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If you’ve been working in the online space for a while now as a creator (blogger, web designer, search specialist) then you know that there is more to content than what appears on the screen, and image optimization is a big part of it.
How fast the page loads, how original and in-depth the written copy is, how user-friendly the design of the page is, all of these are factors that can help (or harm) your site from reaching the masses.
Over time, as Google released more updates, we’ve learned what areas are specifically important to focus on as we write, post, and make changes to our content. The one we’ll be focusing on in this post is something not everyone thinks about as they’re trying every other tactic to rank their site: Image Optimization.
If you think that there isn’t much weight to how and where you upload images to your website – guess again. In fact, image optimization is one of the growing areas of importance as images take up more and more room in search results, and as consumers expect more visuals than ever before.
If you’ve been wanting to get your images right in terms of optimization, here are 3 things you should always be doing.
1. Image Optimization Starts With Naming Images Properly
The first thing you want to do is choose an image that goes well on your page. Something that is clear, eye-catching, and memorable is best. When people can engage with images they tend to stay on pages longer, which is only more beneficial to your efforts.
Once you’ve selected and downloaded an image, be sure to format it properly. You need to tell the crawlers what the item uploaded is. This should include naming the file in a short and easily identifiable way (example: child-eating-cake instead of IMG_4359) and use target keywords whenever possible.
2. Always add ALT Tags to Images
The engines will look at another area too, which people know as the “alternative text” for the image. Most people also call it an ‘ALT Tag.’ It sits inside the image tag and tells the search engine what’s on the page visually. It is important because, like the naming of the image file on your computer, it associates keywords with what the picture shows.
ALT tags are also key for accessibility reasons such as providing attribute data on the page for those who are using screen readers. In case an image doesn’t load, it’s also a great back-up to let users know what image would have appeared there – improving their overall experience.
3. Use the Smallest File Size Possible
Even if you name your image properly, and add the correct tagging, you can still fall behind in SEO optimization if you are not considering the file size. One of the most important things you need to consider with a website is page speed and load time. Users have been notorious for clicking right out of a website if the page doesn’t load immediately.
If you want to maximize load time, you need to scale your images and use the smallest possible size so they load instantly. There are a number of free image optimizer tools online you can upload your images to and adjust. You will follow steps to allow these tools to compress the file as well as format the pixels and resize the photo for optimal placement. Modern formats such as WebP and AVIF can shrink files even further without a visible loss in quality, and lazy loading keeps images below the fold from slowing down the first view of the page.
So the answer to our original question, Does Image Optimization Still Matter? Yes! Absolutely. And it plays an increasingly important role as visual search and AI-powered results become a regular part of everyday life. Plus, taking all of these steps translates to better rankings in the SERPs and that’s what everyone wants, isn’t it?
Want to improve your website? Looking to get new, effective content written? Give us a call today to talk to an SEO Expert about how Keyword Performance can help.
Our on page SEO services include image optimization, alt text and file naming. Our technical SEO services also cover image size and page speed.
Google documents the speed and usability thresholds it measures in Core Web Vitals.
