#(apparently you can only add alt text for images on the mobile app???)

[thevioletcaptain]

listen, i know nobody in deancas fandom is getting a single goddamn thing done today, so i'm issuing a challenge.

how many of us can finish off one of the countless little half-written destiel oneshots in our draft folders and post them before the day is out?

[pathos-logical]

Why I’m still copying alt text into reblogs

(Plain text: Why I’m still copying alt text into reblogs)

I’m so thrilled that tumblr has finally made alt text viewable on mobile!! It’s miles better than the white-on-purple bubble you get on PC, but it’s still not perfect. I just wanted to write this so people can understand why I’m going through the apparent redundancy of rewriting an ID in a comment rather than just reblogging the alt text version

First of all, the update hasn’t been universally rolled out yet between users, which means it’s still hidden for a lot of people! I myself had to manually update the app to get it, and that’s not even considering that it doesn’t seem to work on every device yet either

Second, it’s still not the be-all-end-all standard for accessibility. I’ve heard feedback from vision-impaired friends that mobile alt text can still be too small to comfortably read and that its formatting is less easily parsed than plain text image descriptions. And again, the formatting on pc is too low-contrast and saturated to be useful to many vision-impaired folks. (An edit: I previously claimed that alt text doesn't support paragraph breaks, but it does! Instead I'll add that the new alt button can cover part of the image and is frequently hard to see on images with light/transparent backgrounds, in my experience. It's also still not, in my opinion, the best way to transcribe text-heavy images)

Lastly, alt text has never been that reliable in my experience; I’ve already found posts which only have alt for one image out of many, and it’s far from unheard of for alt to simply not show up on images which should have it

I’m also reminded of a comment someone once made about how they have no desire to keep image descriptions hidden from abled and sighted people. Alt text is obviously an essential accessibility tool, I’m not trying to make it sound like I’m knocking it. But if main body IDs serve the same function as alt text, then I see no reason not to remind people that accessibility aids belong front-and-center on any platform. Not hidden below a readmore or made “aesthetic” with small text or tucked away for "convenience." That’s my personal opinion, but I feel strongly enough about this that I want it included

Tl;dr: Some reasons to copy alt text into main body IDs include inconsistency and unreliability with who can see it and drawbacks in how accessible alt generally is, as well keeping image descriptions visible to even people who don’t use them

[irepostedthistweet]

On this blog, I repost the same very popular Tweets dozens of other users have also reposted. My goal is to exclusively embed those Tweets, which automatically adds the accessibility feature that is alt text + a link to the original (with few exceptions in which I write the alt text myself, if I feel like a Tweet is notable enough but has apparently been deleted.)

By doing this, I would like to make those popular posts and memes accessible to more people. I would also like to show to more people that Tweet embeds are an option, to hopefully encourage them to use them in the future.

As a reminder, in order to embed a Tweet, all you have to do is paste its link onto your post.

You can easily copy the link of Tweets on either desktop or the app. (The placement can sometimes change on mobile from update to update, but the option should always be accessible via one of the buttons around your Tweet.)

Then open your fresh tumblr post and paste the link.

(Link to my post with only this Tweet, in case you like it and want to reblog it.)

If you're sourcing your own brand new Tweet to share to tumblr for any reason, this is arguably quicker and easier to do than taking a screenshot and re-uploading it to tumblr. Please consider this option whenever possible - it's very convenient.

In my case, since my goal is to repost Tweets that are already popular on tumblr, I use Twitter's search function, which works very well (contrary to tumblr's).

If you already have a screenshot with the person's username, unless they deleted their account or changed their username, you're certain to find the original. Of course, this is only needed if you're looking for a Tweet to repost, and you won't need to do this if you just happen into a new Tweet you want to share to tumblr.

I encourage anyone to use this instead of screenshots whenever possible, because it's more convenient than having to type the alt text yourself! Even if you don't usually provide alt text, there's no reason not to let it be automatically written for you when it can be. Plus, it leaves a link to the original Tweet, which I feel like makes it more respectful to the user who wrote the funny joke.

Alt text is an accessibility feature that mostly benefits people who use screen-readers because they, for one reason or another, can't read the words on their screen. Especially when the image is the right size - so the "alt" button doesn't come in the way - as it is automatically generated by pasting the Twitter link, there's no harm in having it there whatsoever. All it does is include more people.

Accessibility isn't a one-size-fits-all. Some users may benefit more from Image descriptions that are written in the body of the post. However, alt text is a commonly accepted and convenient accessibility feature. On top of that, accessibility for the disabled can oftentimes wind up benefiting everyone - for example, being able to click the "alt" button allows people to see the contents of the image even if they have a poor connection and the image won't load. Having a text description of any image also makes it easier to find in the future, even with tumblr's terrible search function.

I hope this post can encourage more people to include alt text and/or image descriptions more often. Even if you don't have time to include alt text all the time, you should take advantage of these embeds, which do it for you. A funny Tweet repost is the type of post to become very popular, so it's sure to land on someone's feed who wishes they could know what it says but can't when it's just an undescribed image.

(PS: as of currently, there is a slight issue in that the contents of described images included in the Tweet, or Tweets being quoted, aren't copied. Now that you know about the Twitter embed option, consider contacting support in one way or another to let them know you'd like these contents to be added to Twitter embeds. It's a really great option for simple text Tweets, and it could easily include even more Tweets. I know you just found out about it, so if you just want to use the function for those text Tweets for now, it's okay - please just consider it!)

[ghostlygooberart]

CRAVENSWORTH!!!!

[ID: A digital illustration of Mark Hamill as Jim the Vampire from What We Do in the Shadows. He is wearing a black tracksuit with red and gold details, and he has long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. He is holding a broken mechanical singing fish, shaking his fists, and angrily yelling at the sky. End ID.]

[element-effect-blog]

"Make Inbound Work For You:" The IMPACT Show Ep. 34 [Show Notes]

"Make Inbound Work For You:" The IMPACT Show Ep. 34 [Show Notes]

 If you want an agency to shift and make inbound work, you really have to think about the greater purpose, your company's values, and the company's 3 year vision. 

As a reminder, we’re here to help growth leaders overcome common obstacles and create breakthroughs.

Just in case you missed us live (or if you want to relive the magic), you’ll find the episode’s show notes below as well as the recording.

Enjoy and make sure to share with your peers!

Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear it. Comment on this blog or email us at show@impactbnd.com

IMPACT Live

Early bird pricing for IMPACT Live ends on 1/17/18

All Inclusive: $99 (going up to $169 after the 17th)

VIP: $399 (going up to $499 after the 17th)

IMPACT Live 2018: Join over 500 members of the IMPACT Elite community in person for our very special 2-day event. Speakers include Dharmesh Shah, Ann Handley, David Meerman Scott, Marcus Sheridan, and more still to be announced. 

Event Date: August 7th and 8th

What Marketers Be Talkin' 'Bout

Where we go over what you're saying in IMPACT Elite.

IMPACT Elite is a community of passionate marketers looking to help other marketers succeed. We’d love for you to join us! Go to impactbnd.com/elite or just search the IMPACT Elite Group on Facebook and request to join. 

Exclusive with Rebecca Corliss

Key Learnings:

The first thing they worked on was personas, first few months were mostly interviews.

How important it was to have both in-house marketers and people in the company with extensive networks.

Beta group for feedback and product improvements 

When launching it was important to have PR 

Traffic and brand awareness are one of their core metrics

Ismail Aly asked: "How often to run NPS surveys with your customers?"

Bob: It depends on the business, but as an agency, we ask once every 2 weeks and we just ask at the end of the client calls: “How are you feeling, 1-10, and why?” - we document the responses on a Google Form.

Michelle Loughry: We do it monthly with our clients. We have in-person or video calls for reporting metrics reviews. We have great relationships with our clients so if there are issues they're more than willing to let us know right away. We also have weekly touch pointsto update them on current activities and planned activities and they communicate satisfaction that way. The key, I think, is asking but also letting them know WHY you're asking and what you do with that info. I've been on teams where the number is tracked and then....nothing. It's just like "Ok, this is good to know." I like to create little "conflict reports" if there are issues so we can keep track of that just like a metric.

Kristen Traynor asked: "Does anyone know of an app that integrates with HubSpot for collecting business cards/lead info at a tradeshow?"

Caitlin Shanly: Neat Scanner. Also, some trade shows allow you to pay to rent a badge scanner, so you can scan the badges of everyone who stops by your booth. Then at the end of the show, you willreceive an Excel file of the leads that you can import into HubSpot, and you can make a note that those leads came from a particular show.

Andy McCormick: HubSpot app has the ability to scan cards one off and add them as a contact.

Chris Higgins: Akkroo. I’ve used it extensively, and it’s fantastic. They even have a service that will transcribe the details on any business cards that you scan, plus an integration with HubSpot so that your data syncs directly into your contact database.

Digital Marketing News

Where each week, Nick and Bob share one thing from the world of digital marketing that caught their eye.

Columnist Kristopher Jones talks visual search - its current state, its implications for the future and strategies for SEOs looking to capitalize on this evolving technology.

The arrival of the Pinterest Lens and Google Lens has ignited a battle for visual search engine supremacy. Beyond opening up a new revenue stream for e-commerce stores, visual search could completely alter consumer habits and purchasing decisions.

In a world driven by instant gratification, visual search can open the door towards "snap and surf" purchasing, streamlining the search interface. This provides a promising outlook for e-commerce stores that develop their product listing ads and online catalogs for the visual web.

While still in its infancy, optimizing for visual search could greatly improve your website's user experience, conversion rate, and online traffic.

There are three types of visual search:

Traditional image search (relies on text)

Pixel by pixel image searches that enable "snap and search"

By image or parts of the image

How these tools can identify objects in a larger picture, connect them to online stores or locations where a purchase can be made.

Potential Strategies:

It's important that images are displayed clearly and free of clutter so that visual applications have an easier time processing them. Beyond this, you should stick to the basics of image-based search optimization.

Add descriptive alt-text to images for indexation

Submit images to an image sitemap

Optimize image titles and alternative attributes with targeted keywords

Set up image badges and run them through a structured data test.

Optimize for ideal image size and file type

Utilize appropriate schema markup for images and content pages

Optimize images to render on mobile and desktop displays

A rare moment of sincere emotion from Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer products division, went off script at the end of his CES keynote to express his "quiet anger" at AT&T pulling out on a deal to sell Huawei's Mate 10.

Reports published via NY Times indicate the carrier's decision by political pressure within the US, with apparent concern about Chinese espionage and Huawei's particular role in that underlying the whole thing.

Derrick Weiss's take on this: carriers shouldn't have the right to influence the phones we use. We pay for the service ALREADY. If they want to make more by choosing certain phone manufacturers over others, they will lose customers. I'll switch to a carrier that lets me do what I want.   

How to Make Inbound Work for You

From Nick Bennett:

"How do you start the cultural shift to an inbound business model?" The business in question has been email blasting purchased lists and cold calling for years. It is all they know. They have purchased HubSpot software on a recommendation but do not utilize it because it takes too long to produce results. They thought it was a one and done situation.

You need to pull out all the stops for this one! How do you get them to see sales and marketing through your eyes?

My recommendation is to start at the core of the business. 

And, what is making your team aligned?

The most important part of this question is the business model. 

It's the way that we do business. At IMPACT,  it's not about the agency services, but helping people.

Fulfilling a greater purpose as an agency.

If you really want an agency to shift, you really have to think about the greater purpose, values, and vision of the company 3 years from now.

Next Steps:

We would love your comments! Feel free to send us an email or comment on the Facebook thread. 

If you really liked it, please give us a 5-star review on iTunes. 

We're going to IMPACT Elite to ask what you want us to talk about, so jump in on the post there.

Join Us Next Week! 

We'll be back again next Thursday, January 18th at 1:00 PM ET.

Until next time... get out there and make it happen.

Impress in 2018 with IMPACT’s

INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY

Template & Example

More Info

By entering your email you expressly consent to receive other resources to help you improve your marketing efforts.

Impress in 2018 with IMPACT’s Inbound Marketing Strategy Template & Example

About Ramona Sukhraj

As Content Marketing Manager, Ramona approaches marketing not only as a profession, but as a creative outlet. She has a passion for all things artistic and strives to create content that is educational, yet quirky and entertaining as well. With a B.S. in Marketing from the UCONN School of Business, Ramona is a frequent contributor to the HubSpot blog and a nonprofit consultant. Outside of IMPACT, she is a design, movie, and pop culture buff, and a fierce advocate of free hugs.

Connect with Ramona Sukhraj

Source

https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/make-inbound-work-for-you-impact-show

[dorothydelgadillo]

What Does Google’s Visual Search Push Mean for You?

We all know of the amazing voice assistants created by Amazon and Google, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and let’s not forget, Siri.

As astounding as these products are, there seems to be an up-and-coming shift in the search realm.

Visual search is carving out its own space, especially amongst investors, retailers, everyday consumers, and most importantly, Google.

One might ask, “What is visual search?”

Well, it’s similar to how most of us would find things before the digital age -- with our eyes.

Visual search enables users to discover products on their mobile devices using cameras or browse their favorite social or lifestyle sites.

With about 60% of total online searches happening on mobile devices, it’s no surprise that visual search is making a strong push, especially with cameras readily available.

If you think about it, how quick are we to pull out our phones to capture real-time moments to display on our Instagram stories? How often are we searching for a video tutorial on “how to” do a task via YouTube?

Also, how much more often do people prefer to communicate via tools like facetime and Zoom versus just hearing the other person’s voice?

Visuals provide a more personal connection that is wholeheartedly being embraced.

Visual search is entering more and more mobile shopping environments to allow people to find products online similar to those they might find in the real world.

Simply snap a photo and push it through an app or to a platform and you’ll be presented with many (hopefully relevant) search results.

Here are just a few companies taking advantage of visual search:

Forever 21

Wayfair

Target

Home Depot

As you can see, there really are no boundaries as to which industries can take advantage of a visual search tool.

Now, as far as actual visual search platforms go, I’d like to mention some of the heavy hitters in the game, thus far:

Google Lens

There's no way the traditional Internet search leader wouldn't be on board with visual searching. In fact, the search giant has recently been making a stronger visual search push even on desktop, revamping image SEO.  

That aside, there’s Google Lens. Users can take a picture of an item or upload an existing one with it, and have relevant information delivered by Google.

Currently, Google Lens can:

Search menu items, add events to your calendar, get directions, call a number, translate words, copy & paste, and more.

Explore nearby locations: relay information about popular landmarks, find ratings, hours, etc.

Identify animals and plants

Bing Visual Search

With so many companies turning the smartphone camera into a discovery tool, Microsoft had no choice but to follow suit. Bing’s visual search tool is very similar to Google Lens. You upload a pic of the desired object and allow Bing to provide suggestions for similar items to the one in the photo, along with locations that sell it.

Bing Visual Search has these capabilities:

Find items and/or similar items: Clothes, furniture, and other products

Analyze and work with text: copy/paste, recognize/manage phone numbers and emails, visit websites, get directions, and solve math problems

Identify plants and animals

Pinterest Lens

This popular platform for social media has its own visual search tool, Lens, embedded in the Pinterest App.

Lens is a point-and-shoot discovery tool that evaluates and interprets images (specifically from smartphones) to find related Pins and ideas. Once these related Pins and ideas are found on Pinterest, they are then suggested to the user.

Pinterest Lens is available on iOS and Android and aims to inspire you on the basis of photos taken in your device or saved.

While it isn't almost as feature-rich as Google Lens or Bing Visual Search, it links visual search to Pinterest's world — which is unique and useful on its own.

Snapchat Camera Search

Now, Snapchat has its own visual search functionality built into the app thanks to a partnership with Amazon.

What began in early 2018 as a rumor has evolved into a full-fledged, Amazon-powered feature that gives Snapchat more eCommerce flair.

With this feature, users can point to an object or barcode, press and hold the item, and Camera Search scans the item and delivers Amazon cards directly linked to the item and/or relevant results.

Amazon Camera Search

Amazon's visual search was originally limited to Flow, a standalone tool that Amazon developed and powered. However, this tech wasn’t alone for too long, as Amazon quickly integrated this into its mobile app.

Amazon's visual search rendition, currently dubbed Camera Search, adds a little more functionality to an already phenomenal shopping platform.

Amazon is on top of this trend from scanning barcodes, all the way to recognizing and suggesting items to AR.

eBay Image Search

eBay Image Search allows users to use the in-app camera and/or existing photos to search for products. The tool returns listings that are close or visually similar to each other.

How Can Advertisers Stay Ahead of the Shift and Be Successful?

It’s apparent that visual progress is revolutionizing how users engage with digital channels and product discovery is a real-life example of this change.

To be successful, retailers need to be aware of how they need to change their cross-channel content such as product information, availability, store directions, reviews, and more.

Here are a couple of tips to help with that success:

1. Take advantage of sitemaps and inject images

It is important that images are clearly displayed and free of clutter, making it easier for visual applications to process them. Optimize on-site images for the ideal size, the ideal type of file, and choose titles and alt text carefully.

Adding images to a sitemap is simple but be aware of these common mistakes when adding images to your website.

2. Optimize on-site copy

 Following a visual search tool that leads searchers to your site, they will start consuming your content to see if it meets their needs.

That's why on-site copy remains important.

For conversions to occur, is ideal to incorporate copy that is detailed and engaging, satisfies the needs of searchers, contains rich keywords, and aligns with the visuals on the page.

Ultimately, keyword search engines are still written in text for processing and finding related images.

3. Implement image search into your website

Data shows that only 8% of retailers currently have built image search into their web inventory.

This means that very few retailers have a visual search tool in place that produces search results based on their available products. By integrating a visual search tool onto your website, you’ll be able to access those consumers who are deviating from the text-based search and are adopting visual searches.

4. (I’m sure you all saw this coming) Advertise on Pinterest!

Can you guess who’s a leader in the visual search field?

If you guessed Pinterest, you’re correct! Pinterest is a big player in this realm and has contracts with some global brands to feature its visual search technology in their apps and websites!

With Pinterest being a primarily visually-stimulating platform, it’s no surprise that they are leading the march with the uprise of visual search. Pinterest’s visual search doesn’t just identify what something is, it shows you how it can fit into your life - from ways to style an outfit to how to decorate your first home.

So, if that’s doesn’t tell you how huge this visual search ordeal is becoming, then I can only wish you the best of luck!

The huge market impact of Pinterest and its well-developed visual search capabilities makes it a smart bet for the future.

To take that a little deeper, when evaluating whether or not it’s worth the investment to optimize for Pinterest’s visual search platform, take into account its top ten Lens search categories:

Travel

Fashion

Home décor

Vehicles

Art

Beauty

Food

Products

Outfits

Animals

Consider advertising your products alongside similar items for maximum impact if it is a good fit for your target audience. If you need help on getting started, check out this great resource on creating a successful roadmap to increasing engagement on Pinterest!

So, What Does the Future Look like for Visual Search?

While visual search technology is still in its infancy, it promises a lot to marketers for the future.

Planning for this growing market is a must for brands that want to remain visible.

As far as the future of visual search versus text-based, I personally don’t believe it will surpass text-based search (at least not anytime soon), but they will work together.

Here are some notable supporters who support that claim:

“I don’t foresee visual search replacing text-based searches altogether anytime soon. But it certainly opens up a ton of opportunities, mainly for fashion and home decor brands – it’s certainly safe to assume that the future of visual search will be retail-dominated.”

Search Engine Journal

“That’s why voice and visual will never be the default search experience: they build on the others strength and weaknesses. Combined with good-old text search, you have every possibility to search the way you want!”

Yoast

All in all, even though visual search is not expected to replace search queries and text-based searching completely in the near future, it will inevitably disrupt the SEO industry in a big way in the years ahead.

Visual search definitely opens up a multitude of opportunities for, but not limited to, home-decor and fashion brands.

Here are a few tips that can help your brand to start capitalizing on this rising visual search world:

Include image sitemaps

Make image URLs keyword rich

Add very detailed product descriptions and alt-text

So why not get ahead of the curve while you can?

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/what-does-googles-visual-search-push-mean-for-you