SEO For Images: What Is It And Why Do It?

SEO for Images: There is a trendy phrase, which you must have heard, and very appropriate to digital marketing: a picture is worth a thousand words.

Although it does not apply to all cases, the power of the visual in digital communication is undeniable. To communicate with people, digital marketing uses several resources: texts, videos, and images, separately or together, are the most remembered. In this context, it is essential to talk about SEO for ideas and put these strategies into practice.

But, although it is essential in a digital marketing strategy, image optimization for Google ends up being a tactic that is little talked about. The truth is, it’s impossible to talk about SEO without talking about image optimization.

Understanding How Google Works

Images help to complement the content, convey emotions that are often impossible to put into words and bring a powerful visual appeal, especially when they are included in the denser textual content.

First, to talk about SEO for images, it is necessary to understand how Google works. After all, optimization aims to make this type of content positioned on the first pages of search results.

We can say that Google works by reading and storing all types of content: pages, videos, and images, for example. When we search for a keyword, it brings up the most relevant related content.

What Is Image SEO And Why Do It?

SEO focused on visual content is nothing more than a set of optimizations performed on the images present in your content and aims to inform Google about what they talk about and increase the chances of ranking them in online searches.

Therefore, image SEO is a crucial tool to improve your digital presence. That’s because, in content marketing, anyone’s dream is to be in the top positions of one of the main content search engines.

THREE BIG REASONS can make you change your mind if you are still not convinced about the importance of optimizing the images used on your website or blog, for example. Check out below how SEO for visual content can help you.

Appear In Google Images

One of Google’s functions is image search. You can find photos, illustrations, figures, and other visual information on Google Images, and optimizing your files is essential for your content to appear in these searches.

Improve Your Page’s Overall SEO

Investing in SEO for images is part of on-page SEO actions, that is, internal optimizations. In this process, optimizing the images included on the page is as important as paying attention to the page title, content relevance, and keyword usage.

Increase The Chances Of Ranking

When a user searches, Google presents different options for related content: texts, images, and videos, among others. That way, the more options you have to offer, the higher your chances of ranking.

Now you must be asking yourself: so, how to do practice to optimize images for search engines? Here are some tips; check them out.

Practical Tips For Optimizing Images

SEO best image practices should be adopted in any digital marketing and content marketing strategy. Learn how to optimize your visual content.

Enter The File Name

Before uploading the image, choosing the file name is already part of the optimization. Ideally, use objective keywords: a photo of a leather bag, for example, should be named with these exact words separated by a hyphen.

Don’t Forget The Caption

The caption is essential to contextualize the image and also helps search engines extract information about the content and rank the pages. It is not a mandatory element, but it is recommended to use whenever possible.

Describe Content With Alt Text

Here we have the key to image optimization techniques. Alternative text (alt text) is used to describe an image, useful for visually impaired people who use screen readers and is also displayed when the image does not load for some reason.

Assess The Context Of The Image

Using visual resources in your content is not enough to choose any image and randomly include it in the text. Evaluate the most relevant excerpts and select images that illustrate what is being said, that is, the main subject of the article.

Pay Attention To File Size

First of all, pay attention to the file size of the chosen image. Images that are too heavy take time to load, hurting the user experience, which is one of Google’s most important ranking factors.

Remember that image quality is also a critical factor in getting good results with an SEO strategy. For this reason, invest in images with good resolution and be careful when uploading the file so that the quality does not drop.

Also Read: How to Generate Leads in Digital Marketing