This is what you need to know about SEO and images

Ida Christensen • 25 Aug, 2022 • 3 Min. read

A search engine optimized landing page should not only contain text and links, but also images, videos, interactive graphics, buttons, and other elements. This increases the quality of the website, which in return gains visibility in search engines. The image itself can also be search engine optimized to gain better visibility in image searches.

1. Choose the right format

To ensure that your images can be properly indexed by Google, they should all be in the same format. Common image formats that Google can index include PNG, JPEG, and WebP.

While PNG images offer high quality, they tend to result in larger file sizes. JPEG images are smaller in size but may have slightly lower quality. Your choice of format depends on your specific needs and preferences.

2. Compress the images

Large image files reduces the loading time on your website, which is one of the ranking factors Google uses to determine which position you get in the search results.

We use Page Speed ​​Insights to check the loading time of a website. The ideal loading time is approximately 2 seconds. If your website takes longer to load than this, you should optimize it. Image files are often a good place to start.

3. Optimize the image file name

Google relies on both URL path and image file names to interpret the content of an image. Using vague names like “IMG_20220825” won’t provide any helpful information to Google.

Include relevant keywords in the file name of images on your landing page to help improve visibility for those particular keywords.

4. Optimize alt text

Alt text and tags are important signals to Google about your website. Having an SEO strategy that includes optimized alt text strengthens your SEO and can improve your visibility in image searches. 

Visually impaired users rely on software that reads the content aloud. Keep the alt text brief and to the point while still providing a thorough description of the picture.

5. Make the images mobile-friendly

Google will ignore websites that isn’t mobile-friendl when filtering search results. To meet mobile-friendliness standards, your website must be responsive and adjust automatically to the user’s screen size.

Without a responsive website and responsive images, you cannot expect good SEO results. Contact us if you need assistance in making your website responsive.

6. Add structured data

Structured data is a type of code that helps search engines understand the content of a website. If you add structured data to your images, Google may display them as “rich results” in search listings, which provide more information than just the title and text.

For example, if you have an e-commerce website, you can use structured data to label an image with a product name. Google can then match the image with other data, such as the product’s price or rating and display it as a “rich result” in the search results.

Let Journey Agency be your next digital agency

There are an incredible number of elements that must be in place to increase the quality of a SEO optimized website, both on-page and off-page. With an experienced digital agency by your side, you can achieve faster and better results, ultimately resulting in increased traffic and conversions.

At Journey Agency, we combine web development and high-quality content when we work with SEO. This is a winning combination that has proven to be successful for our clients.