Are Pictures Important to SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool that can improve your website’s search results rankings. Many factors make up an effective SEO strategy, such as website content, backlinks, and much more. When used correctly, pictures may act as a supporting factor that boosts SEO.
Image SEO refers to the techniques used to make an image more equipped for the internet. This may entail reducing the file size, renaming the file, altering the dimensions, utilizing captions, and strategically placing the media on your site.
How Do Pictures Support SEO?
There are many ways that images can benefit your site’s SEO and improve user experience (UX). First, using media to help break up lengthy blocks of text helps captivate user attention and makes it easier for them to remember the content. This can further involve your audience with the materials posted on your website, providing them with a positive experience. When browsing, over 60% of users are more likely to explore something that has an image relevant to your search, thus making your site more likely to go viral.
What’s more, recent trends seem to point toward Google starting to give greater SEO value in images and videos than ever before.
What Steps Should I Take to Boost My Company’s SEO Through Pictures?
One of the first things you should know about using images on your website is that it is best if they are unique and add value to your site. This means choosing images that are not stock photos.
Names
Another component of images that can help strengthen SEO is using keywords when naming the image file, while still providing an accurate name for the photo. Google uses surrounding information, such as the file’s name, the picture’s caption, or the alt-text name (which is crucial for ADA compliance), to determine if the material is relevant. Therefore, it can be helpful to use captions that briefly describe the content of images to further improve customer experience.
Placement
The placement of the media is also a huge factor. Its placement should not leave lots of awkward white space, and the image should match the theme of your site. The dimensions of your content are critical as they can impact not only user experience but also Google’s evaluation of your site.
- Full-width images – it is recommended to use 2400x1600px
- Images within your content –aim to meet 1500px for horizontal and 1000px for vertical visuals
Once this has been achieved, you should check on multiple devices that these display correctly to ensure your media is user-friendly across platforms. Furthermore, a good rule of thumb is always using the save to web option when possible, downloading photographs as JPEPSs and graphics as PNGs.
File Size & Quality
Lastly, finding the balance between the file size and image quality is essential. Large file sizes may reduce site speed and negatively impact customer experience. However, the smaller the file size is, the less likely the quality may be high.
To help mediate these issues, there are several online tools such as TinyPNG that can find an appropriate balance. Once the optimal file size has been found, you’ll want to look into including alternative text. This text will display in place of the image if it fails to load, which increases functionality and better assists Google in determining the relevance of this image.
Looking to Expand SEO Past Pictures?
Utilizing SEO is a significant step toward creating game-changing results for your business. Our team at BluShark Digital can help you explore the many different avenues of SEO so you can fully utilize all this tool has to offer. To get started today, give us a call or fill out our contact form.