Archive for the ‘content’ Category

November 28th, 2010

Best Free and Affordable Stock Photo Sites

Need fun and engaging photos for your website or blog? Of course you do. Whether it's smiling faces, kids in the snow, yummy food, or serious corporate types, the right pictures can make all the difference in getting prospects to spend more time on your site… and maybe even buy from you!

The good news is that there are plenty of royalty free (unlimited use) stock photo sites to choose from. Many have lots (and lots!) of affordable and free pictures, plus different payment options depending on whether you're looking for just one photo or have ongoing picture needs.

Here's our list of the 28 best free and affordable stock photo sites. We've ranked them based on our editorial review, monthly US visitors (estimated by Compete), and Google page rank (a key factor in determining ranking in search results… the higher the better). And we've used many of them too!

Websites
Pricing
Monthly Visitors
PageRank
Fotosearch Per Photo, subscription plans          2,504,000         7
iStockphoto Buy credits, subscription plans          1,586,000         7
Shutterstock Image packs, subscription plans          1,417,000         7
Dreamstime Buy credits, subscription plans          1,201,000         8
Getty Images Per photo             679,000         7
123RF Buy credits, subscription plans             496,000         6
Bigstock Buy credits             243,000         6
Can Stock Photo Buy credits, subscription plans             243,000         5
Corbis Images Per photo             232,000         6
Stock.xchng Free photos (registration)             214,000         8
Veer Per photo, buy credits             162,000         6
FreeFoto.com Free (link back), per photo             155,000         7
Inmagine Per photo             149,000         6
iCLIPART Per photo, subscription plans             131,000         6
Pixmac Buy credits, subscription plans             130,000         5
FreeDigitalPhotos.net Free (author link), per photo             117,000         7
Jupiterimages Image packs, subscription plans               67,000         7
Thinkstock Image packs, subscription plans               65,000         6
morgueFile Free photos               61,000         7
Photos.com Subscription plans               51,000         7
Everystockphoto Free photos (author link)               37,000         6
Public-Domain-Photos Free photos               33,000         5
Free Images Free photos (link back)               27,000         7
PD Photo Free photos               26,000         7
PhotoXpress Free photos, subscription plans               26,000         5
OpenPhoto Free photos (author link)               22,000         7
FreePhotosBank Free photos, buy credits               21,000         6
Deposit Photos Buy credits, subscriptions plans               20,000         4

Everyone's needs are different, so definitely take a look at these stock photo websites to see which is best for you. This list doesn't include photo sharing sites like Flickr and Photobucket which can also be good sources (just check licensing before using).

Let us know which stock photo sites you decide to go with… or if you have any favorites you'd like to recommend!

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February 2nd, 2010

Best Blog Directories for Marketing Your Blog

Looking to market your blog? Let's start with the basics. You need to get your blog to show up in search engine results. You also want prospects to stumble upon your blog. What's an easy and cost effective way of doing this? List your blog with the best blog directories.
 
We’ve compiled this list of the 19 best blog directories. We’ve ranked them based on our editorial review, monthly US visitors (estimated by Compete), and Google page rank (a key factor in determining ranking in search results… the higher the number the better).
 
Blog Directory
Monthly Visitors
PageRank
BlogCatalog      2,466,000          7
Technorati      2,237,000          8
Blogs.com      1,605,000          7
Blog Toplist         549,000          4
Blogged         211,000          6
Best of the Web Blogs         150,000          6
TopBlogArea.com         147,000          5
Blog Flux         146,000          4
TopOfBlogs           74,000          5
Loaded Web           69,000          5
Blog Top Sites           59,000          3
Blogarama           32,000          4
TopBlogging.com           26,000          3
BlogExplosion           21,000          5
Bloggapedia           13,000          6
OnToplist.com           13,000          5
Bloggeries           12,000          3
EatonWeb           11,000          6
BlogHop             7,000          6

It only takes a few minutes to submit your blog. You’ll register with the blog directory, type in your blog’s URL, choose categories that your blog fits, and provide helpful keyword tags to make it easy for directory searchers to find you. That’s it.

Best of all, most blog directories offer free blog submission!

In a few cases, you may be asked to pay a fee but even then it’s affordable (e.g., $35 per year)… and some offer advertising opportunities that make sense for you to consider.  But don’t be surprised if the blog directories ask that you link your blog back to them. Why not as they need promotion too.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s start marketing your blog!
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November 7th, 2009

Best Article Directories for Your Online Marketing

So what exactly is article marketing? It’s simple. You write an article and then submit it to article directories, websites, and blogs that are looking for quality content. They post your article, including your bio and a link to your website… and then good things start to happen!

Start with publishing to the best article directories. It’s easy and free. And we’ve compiled a list of 27 article directories based on our editorial review, the number of monthly US visitors (as estimated by Quantcast), and Google page rank (a key factor in determining ranking in search results… the higher the number the better). Not to mention we’ve used a bunch of them too!

 

Article Directories
Monthly Visitors
PageRank
EzineArticles
    8,400,000       6
Articlesbase
    5,500,000       5
Helium
    2,600,000       6
Buzzle
    2,200,000       5
SearchWarp
       721,000       5
Article Alley
       276,000       5
IdeaMarketers
       252,000       3
ArticleClick
       237,000       4
GoArticles
       161,000       6
Isnare
       158,000       6
Amazines
       132,000       2
Article Dashboard
       117,000       5
ArticleSphere
         56,000       2
A1Articles
         54,000       5
Article Pool
         44,000       4
ArticleBiz.com
         40,000       5
Articles Factory
         32,000       4
ArticleRich
         22,000       3
Free-Articles-Zone
         20,600       4
Article Monkeys
         15,000       5
ArticleTrader
         15,000       3
ArticleCity
         10,000       5
Sooper Articles
         10,000       4
Article-Buzz
         10,000       3
1888Articles.com
           7,000       3
EasyArticles.com
           6,000       4
ArticlePros
           3,000       3


Remember that everyone’s needs are different… so we encourage you to try them all to see which ones work best for you!

Other websites to consider for your articles include: eHow (how to articles), WebProNews (Internet marketing related articles), Article Garden (sustainable living articles), and Work.com (how to for small business). Just keep in mind that some of these sites may require exclusivity (you can’t submit your articles elsewhere).

And keep a look out for blogs and websites in your industry that want guest authors (you can be one!) For example, having your article show up in a popular blog can mean thousands of dollars of exposure for your business.

Happy article writing!

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