Due to information noise, a modern user takes information from images. Visual content serves not only to attract the user’s attention but also serves as an additional source of organic search traffic. Previously, the main focus was on SEO optimization of texts on web pages. Still, today image optimization is one of the main factors for increasing the performance of sites in search results.
The correct structure and well-formed text affect the search results more and more. But for the user to stay as long as possible on your site, the text must be visually attractive. That is, it must be supplemented with visual content, which helps to improve the behavioral factors of the page. Today, there are a large number of video tutorials and SEO courses; one of the topics is image optimization.
To better master the subject, in addition to practical tasks in these courses, they also suggest writing essays on the matter covered. Writing such papers allows you to discuss the topic better and come up with your optimization methods. In order to get inspired and see how other people do it find an essay database. Optimized images allow you to get additional traffic from image search engines like Google Images.
Here are the primary methods for optimizing images on your site.
1. Optimize image size
Image size indirectly affects the web resource in the image output – page loading speed. As you know, page loading speed affects page ranking. Download speed is an important ranking factor when mobile traffic is involved. It may seem that you need to reduce the size of the photo to a minimum. And a page of that quality.
To do this, minimize visual appeal. The aesthetics of a publication is valuable to a search engine like Google. For a search engine, it’s important not just the size and aesthetics, but their optimal ratio. The following services used to change the image size and check the download speed:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: A service that was developed by Google and is a tool for controlling the speed of loading web pages.
- Compressor.io: On this platform, you can use a unique set of tools to reduce the size of the photo, which will increase the speed of loading the site.
2. Use high quality and relevant images
Image relevance is one of the most critical factors for search engines. Make sure the illustrations are related to the topic of the article. Place images next to the text they illustrate. Image quality is also essential: blurry, fuzzy, or poorly cropped images form a wrong impression of the site and product. On the other hand, bright and high-quality images have a good effect on behavioral and social factors. They attract the attention of users, make materials more clickable and viral. Repost with a bright, attractive picture will receive more notice in social networks.
3. Use unique images
If you use photographs on your site that have already been used many times on other websites, then you will not be at the top of the list. Search engines lower sites that use other people’s content. Uniqueness applies to both text and images. The uniqueness of images is especially true when promoting online stores. Publishing a product’s photo taken on the manufacturer’s website will not help increase your position in search results. Other online stores that collaborate with the manufacturer probably already published these photos. To increase the issuance, you need to use unique photographs or images.
4. Title attribute
This attribute is responsible for the text that the user sees when hovering over the image. Search engines do not take it into account when ranking resources, so some marketers do not pay attention to it. Firstly, displaying text with a description when you hover over a picture improves the usability of the resource. Secondly, if today’s search engines do not take into account the title attribute when ranking, this does not mean that they will not change their position in the future.
5. Alt attribute
The Alt attribute is a text alternative to the image, which will be displayed if the model doesn’t load. Since search crawlers have not yet learned to recognize the content of images using the Alt attribute, they understand what the picture is about, which makes this attribute especially crucial for SEO. Some manuals recommend using 80 or 150 characters, but the number of digits must be accurate so that after reading, it becomes clear that the image.
6. Image filename
The image file name helps search engines understand the content of the image in context. You must give a name to the files with the keyword. If you upload a photo with flowers, it would be logical to name the file – photo-flowers.png, which will help get ahead of the data.
7. Page URL
The ranking of images is also affected by the URL of the page on which place the image. If the image will put on an optimized page, then high-quality and relevant content increases the chances of success in promotion. Along with the URL of the page, the domain trust is also a significant influence.
Conclusion
Use image optimization on the site if you want to increase the site in search results. There is no one method that is right for your website. Any means need to be thoroughly tested for a particular website and adjusted concerning the results obtained during optimization. Image optimization will help to get into the top results only with combined optimization of text and photos.
