Image Optimization: Another Integral Part of Your SEO Strategy

Images have the ability to convey emotion, mood, narrative, ideas and messages in a way that words cannot. When it comes to your site, photos, artwork, and graphics are important for all of those abilities and more. It’s time to start making the most out of your images.

Images provide aesthetic appeal, which can motivate purchases as well as support a specific brand image. This allows for the customer to place trust and confidence in your site (and your brand). Aesthetics can also help boost conversions by encouraging shoppers to stay with a site that they feel both looks great and navigates well.

When designing your site, make sure to use high quality images that capture the mood and tone you’re trying to set for the shopper. In addition, be sure to understand the proper protocol with copyrights! Copyrights can often get sites in trouble. Make sure you have a clear understanding of what images you have rights to and what images you don’t. Unsure? You can always utilize a stock photo site or hire a freelance photographer to shoot the images or product pictures you need to create an attractive design.

Images can also be optimized to boost your organics. Most people tend to think that images are pretty straightforward and are used mostly for decorative purposes, however, in Google’s SEO Starter Guide,  several image optimization best practices are discussed, shedding new light on the use of images for SEO.

The Alt Attribute
The first tactic you should consider is that of “alt” attribute of your image filename. The alt attribute allows for you to specify alternative text for the image, in case it can’t be displayed for some reason. This is ideal for site visitors that are using browsers that don’t support images, or are using alternative technology (e.g. screen reader) to view the contents of your site. Use the alt to provide clear, concise information about the picture. Don’t stuff keywords into alt text or copy and paste entire sentences of content. Not only is this unethical practice, but it also holds no practical value for your consumers, who want to know about the image, not about specific keywords.

Images as Links
Next, think about your use of an image as a link. The alt attribute tactic still applies, however, the result will be different. Now, the alt text that you entered can be treated similarly to the anchor text of text link. Google recommends  not using too many images for site navigation when text can work just as well, but this is something to think about for those struggling with site design and layout. = In this case, don’t use excessively long alt text that could be considered spammy and make sure to use image links for site navigation only.

Other Tips
Use brief, but descriptive filenames and alt text. The key is to describe the image in as few words as possible without clouding the message you wish to convey. Try to avoid using generic file names, like picture1.gif or 1234.jpg, or lengthy ones that are just a waste of space. Consider storing images in a directory of their own to simplify searching. And as always, use commonly supported filetypes (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, etc) for the best results.