Image SEO is the process of optimizing images on a website to make them easier for search engines to find, read, index and display on SERPs. The goal of image SEO is to get more traffic from search engines.
This involves using descriptive filenames, titles, and alt text, as well as optimizing the image file size and dimensions. Image SEO can help your images rank higher in Google Images and other search engine image results pages (SERPs), which can lead to more traffic and conversions for your website.
5 Tips to Optimize Images for Search
There are mainly two aspects of an images to be applied while doing optimization. First, you should comply with the technical requirements to discover and index your images by search engines. Second, you care about optimization of images on landing page. To optimize images for SEO, you should follow these steps:
Choose Right Image Format
The most common image formats for the web are WebP, JPEG, PNG, and GIF. WebP is a modern image format and preferred by most of web developers. Thereafter, JPEG is the best format for most images, as it offers a good balance of quality and file size. PNG is a good choice for lossless compression and for images with transparent backgrounds. You may choose GIF image format for animated images and images with a limited number of colors.
What is the best Image format for Web Pages?
The best image format is WebP for webpages. WebP is a raster graphics file format developed by Google intended as a replacement for JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats. WebP image format provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web and make the web faster.
Reduce File Size of Images
Large image files can slow down your website’s loading speed, which can hurt your SEO. You can optimize your image file size by using a lossless compression algorithm or by resizing the image to a smaller size.
There are a number of ways to reduce the file size of your images without sacrificing too much quality. You can use a photo editing program to compress your images, or you can use a web-based image compression tool.
What is the best image compression tool for Web?
There are many different image compression tools available, both free and paid. Some popular image compression tools includes TinyPNG, Compressor.io, ImageOptim, JPEG Optimizer, ImageCompressor.com, etc.
Following are the list of best 15 image compression tools:-
- Adobe Photoshop
- RIOT
- TinyImage
- ImageOptim
- Trimage
- Compress Now
- TinyPNGUploadcare
- JPEG CompressorTM
- Jpeg Resampler
- Optimizilla
- Optimole
- Compressor.io
- Kraken.io
- ImageRecycle
- Resize Photos
Use descriptive Filename and Title
When choosing image file names and titles for SEO, it is important to be descriptive and include relevant keywords. This will help search engines understand what your images are about and rank them accordingly.
The filename and title of your image should be relevant to the content of the image. When you save your images, give them descriptive filenames that include relevant keywords. This will help search engines understand what the images are about.
For example, instead of using a generic filename like “IMG1_2024.jpg”, use a more descriptive filename like “ai-generated-cat.jpg”.
Image file names should be short and to the point, but still descriptive. Aim for 4-6 words or less, and use hyphens to separate words instead of spaces. For example, instead of using the file name “image1.jpg”, you could use “showeblogin-usa-office.jpg”.
Image titles can be slightly longer than file names, but they should still be concise and informative. Aim for 5-8 words or less, and make sure to include your target keyword in the title. For example, the title for the “red-apple-fruit.jpg” image could be “Red Apple Fruit Close-Up”
How do I optimize Image File Name and Title?
Here are some additional tips by Showeblogin for optimizing your image file names and titles for SEO:
- Avoid using generic file names like “image1.jpg” or “image_2024_1.png” or “pic.webp”.
- Avoid keyword stuffing. Your file names and titles should be descriptive and informative, but they should not be overloaded with keywords.
- Make sure your file names and titles are accurate and reflect the content of your images.
- Update your file names and titles if you make any changes to your images.
Add ALT Text to Images
Image alt text, also known as alt tags or alt descriptions, are the written text that appears in place of an image on a webpage if the image fails to load on a user’s screen.
Alt text is a text description of an image that is displayed when the image cannot be loaded. Alt text should be clear, concise, and descriptive.
Alt text is a brief description of an image that is displayed to users who cannot see the image, such as those with visual impairments or those using screen readers. Alt text is also used by search engines to understand the content of your images.
Recommended Read: Website Accessibility Checklist for SEO in 2024.
Image alt text is important for SEO because it helps search engines understand the content of your images and how they relate to your web pages. This can help improve your website’s ranking in image search results and in regular search results as well.
How to write effective image alt text for SEO?
Here are some tips for writing effective image alt text for SEO:
- Be descriptive: The alt text should accurately describe the content of the image, including the main object(s), any relevant actions, and the overall context.
- Be concise: The alt text should be no more than 125 characters long, so that it is easy for screen readers to read and for search engines to index.
- Use relevant keywords: Include relevant keywords in the alt text, but don’t keyword stuff. The alt text should still be natural and readable.
- Be unique: Each image should have its own unique alt text. Don’t use the same alt text for multiple images.
Use Responsive Images
Search engines like Google want to provide users with the best possible experience, and this includes serving them images that are the right size and format for their device.
Use the <picture> element or the srcset attribute to create responsive images. This will ensure that your images are the right size and format for all devices.
Responsive images are images that resize to fit the screen of the device they are being viewed on. This is important for SEO because it ensures that your images will be displayed correctly on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.
When a user visits your website, the browser will need to download all of the images on the page. If the images are not responsive, the browser will download the full-size images, even if the user is viewing the page on a small device. This can slow down the loading speed of your website.
What are the benefits of responsive images?
Use Structured Data for Images
Structured data is a special type of code that you can add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. There are a number of different types of structured data that you can use for images, such as the schema.org/ImageObject type.
Here are some additional image SEO tips:
- Use relevant images: The images you use on your website should be relevant to the content of the page and the keywords you are targeting.
- Use Image on right Place: Place your images near relevant text on the page. This will help to ensure that the image is seen by users and that it is indexed by search engines.
- Use image captions: By providing more context for your images, you can help people understand the image better and appreciate it more. Write captions that will capture the viewer’s attention and make them want to learn more.
- Use a consistent image style: To use a consistent image style throughout your website, you can follow these steps:
- Choose a color palette and mood. What kind of feeling do you want your website to evoke? Once you know the overall mood, you can choose a color palette that will help you achieve it. This palette should be used throughout your website, including in your images.
- Use a grid and alignment. A grid and alignment can help you create a more organized and visually appealing website. When editing your images, use a grid to help you crop and align them consistently.
- Use similar editing techniques. When editing your images, try to use similar techniques, such as brightness, contrast, and saturation levels. This will help to create a more cohesive look for your website.
- Choose similar image styles. When selecting images for your website, try to choose images with similar styles. This could include things like the type of photography, the composition of the shots, and the overall tone of the images.
- Use original, high-quality images. Search engines tend to prefer original images over stock photos. If you can, take your own photos or hire a photographer to create unique images for your website.
- Add images to your sitemap. A sitemap is a file that lists all of the pages on your website. Adding your images to your sitemap helps search engines find and index them.
- Use image structured data. Structured data is a type of markup that helps search engines understand the content of your website. There are specific types of structured data that you can use for images, such as Product and ImageObject.
Showeblogin believes that by following these tips, you can optimize your images for SEO and improve your website’s ranking in search results.