SEO for Site Images

Image Optimization for Search Engines

Optimizing images in your site is as equivalent as optimizing your content and HTML tags. An attractive image can easily engage the users to read your content and mostly users use image search to find interested things in the web rather than web search. 

Social networking sites like Pinterest and Instagram also using images to connect the interesting users around the world. Hence, it is a potential opportunity for webmasters to optimize the images in their site for search engines and pull traffic from it. 

The below points are to be considered when you use images in your site.

1. Name of an image

Add a caption or name to every image in your site. This helps the search engines to understand your images and display it in the image search results. 

2. Alternative Text (Alt attribute)

Providing alternate text to your images is the most important thing you are supposed to ensure if you use images in your site. Alt attribute allows you to provide an alternate text for an image in case if the image can’t be displayed. When the browser does not support your images for whatsoever reason the alt text is displayed instead of the image to inform the user about the image. 

Alt Text in non-compatible Image

Another reason why you need to provide alt text is that when you use image as a link, search engines consider the alt text equivalent to the anchor text in the link. 

3. Size of an image

Use appropriate size of the image so that the users can see it clearly. Providing very small or very big image make the user embarrassed and leave your site.

4. Placement of the image

Display your images in a place where users can see it easily and related to the content. Displaying unrelated images or displaying it in inappropriate place will make the user confused about the purpose of the image. This is also applicable for the image ads if you display in your site.

5. Image folder in your site structure

Organize all the images in your site are under the same folder instead of spreading over in too many folders. This helps the search engine to look and grab all the images of your site in once place rather than looking in different places.

6. Appropriate image type

Use general supported image types like PNG, JPEG, GIF and BMP. Each image type serves different purpose and suitable for different occasions so check the quality and size of the images in your site and optimize accordingly. 

7. Image Sitemap

If you use image as a primary source in your site then it’s a good idea you can generate an image sitemap and submit to search engines in the same manner like a normal XML sitemap.

Dos and Don't with Images:

Dos Use descriptive name and alt text related to your content Provide alt text for image links Submit an image sitemap to search engines	Don'ts Generic filenames like “untitles.bmp” or "image1.jpg" Extremely lengthy filename and alt text Keyword stuffing into alt text Extremely using image links for navigation
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