Author
Wouter De Bruycker
We all want to rank on the first page of Google. And preferably straight at the top, right? Did you know your Google score also depends on the images you're using on your website?
Therefore, don't just place any image on your website. Ensure all your images are optimized for your visitors, your website, and search engine crawlers like Google. Why? Optimized images make your website faster. This benefits your SEO, which means you get a bigger inflow of users, and it improves your user experience. The result? More and better conversions. You probably understand why this is so important.
But how to make sure your images are findable? How to ensure they don't slow down your website? And which factors do you have to take into account? We give six essential SEO tips to get the most out of your images. Let's get that number one ranking in the search results!
Content
TIP 1: Choose the right file format
Before you can add images to your website, you want to make sure they have the correct file format. In 95% of the cases, a JPEG format is the right choice. In edge cases a PNG or GIF file is also an option.
- JPEG: the most common and (usually) the best format for your website. Look for a good balance between image quality and filesize.
- PNG: images of better quality, but usually rather large files. Use this format only for when it's strictly necessary. For visuals with a transparent background, for example.
- GIF: raster images in digital form. This format is very compressed and has a small filesize. As a result, the image consists of only 256 colors. It's best known for its ability to be used in animate images.
PNG images are a perfect option for social media designs, because they have no loss of quality. For a website, it's better to use compressed JPG files to keep your website from getting too heavy.
What's that, a "compressed" image? Check tip number two!
TIP 2: Compress your images
According to Google statistics, images make up an average of 21% of the total weight of a webpage. In practice, we find that this even increases up to 50% when no or too little attention is given to image optimization.
In other words: images potentially have a very big impact on the speed (performance) of your website. Having slow pages results in frustrated visitors leaving your website.
As already briefly mentioned in the first tip, you're looking for the sweet spot between image quality and file size.
I recommend compressing your images before uploading them to your website. You can do this in Photoshop or via online tools like Squoosh. With this tool, you can easily upload your images and download them again in a compressed version, which you can then upload to your website.
Your CMS (like Drupal or Wordpress) probably also has some compression functionalities built-in. However, dedicated tools (like Squoosh) are specialized in image compression and thus often have a better result.
Not sure how your images affect your current website and page speed? Try Google PageSpeed Insights-tool, and see for yourself!
TIP 3: Choose unique images
Images literally attract attention on your website, even better than text. This has been proven several times in user surveys on the web. So make sure to use unique images and really draw the attention of your visitors.
As tempting as it may be, stock photos are not always the best choice. The typical stock photos often make your website look impersonal. It creates a distance between your visitor and your website. Something you definitely want to avoid. Too many websites are filled with the same emotionless photos. Think of a corporate website, a consulting firm, or a company that prides itself on customer service. They all use the typical stock photo of a smiling businessman or woman. You know what we're talking about, right?
In conclusion, the more authentic pictures you have on your website, the more pleasant the experience for your customers. The longer they stay, the higher the possibility of conversion and the greater the chance of ranking in relevant searches.
TIP 4: Watch out for copyright issues
Make sure there's no copyright conflict with the images you use on your website, regardless of using stock photos or your own.
When platforms like Shutterstock, Getty, or the photographer you planned a photoshoot with didn't give you a license to use their images, you risk a costly lawsuit.
We know it's impossible to hire a photographer for every picture on a new blog post or landing page. So using a stock photo once in a while is fine. However, try to keep it to a minimum. It's better to reuse an original existing image from another page, if it fits the page context.
For emergency cases, we drafted a top 7 with the best websites for original and royalty-free stock photos. Remember to always check the licensing information for each specific images, since some images are only free to use when crediting the photographer, or for personal (non-commercial use) only.
TIP 5: Customize the filename of your image
When it comes to SEO, creating a descriptive file name with the right keywords is crucial. In the file name of your image, write something that's shown in that image. After all, it's this text that gives Google and other search engine crawlers useful information about the image's subject. This way, they'll correctly include the image in their search engines.
Most file names usually look like this: "IMG_78E2Y78.jpg". That's unfortunate. With this name, search engines have no idea what's shown in the picture. How should it be then? A good example of an optimized file name is: "teamphoto-dropsolid-teambuilding.jpg".
I can hear you thinking: "do I really need to rename all of our images?". Short answer: yes. It requires some work, depending on the size of your media library. But it's precisely these SEO details that many find too time-consuming and therefore skip. It is these details that give you a headstart over your competitors.
TIP 6: Write SEO-friendly Alt-tags
ALT tags (also known as alt text or alt attributes) are a text alternative for images when a browser cannot display them correctly. Like the title, the alt attribute describes the content of an image.
Today, these alt tags are not the deciding factor for your SEO. Still, they are beneficial from a usability standpoint. An important factor that Google also takes into account. If your image does not load for any reason, users will still get an idea of what it should contain, thanks to your alt tag.
It's handy for visitors who use speech software - due to higher age or a visual impairment, for example. The speech software bases itself primarily on your alt description and thus tells the visitor what's seen on the image. Especially for governments and membership organizations, this is an important aspect to consider in the often mandatory inclusive website design.
So, first of all, write relevant alt descriptions that effectively describe what's in the image. Be careful! Also, don't stuff them with keywords in the hope of ranking better. That's called "keyword stuffing" and is against Google's guidelines.
Summary
With these six practical and accessible tips, you can make sure you only use images on your website that are optimized for your visitor, your website, and search engines.
Before you get started, here are our most important insights and action items:
- Choose the right file format.
- Compress images to decrease the filesize and have faster loading webpages.
- Pick photographs with an authentic look and relevant content. No boring and distant stock photos.
- Check if you have the proper permissions to use the image.
- Use a relevant filename.
- Take the time to write a relevant alt text. Ideally it should contain one of the pages' keywords, but more importantly it should clearly and correctly describe what's shown on the image.
Let's optimize and upload those images!
Need some help with SEO?
I've told you a lot about image SEO above. Still have questions? Not quite sure you did everything correctly? Or need an extra pair of hands to get your SEO all up to speed? I'm happy to help!
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