Image properties and search engine results
While working with a client to create a blogging plan and editorial calendar, we reviewed the firm’s website.
I realized that the company didn’t have proper Alt Tags for their images and that their images were named with the “out of the camera” names common to digital cameras, like image5678.jpg.
Search Engines Like Alt Tags
By not having keyword relevant Alt Tags and image names as well as captions, this client and you may be missing an opportunity to increase your website’s inclusion in search engine results pages (SERPs.)
Google Likes Keyword Alt Tags
Google and other search engines search the Alt Tags and image titles and include images in their organic search results. In addition, web searchers are now getting more sophisticated in their searches and are searching images just as we search “normal” web content.
Image Properties
If you have a content managed website with a framework such as a Joomla, Drupal or WordPress you have the ability to make these changes. Image Properties for each image allow you to set the Alt Tag for each image. In WordPress, for example which is our preferred CMS, you can set these properties for each image in the Media Library or in an image gallery, such as a gallery created with NextGEN. Use your targeted keywords when adding Alt Tags and you’ll help your SERPs.
WordPress Media Library and Image Names
In the past when naming images, webmasters often used underscores between words in an image name. Underscores are not comprehensible to search engines so you should instead use hyphens between words. If you are using WordPress, you can set the name of the image in the Media Library when you import the image. WordPress does not require you to add the hyphens. Just remember to use keyword rich names for images that are relevant to the image content and post content.
Image Selection
When you select images for your blog posts, select images that are relevant to the post’s content and give them captions that are also relevant to the content. When you place the image in the page, place it near the most relevant content.
Images Can Support SEO Goals
Following these few guidelines will support your search engine optimization goals and will help your website’s rankings. If you’ve not followed these procedures in the past, you can update your site or have your webmaster do this for you. By doing this you will also be freshening up your content as well.
