9 Image Optimization Tips to Boost your SEO Score

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9
Image Optimization Tips to Boost
your SEO Score
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Images are essential for websites, because they
help emphasize a point and provide visualization
of your message. However, images are not just for
visual design it is also essential to your SEO
score.
Thats why its imperative to optimize your
images for search engines as well.
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1 Use the right image
Dont use a picture just for the sake of having
an image. Images should reflect what youre
talking about in your article or what youre
selling if you have an ecommerce website.
Tip To find the images that match your needs,
you can go to popular sites that feature free for
commercial use images like Pexels, Pixabay,
Unsplash, and Public Domain Archive.
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2 Write appropriate file names
Search engines also pay attention to the filename
of your images to understand what theyre all
about. So dont skimp on time when writing file
names and make sure that they are descriptive
enough.
Tip If youre featuring an image of a luxury
bag in your post, its best to set the file name
according to its brand and model.
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3 Determine the right file format to use
File format is another essential factor that you
need to work on for images you want to use on the
web.
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3 / Determine the right file format to use

• The formats usually used for images online
• JPEG (.jpg) - A file type used when you want to
  reduce the image size without compromising on the
  quality too much. It is also considered as the
  default image format for most images on the
  internet today.
• GIF (.gif) - A file type used for more simple
  images such as icons and animations. Not an ideal
  format picture to use for a product shot or a
  landscape image.
• PNG (.png) - A fairly new file type compared to
  JPEG and GIF. However, its better than GIF and
  doesnt decrease in quality as JPEG does. But
  it's bigger in size and not widely supported.

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4 Compress your images
Page speed is a ranking factor for Google, and
the size of your images can affect how long a web
page will load. The larger the size, the slower
the load time.
Tip If you're using Adobe Photoshop, you can
use the save for web option to reduce the size
of your image before uploading it to your
website.
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5 Dont neglect putting an alt text
Optimizing your alt text is a way to describe
whats in the picture to search engines as well
as visually impaired users who use screen readers
when they surf the web.
Tip To boost your SEO score, you can
incorporate appropriate keywords in your alt
text. Keep it in context and make it
understandable by search engine crawlers and
users alike.
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6 Manage your thumbnails accordingly
If images used as thumbnails are not compressed
enough, they can slow down loading time which can
turn potential clients off.
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6 / Manage your thumbnails accordingly
Tip Keep your thumbnails as small as possible.
Don't worry too much about the quality as they
are not designed to be big and detailed. The alt
tag should be different from its bigger and
clearer version so that search engines will not
be confused which to index.
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7 Avoid third-party image hosting services
Steer clear of third-party image hosting
websites. Theres always the risk of your images
being deleted or blocked especially when they are
loaded with traffic. That results in the images
not to show up on your website.
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8 Use an image sitemap
An image sitemap provides more information about
the images used on your website, even those that
are loaded by a JavaScript code.
Tip If you have an existing sitemap, you can
simply add image details on it. You can also
create a separate one for your images. Don't
forget to use the proper tags as recommended by
Google.
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9 Refer to Google Posting Guidelines
Google has set out image posting guidelines that
can help you optimize your pictures better for
user experience and SEO score.
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