What Is Image SEO?

Date First Published: 29th January 2023

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: SEO

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Learn more about what image SEO is in this article.

Image SEO is the process of optimising images for a website so that they can be crawled, processed, understood, and indexed by search engines more easily. Image SEO is a part of the SEO of the website as a whole, since images appear in the search results and are another source of organic traffic. The benefits of image SEO include better visibility of image files in search engines, an indirect increase in organic traffic, an easier evaluation of the context of the images of a website and the website as a whole, and improved user experience.

Tips For Image SEO

Tips for improving image SEO are:

• Use the alt attribute to display alternative text if the image cannot load. If the visitor is using screen reading software, the 'alt' attribute will provide information about the picture. Do not make the 'alt' text too long or keyword stuff.
• Use standard image formats, such as JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and WebP. JPG is more suitable for photos, whilst PNG should be used for graphics and logos to keep the file size of images as small as possible.
• Don't use vague filenames that do not describe the picture (e.g. 'image1.jpg' 'images.png', or 'pic.gif'.) The file name of images is an important ranking factor in image search and should contain essential keywords and match the image. Try to use keywords that describe what is in the image, similar to the alt text.
• Don't overload the webpage with images or use images that are too large in size as this can greatly increase the loading time.
• Consider the file size. Images can be compressed so that they are served in the smallest file size possible. Compressing images will help the page load faster, providing a better experience, and boosting the search engine ranking, since page speed is a minor Google ranking factor. A size of less than 100 KB is ideal.
• Consider using original images. Google and other readers prioritise original content and if you are hoping that your images will rank, it is important that original images are used. This is not to say that photos from stock photo sites, such as Pixabay and Unsplash are bad for SEO, but using original images is better for image SEO as they are more likely to stand out.
• Use responsive images. Responsive images adapt to the screen size of the device. Without responsive images, the images may not display correctly on mobile devices, which is bad for user experience and SEO, as mobile-friendliness is a minor Google ranking factor.
• Consider adding images to an XML sitemap. Google suggests that adding images to an XML sitemap or creating a separate sitemap just for images is a good idea as it will help search engines discover the images. This is useful for images that search engines can't find through crawling.
• Consider adding structured data to images. Adding structured data to images can help search engines display the images as rich results. Even though Google says that adding structured data does not boost the ranking of the images, it does help the listing to stand out more in image searches.
• Create a good URL structure for the images. Google uses the URL path and the filename to understand the images of a site. This is why it is important that the images are organised.
• Add good-quality images. High-quality photos are much more visually appealing than blurry or unclear images. Good-quality images are more likely to be clicked on by users in the image search.
• Use a CDN. A CDN can make images and other content load more quickly.
• Scale for image SEO. The size of the image in terms of the pixels and display size (not the file size) will have an impact on loading times, especially when uploading a huge image to display it very small (e.g. a 2500×1500 pixels image displayed at 250×150 pixels size). This is because the whole image still has to be loaded. Instead, the image should be resized to an appropriate size.

Comments