Build in Image SEO

Images are an important element of online marketing and communication. They bring your content to life. Done properly, they also contribute to your search visibility.

Yes, Use Images

Images, when used correctly, help readers better understand your article. They illustrate what you mean, break up the monotony of paragraphs of text, and make your content more enticing.

Another reason for images – visual search is getting increasingly important. Google has an interface that lets people search via images with filters, metadata, and even attribution.

Use the Right Image

It’s always better to use original images – photos you have taken yourself – rather than stock photos. Your team page needs pictures of your actual team.

Your content needs relevant images. An ideal image will reflect the topic and illustrate an important point. An image with related text ranks better for the keyword it is optimized for.

Stock Photos and Other Alternatives

If you don’t have any original images that you can use, try stock images. Pick options that fit your content. Graphs and illustrations are also effective.

Optimize Each Image

Once you have found the right image, there are a number of things to do before you use it,

• Use a file name with your focus keyword
• Use JPEG format for larger photos or illustrations, or PNG if you want to preserve background transparency in your image
• Resize and optimize your image – resize the image to how you want it displayed

Add the Image

Place the image close to related text content. Include a caption, for SEO and for users. People tend to scan headings, images and captions as they scan a web page.

Also give each image an ALT tag. The alt tag displays if the image can’t be displayed to the visitor for any reason and when users mouse over the image. Add alt text to every image that includes the SEO keyword for the content. Describe what’s in the image so both search engines and people can make sense of it.