I am sure by now that you know a little about search engine optimization (SEO) and its importance. I am still no SEO expert but I have learned a thing or two over the past two and half years of blogging. A lot of people know the SEO basics but most people don’t properly optimize their images for SEO. Today I’m sharing how to optimize your images for SEO with these 4 easy steps.
How to Optimize Your Images for SEO
Use original images if possible
Everyone knows that I’m a huge advocate for styled stock photos because I’m not the best photographer but original images are best. Using your own images allow you to stand out in search engines among the sea of boring stock photos.
Reduce the file size as much as possible
Big file sizes mean a slower site load time and nobody has time for that. Prevent people from getting frustrated with your website’s slow load time by reducing your image file sizes before you even put them on your website.
Choose the correct file name
You know how your camera usually assigns your images a random title like DSC1050.jpg? Don’t keep that title. Your image needs to contain keywords from your blog post. Say my blog post is about how to monetize your blog – then my file name would be monetize-your-blog.jpg instead of DSC1050.jpg because Google and other search engines can’t read images so having the right file name is key to helping your images be properly optimized for SEO.
Add Alt Text
Alt text is text that is added to an image so that descriptive text will be displayed in the case that the image can’t be displayed by the visitor. Another benefit of alt text is that it’s what Pinterest pulls when you pin your images so having descriptive alt text makes it easier for people to pull your pins from your website because they will already have a caption.
Your Turn:
Do you already optimize your images for SEO? Please feel free to let me know down in the comments.
