

·      get gigs 

and so much more!

How to get started?

1. Clean up your sidebars

2. Place your "follow/subscribe" buttons prominently so your visitors can find them easily and follow or subscribe to your awesome blog updates. 

3. Display Social Media Connect buttons for the networks you frequent. The most common are: Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest and of course, email. You can get combinations of the set. Don't forget to customize the buttons with your own profile links.

4. Add Social Mediasharing buttons - so your visitors can share your posts on their social network of choice.

5. Have a Facebookfan page? Add the widget in your sidebar so you can build your audience right from your blog. All your visitor has to do is hit "Like."

6. Create readymade tweets so your readers can copy and tweet. Like this:

#atozchallenge tip: Visit AZ bloggers before Challenge begins, follow their blogs-build your network! www.a-to-zchallenge.com @AprilA2Z

Try clicktotweet so your readers can directly click to tweet.

7. Use a dashboard like Hootsuite to manage and schedule your social media posts. Install the Hootsuite “hootlet” for your browser to tweet/schedule a tweet for any page you are on. If you follow the blogger, don’t forget to tag them when you tweet. The Hootsuite dashboard lets you see your tweet stream, sent tweets, mentions and scheduled posts.

8. If you use Feedburner, use the “socialize” feature to autoshare your own post on social media as soon you publish.

9.  Use the #atozchallenge tag across all media to make them easily discoverable. Tag +April Hosteam on G+ (run by Pam), tag @AprilA2Z on Twitter (run by Nicole) and Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (run by Heather) on FB to get RTs and Shares of your posts.

10. Big on images? Add a Pin it button so your readers can share your gorgeous images on Pinterest.

11. Use LinkedIn? Import your RSS feed to your LinkedIn profile using the blog link application on LinkedIn to show off your posts on your profile.

12. Go to your Twitter settings - and set it up to share automatically to your Facebook profile.

13. Autopublish your Facebook Fan page posts to Twitter.

14. Spend some time every day acknowledging shares and engaging in social media. Thank people publicly, give them a shoutout!

15. And while you are at it, give your "About Me" page the once-over! Now is a good time to tweak that, too!

16. Don’t forget to TELL your readers to share your posts! For more tips: See this post by M J Joachim's Aztech, C. Lee McKenzie.

17. The A to Z Challenge is not just about you. Consider using Twitterfeed to auto-tweet your favorite blogs’ posts and you'll have a bunch of RTers for your own posts soon!

18. If you have a twitter account, consider joining Triberr.com. This will ensure a lot of bloggers RT your posts.

19. Use Roundteam.co to automatically RT tweets on the #atozchallenge tag, or from bloggers you like.

20. Finally, check that all your links work.

To summarize, sidebar must-haves:

• Subscribe / Follow button
• Social media connect buttons
• G+ button for your blog (different from the add to circles)
• Facebook Fan page Like Widget
• AtoZChallenge badge

Go forth and connect! Questions, problems? Ask away in the comments and Vidya will do her best to solve them for you!

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Have you signed up for the #AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal Blogfest?  Do it now!