Overview 

When someone mentions Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you most likely think of keywords. However, as search engines become more sophisticated, so do the algorithms that rank websites. They consider more than just keywords, such as images and site performance. 

Images that are irrelevant, slow to load, or difficult for search engines to recognize are detrimental to your SEO. On the other hand, correctly labeled, quickly loaded, and relevant images can increase your site's traffic and search engine rankings. 

In the following section, we will delve deeper into the notion of picture optimization and explain why it is beneficial. In addition, we will examine 12 techniques for transforming photographs into strong online tools. 

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• What is SEO (and why is it essential) for images?
• How to Make Images Search Engine Friendly
• How to Compress and Resize Images Prior to Uploading Them to Your Website   

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What is SEO (and why is it essential) for images? 

Image SEO is the process of making sure that both people and search engine crawlers can understand the images on a website. During this step, you give your graphics context so that both people and bots can understand them. 

Images significantly impact your site's direct and indirect SEO rankings. For example, images that are of high quality and have been optimized are more likely to show up in image searches. This, in turn, can bring more people to your site. Using photos well can also improve the user experience, leading to lower bounce rates, more time spent on the page, and more engagement. 

Web pages load slowly due to pictures and videos. Thus, compressing images improves load times and site speed. LCP is one of three main elements that determine your site's Core Web Vitals score. This determines Google's website usability. LCP measures page load time for the largest element. Thus, faster image loading improves the LCP score. 

In short, websites that do well have taken the time to optimize their images so that users have a better experience and search engines rank them higher. You can put them together with a few easy steps. 

How to Make Images Search Engine Friendly 

Knowing and executing specific picture SEO best practices will help you easily enhance your site's ranks and attract more visitors. Here are twelve starting pointers: 

       1. Image sizes and formats should be optimized. 

Choosing the correct picture size and format is one of the least technical ways to influence image SEO considerably. Depending on the requirements of your website, JPEG, PNG, WebP, and SVG pictures offer distinct benefits. 

JPEG files are typically smaller and of poorer quality, making them suitable for general use. PNG files, which offer superior image quality but bigger file sizes, are ideal for photography and other websites with a heavy emphasis on visuals 

In addition, WebP photos provide lossless compression and web-optimized reduced file sizes. Moreover, SVG images offer superior quality and fewer file sizes for simple pictures like logos. 

The majority of websites do not need to display photographs at their full size. Using excessively large images increases load times and consumes excess server space. Before submitting photographs to your website, we advise that you compress and resize them. 

How to Compress and Resize Images Prior to Uploading Them to Your Website 

       2. Use Images of High-Quality. 

In addition to optimizing photos for size and speed, image quality is key. It would help if you considered the significance of your photographs and how they will be exhibited. 

A simple logo on a mobile app, for instance, does not require the same level of resolution as a map or other significant images displayed on a 4K computer monitor. Images with greater depth or aesthetic appeal may require higher-quality files than other images on your website. 

Additionally, high-quality photographs are more likely to garner interest in image search results. Consequently, they can attract additional visitors to your website. 

       3. Insert Alt Text. 

Alt text, often known as alternate text, is a brief summary of the content of an image. It appears when the image cannot be shown on a website. Additionally, it assists visually challenged users with screen readers in comprehending visual content. 

Alt text is metadata that search engines employ to identify the nature of the image and page content. Therefore, you may want to include keywords in alt text to improve your picture SEO, provided that the keywords are relevant to the image's content. 

       4. Rename Image Files. 

Image file names are additional types of metadata that search bots employ to determine an image's subject matter. If the filename is "IMG 128," it does not assist the bot in identifying the graphic's content. 

Image file names should ideally be brief and incorporate important keywords. Additionally, hyphens can assist search engine algorithms in reading individual words. 

Names such as "monthly-data-report" enable search engines to better comprehend your photos and rank your material. 

       5. Add Title Text.  

Title Text is arguable that the use of title text has declined in popularity as mobile visitation to websites has increased. This text appears when the mouse hovers over an image: 

 Since this is not achievable on a touchscreen device, the importance of title text may be diminished when addressing mobile visitors. Consequently, you can use title text to contain keywords and assist search engines in comprehending your material. 

WordPress.com makes it simple to input the title text. If not, you may use custom HTML. Simply insert the following code within the <img> tags: 

title="X"

Simply replace "X" with the title text you want to use. In addition, remember to include pertinent keywords to help bots (and the occasional desktop user) recognize the image. 

       6. Utilize Captions and <figcaption> Tag. 

Captioning photograph is an excellent method to incorporate relevant keywords and useful information into your posts. While you shouldn't overdo this element or omit vital details in your main paragraphs, including tasteful captions can be a good idea. 

Additionally, you can mark up an image with the <figure> element. It serves the same purpose as a caption but is added straight to your HTML. Using the following code, you can then set the placement, style, linked image, and content of the caption: 

<figure style=" float: right"> 

    <img src="/assets/images/example-image.png">  
    <figcaption>Example caption</figcaption>  

</figure>

       7. General Unique Images. 

Similar to content, unique visuals carry more weight than graphics borrowed from another website. It is unlikely that reusing photos from other websites will improve your website's SEO, and it may also be unlawful. 

Creating fresh photos or changing existing ones increases the likelihood of attracting visitors to your website. This can be accomplished through the use of unique photography, infographics, diagrams, and photo editing and filtering. 

       8. Make Sure Your Images' Surrounding Text Compatibility. 

Adding random images to a webpage or blog post is unlikely to result in valuable information for your audience. Images should be pertinent and useful, offering contextual information and aesthetic appeal. 

You can ensure that photos are SEO-relevant by putting them alongside relevant text and keywords. This positioning can also help with picture search, generating more site traffic. 

Strategic positioning of images is also beneficial for page flow. Visitors will not need to scroll back and forth to view reference images and examples. 

       9. Stay away from keyword stuffing. 

Some website owners use 'keyword stuffing' (many repetitions of a keyword) to fool search engines and improve rankings. However, as searches have become more sophisticated, they can detect unnatural and stuffed text. 

When used in the alt text, captions, or surrounding text, keyword stuffing is also detrimental to human readers. Nonsensical or repetitive paragraphs waste visitors' time and give the impression that your site is fake or unprofessional. In general, any minor SEO benefit from keyword stuffing will not compensate for unhappy readers leaving your site. 

       10. Use Proper Names and Text. 

As previously stated, search engine bots have become sophisticated enough to detect keyword stuffing and other 'black hat SEO techniques. Any short-term advantages you may gain from keyword abuse will eventually catch up with you. 

Instead, use relevant and appropriate keywords and metadata to accurately describe any images on your site. Attempting to deceive search engine crawlers will appear suspicious to human readers and may also harm your rankings. 

       11. Develop an Image Sitemap. 

An image sitemap is a document that contains all of your website's graphic elements. It assists search engines such as Google ranking your content more quickly and effectively. 

Google provides an image sitemaps guide to assist you in adding them to your website. An image sitemap can be integrated into a regular sitemap or kept entirely separate. 

If an image is stored on a separate page, it may be overlooked in favor of more popular or accessible content. A sitemap ensures that all of your valuable visual content is included and that search engines can find it. 

Many of the most popular WordPress SEO plugins, such as Yoast and Rank Math, allow you to include images in your sitemaps without using any code. 

       12. Display Images That Are Responsive and Mobile-Friendly. 

Responsive design has become increasingly important as more web traffic comes from mobile phones and tablets. Responsive images are easily adaptable to different devices and frequently allow users to interact with them. 

Unresponsive websites are unlikely to provide a satisfactory experience on a 60-inch large-screen TV and a five-inch phone. When images are too small or take up the majority of the screen, these sites can be even more difficult to navigate. 

By providing multiple versions of an image, visitors' browsers can select the appropriate graphic size for each user and avoid any awkward placements. Fortunately, WordPress.com provides a variety of default image sizes. You should also consider viewing your website in desktop, tablet, and mobile formats to identify any image problems.