Image Optimizationis the basic steps for SEO campaign. If you are adding image on your blog post or website then it is good for your and readers. But if you are not doing image optimization for your blog or website then it is not good for you.
As we know the Search Engines are getting smarter and more intelligent, the process of achieving a good search ranking is getting more complex.
There are many factors that contribute to rank in search engine, one of the most important of them is on-page optimization. On page, Optimization is the pillar of your SEO and one of the important on-page optimization factor is image optimization.
Many bloggers not taking image optimization seriously.
Image SEO optimizationis one of the building blocks of on-page optimization. Images are a strong visual component of a web-page. They say that a “picture is better than a thousand words” and sometime picture indicate all thing which you want to tells to your readers.
If you want to transmit your message in just a single glance then you need to use image on your web-page. If you do not use of image on your web-page, they can destroy your whole impression.
In addition to this, image can be a good source of traffic from Google image Search and other Image search engines.
Today, in this post I’m going to tell you some tips for Image optimization.
The most important image optimization factors include the alt tag, title tag, image size, image name and image linking. I will discuss all of them one by one.
Let’s get started……….
Image Optimization for SEO Techniques
1. Finding the original and relevant images.
It’s always better to use original and relevant images. Your articles need an image relevant to its subject. If you are choosing a random photo just to show pretty then you are doing wrong. The image should reflect the topic of the post or have illustrative purposes within the article of course. Try to place the image near the relevant text.
If you have a main image and you want to rank this image then try to keep that near the top of the page, if it makes sense.
Preparing images for use in your article
Once you have found the original and relevant image, whether an illustration, chart or photo. The next step is to optimize if for use on your website. There are a number of things which you have to do before use of image on your article.
2. Choose the right file name
Image optimizationstarts with file name. You want Google to know what the image is about without even looking at it, so use right file name.
For example: if your image shows a how to find best keyword for blogger, the file name shouldn’t be WIIO5478.jpg, While your file name should be best-keyword-for-blogger.jpg. The main keywords would be best keyword for blogger, as that is the main subject of the photo, which is why it’s at the beginning of the file name.
3. Choose the right format of image
Image format is also important for image optimization. The right format does not exist, it depends on the kind of image and how you want to use it.
In short, I always recommend to:
- Use JPEG format for larger photos, it will give you good results in terms of colors and clarity with a relatively small file size.
- Use PNG format if you want to preserve background transparency.
- Use SVG format for logos and icons. With the help of CSS and JavaScript you can manage images in SVG format, for instance, resize them without loss the quality of image.
- When you have got the right name and format of image, it’s time to resize and optimize your image.
4. Reduce Image file Size
Image size is a very crucial factor as it directly affects the loading time of the web page. Always use 100% quality images.
There are many tools available by which you can reduce the size of image. I always recommend use tools like ImageOptim ore Websites like JPEGmini, jpeg.io
When you have optimized your images, test your site speed with tools like Google Page Speed Insights.
Now you have got right name, format and size of images, it’s time to adding the image to your article.
5. Use descriptive alt text and captions
Alt text (alternative text) describes an image. It’s what the browser displays to users with screen readers. Browsers also display alt text if there’s a problem rendering images.
Here’s the HTML syntax for alt text
<img src=”how-to-optimize-image.jpg” alt=”Image optimization”/>
That example comes straight from Google’s official guidelines. Here’s their general advice for writing these:
Google uses alt text along with computer vision algorithms and the contents of the page to understand the subject matter of the image. Also, alt text in images is useful as anchor text if you decide to use an image as a link.When choosing alt text, focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and is in context of the content of the page. Avoid filling alt attributes with keywords (keyword stuffing) as it results in a negative user experience and may cause your site to be seen as spam.
Here’s the example of using alt text
- Bad (missing alt text): <img src=”puppy.jpg” alt=””/>
- Bad (keyword stuffing): <img src=”puppy.jpg” alt=”puppy dog baby dog pup pups puppies doggies pups litter puppies dog retriever labrador wolfhound setter pointer puppy jack russell terrier puppies dog food cheap dogfood puppy food”/>
- Better: <img src=”puppy.jpg” alt=”puppy”/>
- Best: <img src=”puppy.jpg” alt=”Dalmatian puppy playing fetch”/>
Conclusion
Image optimization is the sum of a number of elements. With Goole getting better at recognizing elements in images every day, it makes sense to make sure the image and all its elements contribute to a good user experience as well as SEO.
- Always keep these things in your mind when adding an image to an article:
- Always use original and relevant image that matches your text.
- Pick a good file name for your image.
- Make sure image dimensions match the image size as displayed.
- Reduce the size of image for faster loading.
- Add a caption, if appropriate for easier scanning of the page.
If you want your website to be visible on the internet, niche-relevant