Are your images optimized for SEO? Images are more than visually appealing elements that make your blog posts pop. They can actually be indexed for image search results pages if optimized correctly! And if they aren’t optimized correctly, images can slow down your website and increase bounce rates. Boo. So let’s go over how to optimize images for SEO so they can enhance your content without compromising performance.
Choose the Right Image File Type
First, choose the file type before downloading the image. There are four main image file types:
- JPEG
- PNG
- GIF
- WebP
Most of your images will probably be in JPEG or PNG formats if you download from Canva, a stock photo site, or a photographer. PNGs are larger file sizes and better quality. JPEG is the opposite – smaller file sizes but lower quality.
WebP is actually the best format to use for SEO. It provides better compression than PNG or JPEG, which results in faster page load times. If your website is hosted on WordPress, the plugin Performance Lab will automatically convert your uploaded images into WebP.
Compress Images Without Sacrificing Quality
Whenever you upload an image into a blog post, you need to compress it first. This means reducing the file size without sacrificing quality. There are a few tools you can use to do this easily!
How fast your page loads is a key element of good SEO. Pages that take forever to load have more bounces, which Google hates to see. It will start to show your website less often in search results. So don’t skip image optimization!
Use Descriptive File Names
Have you ever thought about the names of your image files? This is something a lot of people skip when learning about how to optimize images for SEO. If you look at the file names of your images, I’m sure you’ll find some with crazy or generic names like “stockphoto-198259.png.”
This is a missed opportunity to optimize your website and images! Search engines use file names to understand the content of an image. Rename your images to be descriptive and include keywords where relevant to help search engines index images more accurately.
Descriptive file names also provide context to users, especially if the image fails to load. Ya hate to see it, but it happens. When an image doesn’t load, the file name and/or alt text will appear instead. It needs to describe the image accurately.
Don’t skip this step – optimizing your images can increase the chances of your images appearing in image search results!
Optimize Alt Text for Accessibility
Another reason to optimize images for SEO is for accessibility. Image alt text helps users who rely on screen readers or other assistive technologies. When an image comes up on the page, the screen reader will read out the alt text. It should provide a description of the image to visually impaired users. This enhances the accessibility of your content and ensures that all users can understand the visual elements of your page.
Alt text is usually between 5-15 words. Write enough to provide enough detail to accurately describe the image while keeping it brief to ensure a smooth user experience for those with screen readers.
ChatGPT+ actually does a great job of writing alt text! With the premium subscription, you can upload images and ask it to write alt text with a certain number of characters. Yoast SEO recommends adding keywords in your alt text, but only if the keyword naturally fits. The main goal is to describe the image, and the keyword is a bonus.
Ensure Images Are Responsive
Understanding how to optimize images for SEO with responsive design will make a significant difference in your site’s performance. Responsive images mean the size of the image automatically adjusts to the size of the screen. No matter where people access your website from, they will have the same experience.
Most website builders will have responsive designs built into their platform. You can preview images in different formats (desktop, mobile, and tablet) to make sure the image looks right. Again, WebP files are great for responsive design.
Do I Have to Edit All My Images Now?
You might be reading this thinking, “I have HUNDREDS of images on my website that I know aren’t optimized. That’s going to take me forever to get through!”
It’s fine to follow these tips moving forward. If you have time or an assistant to help you, it would be worth optimizing the images on your website, but it’s not a critical change. Don’t stress over it!
You can see how your images are affecting your SEO with PageSpeed Insights. If your images are causing page speed issues, this tool will point it out and offer instructions on fixing them. Or you can Google fix the issues it flags!
Ready to Start Optimizing Your Images for SEO?
I hope you learned how to optimize images for SEO in your blog posts and on your website. It’s a pretty easy thing to do and it greatly impacts your website SEO. Image optimization is something I include in all my blog writing and strategy packages. Whenever I publish a blog post, you know the copy and images are optimized for search engines! If you’re interested in having me take over your blog strategy, let’s talk!
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER
Some links in this blog post may be affiliate links. I only recommend products and services I trust and believe would be beneficial to you.
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