In the past few years, the Internet has become increasingly visual, with text losing importance and photos, videos, and other images growing in importance. With this increased emphasis on visuals comes a growing importance of visual search. Because visual search is so important, smart marketers will properly optimize images for search engines. Here are some tips that can help you properly optimize your images for search.

Choose the Right Photo

The first step to a properly optimized image is to choose the right one. You should choose an attractive, high quality photo. The topic of the photo should be related to the content of the article to help Google understand what the photo is about. Be sure to choose the right file format for the photo as well. JPEGs are the most common file format, but PNG files are sometimes better for more detailed pictures. If you want a photo with animation, you should choose a GIF instead.

Compress Your Images

The size of the file of the image is an important part of optimization. The smaller the file, the quicker it will load when a visitors clicks on your page. When an image loads quickly, it improves search rankings because slow-loading images cause people to leave your site. For this reason, it’s important to compress your image files after you download them. Websites such as compressjpeg.com can help you easily compress your file size and redownload the compressed file. Compressed image files will help improve the load rates of the images, which will lead to an improvement in their search rankings.

Clearly Name Images

The names of your images are important to help search engines understand their content. When naming the file, be sure to use clear, concise descriptions, as search engines will scan through file names to understand images’ content. The alt text of a photo is very important as well. Your alt text should clearly explain the photo and include any relevant keywords. Search engines use an image’s alt text to understand its content and rank it for searches. For this reason, the inclusion of keywords is important to properly optimize your image.

Consider Captions

Including captions underneath your photos can help improve their search rankings. Although every image is not well suited for a caption, this option is a good idea for unique images. A good caption will clearly explain the image in a box below it. When people visit your page, they will read your caption, which will generate interest and an increased emphasis on your image. Additionally, captions are a useful way to explain the content of your image to search engines to help improve their search rankings.

ImageWorks, LLC | CT Search Engine Optimization

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