Images make up our world, and the brands and logos that stand apart from the crowd come from those who truly understand how important images are in marketing. We love pictures. We are drawn to images, holding our attention, and sparking emotions. Who else loves pictures? Google does. Because of this, how you use your images will significantly affect how you will be ranked in a search result.
There are many things to put into consideration when optimizing your images for SEO. If you’re considering SEO image optimization for your strategy, keep these two in your mind: image design and user experience.
Image Design:
You must choose the right image as the pictures you end up with can either make or break your SEO. Here are a few tips to help you select the right picture:
1. Don’t Settle for an “Okay” Image
A lot of people make the mistake of posting subpar images and wonder why they aren’t getting a lot of response. They underestimated the power and importance of good imagery.
Don’t be one of them. Take the time and add a picture worth looking at rather than choosing an “okay” image last-minute. Look for pictures that customers can relate to and resonate with them—touch on humour, romance, or any other emotions that will connect you with the readers. Remember, it is usually the images that pull customers in, not the headlines, and your photo of choice will be what sets you apart from amateurs.
2. Support the Image with a Text
There goes a saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but are the “thousand words” the message you want to convey? Fix this and add your very own text. This way, you can precisely say what you want to say.
3. Add a Brief Headline
Not only does a short headline enhance your image’s effectiveness, but it also adds a sense of originality. These are the types of pictures that are commonly shared by your audience because they contribute to a specific thought.
User Experience
User experience is the name of the game when it comes to SEO. Here’s how you can make sure that your images enhance your customer’s user experience:
1. Use the Right Resolution and Format
Search engines are fully aware of whether you’re using a high-quality image or a low-quality one. Nobody wants to take a look at a grainy picture, and because of this, Google’s algorithm takes into account the photo quality. Having distorted images won’t do you any good in terms of SEO image optimization either.
A VERY pixelated burger. A very delicious non-pixelated looking burger.
If you need help choosing which image format is the best, JPEG is what you want to look at. They offer the best quality while still being small in size. PNGs are also great alternatives and are often used for images with texts, illustrations, and screenshots. GIFs are meant explicitly for moving images but are quite large. SVGs are commonly used for logos as they maintain the same quality no matter how ballooned they are on screen.
2. Don’t Ignore Image Size
The faster your pages load, the more rewards you’ll get from Google. Small images mean that your webpages load fast and are snappy. Large photos, on the other hand, mean that your website will take forever to load. The slower your pages load, the higher your bounce rate is—a signal to Google that you should be ranked lower. In other words, make sure that you use images that are optimized to make sure your website loads quickly.
Hint: use an image compression tool like Smush to reduce your images file size and still maintain quality.
3. Make Your Images Responsive
There are so many devices in the market today, each with its screen ratios, resolutions, etc. Despite all this, you need to make sure that your images can quickly adapt to any device it is displayed on and maintain quality, whether it is on the phone, laptop, or desktop.
SEO image optimization isn’t as hard as you might think. With so many online tools to help you, achieving the perfect image is but a few clicks away!
If you’re looking to hire a digital marketing agency to help you with your campaigns, Longhouse Media is your best option. Get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
