We all know that adding images to your articles and blog posts helps to encourage people to read them; it adds an additional layer of interest through rich media. Well-chosen images can back your content up and assist you in delivering your message in an effective way. But when doing so it’s important not to forget to optimise images.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at image SEO and why it’s an important pillar in your Search Engine Optimisation efforts. Let’s get to it.
What Is Image SEO?
Image SEO refers to the optimisation of the images on your website in order for search engine spiders to effectively “read” them.
Seeing as though search engines can’t naturally understand the content of an image, marketers have to take an additional step and help search engines better understand images. This can lead to a boost in visibility and search rankings, as well as placement within Google’s image search.
So, how do you perform image SEO?
How To Optimise Images
Image SEO is one of the most overlooked elements of on-page SEO. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important. Not optimising your images correctly can negatively impact your site’s ability to rank and rise within the index.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to ensure your images are optimised according to best practices:
- Add images to your sitemap
- Make images mobile-friendly
- Serve images in next-gen formats
- Compress your images to reduce size
- Optimise your image titles, captions, and alt text
So, before you start uploading a new image to your website, take a step back and think of the part this image plays within the overall functioning of your site: How it adds to the user experience and how you can optimise that image to the best of your ability so that search engines can find, crawl and index them to the best of their ability.
With advancements in voice search technology and other web-accessibility options, media is undoubtedly growing in importance. By taking the above steps and including image SEO within your approach, your entire site will benefit.
