Images serve more purpose to a blog or a site than many think. They not only serve as an engaging and attractive element but are also vital for SEO.
So, getting to know the workings of image optimization can help you in more ways than one, so stick with us as we take you through the best methods to optimize images for SEO purposes.
Table of Contents
What is Image Optimization?
Keeping the quality of the image high while reading the file size, to keep the page loading time low is what image optimization is about.
So basically, it is the process of delivering high-quality images with the ideal resolution, format and size to increase user engagement.
What are the ways to Optimize Images?
There are frankly several ways to optimize images, and while one method might work best for a site, another might not, so we will list below several ways to optimize images, and you can give it a quick glance at what is best suited for you.
Unique images
If you are going to attach images that are available on every website around, then the image loses its purpose.
So, picking images that are not common but rare can help you in more ways than you think.
Format matters
While the most common formats of images uploaded are PNG and JPEG, some prefer WebP too.
While PNG gives good quality images, it has issues with the image size. JPEG, on the other hand, is smaller in size, but the quality is lost. But we do have an option to get it edited to a better-quality image.
WebP remains as the only format which is supported by both Firefox and Chrome.
Image Filename
Another most significant step would be the optimization of file names in image SEO. Including the target keywords at the beginning, which are separated by hyphens, is a must.
The file’s name is what the crawlers look into to give a better context to the web crawlers, so adding relevant and descriptive keywords can help a long way.
Image Title and Description
Shockingly your page title and description also contribute a lot to the ranking of the image in the search columns.
Every factor, including meta data, header tags, structured data and copy on the page, contributes to the way Google ranks your images.
Descriptive Alt Text
ALT text is the image’s description and serves more than the image title. It is the best description of the image provided, which helps Google select the most relevant answer to the user’s query.
Adding the target keywords to the alt text can also help in Google ranking.
Image Dimensions
Defining your image dimension is necessary if you are using AMP or PWA. Even if you aren’t, it is advised to define the image dimension as it can help in a better user experience.
Make sure to define the dimension for every image and video you use, which help in telling the browser how much space to allocate for the resource.
Image Placement
Make sure you don’t add images just for the sake of attraction. While attracting readers with images might be good, spoiling the entire content with misplaced images is bad.
Ensure you do not affect the flow of the page and add images only where there is a need. Also, ensure they are aligned according to the content and satisfy the aesthetics.
Image Structure Data
Structured data provides search engines with additional information and also helps display your images as rich results.
Use Image Sitemaps
Site maps, as the name indicates, contain your site’s map. This map is what tells the search engines your site’s structure.
This plays a vital role in SEO. To ensure that search engine crawlers notice every image on the site, include everything (infographic, meme, photo, video thumbnail) in your site map.
If you use WordPress, then you need not manually add anything, Yoast SEO does it for you.
While many more methods are involved in ensuring your image is 100% optimized, we have stated the most significant ones that help you rank better amongst your competitors.
If you have any doubts about this, you can ping us anytime to help you achieve what is best for you. That being said, you can just lay low and let the experts worry about such things; by experts, we mean, Ahbiv. We are here to help businesses achieve higher rankings with our best SEO Services.
Contact us to make those dreams turn into reality.
