Cess Piano: December 2015

Poem of the Day: Lonely I am

Poetry 3:15 PM

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5 Must Know Image Optimization Tips

Blogging 4:38 PM

As the world moves farther down the mobile path, the advantages of including images within search results are clear: image results are more easily seen, understood and clickable than traditional organic listings.

According to columnist Clay Cazier, here are some image optimization tips to help improve image visibility within search results:

Photo Source: https://static.pexels.com/photos/6415/apple-desk-office-working.jpg

Top Factors:
1. Image should have a relevant two- to four-word filename.
2. Image should use a descriptive two- to four-word ALT tag.
3. It should have a relevant heading, caption or surrounding text.
4. Use clear images, placed high up on the page, that specify width and height attributes.
5. Create and submit an image sitemap.

Pretty easy, isn't it? But let's take a look in a more detailed description.

1. Filenames
Giving an image a detailed filename is key. For example, Google says “my-new-black-kitten.jpg is a lot more informative than IMG00023.JPG.” Use numbers if you have multiple images with the same object type (e.g., my-new-black-kitten-2.jpg).

Some other notes about image filenames:

JPEGs seem to appear most in Google Image search results, but this is an anecdotal notation, not statistical. JPEG, GIF and PNG should be your go-to filetypes, but GIF and PNG in particular may be advantageous because of load time considerations. BMP, WebP and SVG are okay.
Hyphens work the best as delimiters, not underscores or spaces.
Rule of thumb: Four words per image name maximum.

2. ALT Text
ALT text should always accurately and succinctly describe the image. You must satisfy search engines with enough keywords to accurately describe your image in detail, but avoid keyword stuffing. Three to four words at most.

3. Surrounding Header, Captions And/Or Content
According to Google’s Image Publishing Guidelines, “It’s a good idea to make sure that images are placed near the relevant text. In addition, we recommend providing good, descriptive titles and captions for your images.”

For Microsoft, “Text that is closer to an image on a web page may be more relevant to what the picture is about than text that is further away.” According to the SEO by the Sea blog, here are some distance elements to consider:

The number of intervening words between the text and the image.

The number of intervening full stops such as “.” “?” “!” and other sentence-ending punctuation/symbols between the text and the image.

The number of intervening table data tags (<td>) between the text and the image.

The number of intervening table rows tags (<tr>) between the text and the image.

4. Great User Experience
Users are what matter to Google, so images that reflect what users want have the best chance of being visible. Just like content, this means the best approach is to have images that are high-quality and easy to engage with. Consider the following guidelines:

Use crisp, clear photos.

If several of the same images appear on your site, consider creating a standalone landing page for each image. “If you do this, be sure to provide unique information — such as descriptive titles and captions — on each page. You could also enable comments, discussions, or ratings for each picture.” — Google Image Publishing Guidelines

Images should be high up on the screen, since some users do not scroll.

Structure directories so that similar images can be saved together.

Specify height and width for each image to speed up page load time.

5. Image Sitemaps
Publish an image sitemap; it is an effective way to help Google discover your images. Ensure that your image sitemaps validate through the Google Search Console account associated with the domain. For further optimization, use the optional caption, geo_location and title tags on your image sitemap.

Do you have other image optimization tips in mind?

Share it with us and comment below! Don't forget to give it a Google +1 if you find this post helpful. :)

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Remember to Dream, Sparkle, and Shine!

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my Facebook and Twitter.
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How To Spot A Fake Website

Blogging 9:23 PM

The Internet can be a great way to find products and services that may not be readily available in your local area, however it is important for you to be able to tell by navigating around on a website whether or not it is legitimate. According to www.wikihow.com, here are some steps to learn about the signs and ways to determine if a specific website is real and legitimate:

Photo courtesy of Winda (https://www.instagram.com/windareksa/)

1. Call, write, or email the website using the contact information provided on their website to check for legitimacy.

If you reach an automated voice messaging system, find that the number is not in service, or nobody answers during regular business hours, the website may not be legitimate.

2. Check out the address bar – is the site verified by google? Most large, safe sites will be verified, and the address bar will display either a location or a safety ranking.

3. Look at the Google SafeBrowse report. Simply type in “http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=” before the site address in the address bar; Google will give out a report about this specific site.

For example:

http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=youtube.com

4. Visit https://www.whois.net website to validate and assess the company's information.

Type the company's website or domain into the "Lookup" box provided on the Whois website and click on the "Go" button. Scroll down the Whois Lookup results page to verify if the information provided matches up with the information on the company's website; such as their country, official contact information, the amount of time they have owned the website or that verifies the website is associated with that program or award.

5. Read through the website's terms and conditions before doing business with them to check for understanding and to verify the terms and conditions make sense.

6. Verify that the website's checkout or payment page is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) secured to protect your credit card number and other personal information you enter.

SSL secured pages will begin with "https" instead of "http" at the beginning of the web address.

7. Type the company's name into a major search engine to see if they appear in search results and to see if they are mentioned anywhere else on the Internet.

You may also want to search for the business on consumer review websites such as the Better Business Bureau to seek customer feedback and reviews.

Please note that these are just few of the simple steps on how to determine if a specific website is real, safe, and legitimate. There are some websites that are not verified by Google and starts with "http" but has good reviews. Like http://www.zalora.com.ph/ and http://www.lazada.com/. Let's just always remember to search first about a specific site for reviews and/or feedbacks before giving your personal information.

I hope you learned something from here. If you find this post helpful, feel free to share it and give it a Google +1 below! :)

Remember to Dream, Sparkle, and Shine!

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my Facebook and Twitter.
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4 Extraordinary Christmas Gift Suggestions

Family 5:03 PM

Christmas is not so much about opening presents -- it is about opening our hearts. Embracing the holiday season with pure joy from up above and embracing the spirit of peace and love. To generously share our kindness with others, to be grateful for every opportunity, and to celebrate the miracle of life from our eternity.

These extraordinary Christmas gift suggestions would not be easy for everyone. I understand, we are humans and we are not perfect. However, this post is about encouraging you to give it a try. Let's start!

Photo courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/the_real_houses_of_ig/

1. To your enemy, give him/her your forgiveness.

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. - Paul Boese

When you start to forgive, you will also begin to heal yourself. Anyone can hold a grudge, but it takes a person with character to forgive. When you forgive, you release yourself from a painful burden. Forgiveness doesn't mean what happened was okay, and it doesn't mean that person should still be welcome in your life. It just means you have made peace with the pain, and are ready to let it go.

2. To your loved ones, give them your heart and time.

Isn't it wonderful when you're surrounded by your family and friends? We may not be blessed with expensive material things, but we are blessed in the family and friends that we do have. Treasure your loved ones each and every day. Thank them for the good and bad times, thanks them for touching your life, give them your time because that's the most thoughtful gift of all.

3. To all, give your kindness and be a good example.
We don't need a reason to help people. A simple act of kindness can make a tremendous impact on a person's life. Love and kindness are never wasted -- they always make a difference. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring. Kindness is not overrated at all, it's underused. Always try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

4. Last but definitely not the least, give yourself respect.

Do not tolerate disrespect, not even from yourself. The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others on how you demand to be treated. Don't settle for anything other than respect.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and would consider these simple suggestions. I know it's something we can do everyday, with the help of our Mighty Being, all things are possible!

Advance Merry Christmas everyone!

Stay positive and blessed!

Remember to Dream, Sparkle, and Shine!

You may also follow my Facebook and Twitter. See you!

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Wanted: Guest Bloggers!

Authors' Update 1:01 PM

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Find the Perfect Lip Color for Your Skin Tone

Beauty & Health 1:41 PM

One important aspect of a well done make-up is a lipstick that matches and harmoniously embellishes with the skin tone of the person. I found a tip on how to find the perfect lip color for our skin tone courtesy of alldaychic.com.

(Photo Source)

Generally, there are four main skin tone categories:

1. Fair or Light
For a light skin tone, bright colors are the best choice. Light pink, soft brown and everything pastel to beautiful beige are enhancing and complimenting the skin.

2. Medium
For medium skin tones, colors like passion red and lipsticks with shades of orange work best.

3. Olive
For an olive skin, deep pink and dark reddish colors are a win as long as you don’t go too dark with them as they can make you look like a sick person.

4. Dark or Deep
For a dark skin, deep shades like dark red, chocolate brown and dark pink are perfect. If you will pick shades that are much lighter than your skin, you will create an unnatural and plastic look you want to avoid!

(Photo Source)

Of course, in the end you want to look gorgeous, so it won’t be hard to remember these charts, play with the shades and stick to the one that looks the best on you!

(Photo Source)

Since I have an "olive/tan" skin tone, I normally use dark red lip color. I bought Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede - 080 Fashionista few months ago and I use it every time I go out.

(Photo Source)

Here's a picture that I took earlier wearing a Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede - 080 Fashionista

(Sorry for the poor quality)

You may visit http://nouveaucheap.blogspot.com for a detailed review regarding Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede.

Now it's your turn! Have you found the perfect lip color for you? Have you tried Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Remember to Dream, Sparkle, and Shine!

Poem of the Day: Lonely I am

5 Must Know Image Optimization Tips

How To Spot A Fake Website

4 Extraordinary Christmas Gift Suggestions

Wanted: Guest Bloggers!

Find the Perfect Lip Color for Your Skin Tone

Blog Achievements 2015

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