Let’s say you are a wedding photographer in Minnesota. When search engine users search for “wedding photographers in Minnesota”, what steps must be taken to ensure that your photography website shows up on page one?One element of SEO that is often overlooked is the proper optimization of images. Using images and setting them up properly can significantly enhance your SEO efforts. If you have already mastered keyword optimization and want to take your SEO to the next level, learning to optimize images should be your next step. The list below outlines comprehensive yet detailed image optimization tips that yield stronger search engine rankings.
Image Optimization Tips
ALT Tags.
An alt tag is a snippet of text that search engines read to understand the images on your site. An ALT tag tells Google, for example, what the image portrays. Keep ALT tags short, using one sentence or less.
File Size.
We live in an impatient world. That is why the images used on your site should always be high in quality yet small in file size.
File Title.
If you search for an image, the results you get from the search engine will always feature the keywords you typed in their file names. Therefore, to improve your image SEO efforts, always pick a descriptive name title for your images before uploading them. SEO experts suggest very exact file names such as Minnesota-photographer.jpg.
Context.
The contents of the images on your site should always be relevant to the context of your webpage content. Not only does this increase your credibility as an authority in your niche; it also increases your chances of getting better search engine rankings.
Captions.
Although there is no direct correlation between captions and SEO, captions provide a convenient way of grabbing the attention of a search engine crawler when it visits through your site.
While many people think of website images as simple eye candy, photos can be used to generate massive traffic. Why should you spend endless hours crafting the perfect onsite content only to miss out on a major SEO opportunity due to poor image optimization? Not only will image optimization benefit your online visibility; it only takes a few a minutes to set up properly.
