SEO optimization for image:

You may not have thought about it, but images can generate large amounts of traffic to your site from search engines. Think of a person looking for a certain product, a nice vacation spot on Google, or a recipe. If we do SEO for images in front of potential clients, our images could certainly present themselves. Many overlook these possibilities thinking that the new search engine is less efficient than the previous one to attract visitors with images. You don't have to fall into this error

The universal search displays images on the combined form results page. This aspect means, of course, that you do not need to look for an image to find it: it can appear at any time. Therefore it is important and necessary to learn how to optimize images for search engines. Here we have essential steps.

Image SEO: Optimizing images for search engines - leibusiness

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1 1. Alt attribute in the image

2 Image filename

3 Image context

4 Image file size

5 Exif image data

6 Long descriptions for images

7 Image sitemap

1. Alt attribute in the image

Although image recognition technology has advanced a lot, search engines still have problems with interpreting the content of images. Today, I can recognize letters, colors, including faces, but a little more.

Because of this, you need to use the Alt attribute to describe the images.

The name Alt comes from alternate text or alternative text and is what search engines use to find out what an image displays. It is also the text that the search engine uses when the image cannot be loaded, along with the rest of the content of the page.

Let's say you put on your website an image of Carol Park in Bucharest The HTML code of the Alt tag would be:

(Normally you don't have to worry about this code, most content managers make it easy for you to easily add this tag.)

To write a good Alt label:

Accurately describe the content of the image.
Includes the main keyword
Be concise

Image filename

The file name is an indicator of the content of the image. Think of it as a picture called "chocolate cake" that will probably show a chocolate cake.

To optimize the image name, you should try to be short and descriptive, it is not necessary to include as much information as possible as in the Alt label.

For example, in the previous point, we called the file "photo.jpg" but this generic name does not bring any benefit in the search. So, to be more descriptive we will call it "the park-carol-of-bucharest.jpg".

With a more specific name, for the search engine, it is easier to understand the content, and therefore you will be more likely to appear in a prominent position.

For a good file name:

Describe the content of the image
Include the main keyword
Be very concise
Use lines to separate the words
Avoid accents and other special characters

Image context

It is very important that your images are very important. be surrounded by text and, in particular, the text to be linked to the content of the image. The closer the relationship between the image and the context in which it is found, the better.

To put the images in the right context, use the bottom of the image or legend, as well as the text you have above or below the image. Even use the page title if necessary.

Note that if the text surrounding the image has nothing to do with it, the relevance to the search engine will be below.

Image file size

Ideally, the file size should be as small as possible. In this way the images load quickly, this factor being rewarded by the search engines.

The file size depends on 2 factors:

Image size
Image quality

If you want a large image to fit in a small file, the quality will have to be small. If what you want is for the image to be of superior quality, you have no other solution than to reduce the dimensions.

This compromise makes JPEG the ideal image format for search engines; good quality, with relatively small files. However, you can also use PNG and GIF if they better serve your purposes.

When you prepare your images:

Use JPEG for photos or pictures in general
PNG is best suited for flat and/or transparent images (e.g. logo)
GIF is ideal for animated images
Use the exact dimensions you need (do not rely on reducing the size to the CMS, because the full image is loaded before resizing)
The average JPEG quality is sufficient for the website

To capture, crop, resize images use Monosnap. This tool does a good job of maintaining the quality of the images and allows the addition of annotations, shapes, and drawings. Other free tools to work with images are GIMP and BeFunky.

Before uploading images to the site, it is recommended to compress them as much as possible, without this implying quality compromises. To do this, use the online tool Compressor. if you prefer JPEGmini and ImageOptimdesktop tools.

On the other hand, if you use WordPress as a content manager, you may be interested in the wp plugin Smush. As long as you have it active, it will compress all the images you upload without an apparent loss of quality.

Exif image data

Exif or Exchangeable image file format is a specification that allows the inclusion of several types of metadata in the image file. This data includes specific details of the photo, such as exposure, aperture, local distance, and even geographic coordinates.

Although the Exif data that may interest you the most are:

Image title
Description
Name and website of the author
Copyright
Other labels

Although search engines do not currently use Exif content as a weight factor, the data appears on certain image pages (for example Flikr) that can positively influence the relevance factor.

Using the file properties in Windows (right button), it is possible to edit some data and add relevant information to the image. But if you really want to experiment, it is better to use an advanced tool. a photo is a free option.

Something to consider with Exif is that if you use compression tools, you need to make sure that it keeps EXIF information in the resulting image. You can check this on the webmaster's website or in the FAQ section of the WordPress plugins directory.

Long description for images

An attribute little known for images is the long or longdesc description. As the name suggests, it serves to include a longer description than the one that can be included in the Alt label.

The syntax for the detailed description is:

If you notice, longdesc does not include a textual description, but the URL in which to find it. This can be a page specially created to include the description or the page itself where the image is included, although this does not make much sense.

The truth is that the long description is used very little or not at all, but I wanted to include it so that you have all the options.

Image sitemap

An essential aspect of image optimization is indexing. Images must be in the search engine index to appear in search, but if the search engine does not find image files, it is difficult to index them.

There's a way to increase the chances that your images will be more likely to be. to be indexed is to make a specific sitemap for images. This file includes the URL of each image, but may also include the title, license, and other data.

If you use WordPress as a content manager, you should know that Yoast's SEO optimization plugin includes images within the Sitemaps XML function. However, if you prefer a dedicated plugin, you can use Udinra All Image Sitemap.

Since you've bothered to read so much, I'm not going to let you go without giving you something extra. I will tell you that this tactic is the most effective:

If you want to improve the visibility of the images nothing is better than getting links. Links to the page containing the image. In addition, if the links include keywords in the text (anchor text) it will improve the positioning for the corresponding searches.

That said, I do not recommend the artificial use of this tactic, because, in the end, you will make 10 maintain and recite the deepest prayers to the Google search engine for the penalty of backlinks meant to influence the result. The smartest strategy is to create images capable of attracting links.