Implement SEO Image Optimization and Use Google Image Search as a Traffic Source

1. Why is image optimization in SEO worthwhile?
2. 11 Google Best Practices for Successful SEO Image Optimization
3. Where should images be placed on the website?
4. Which image file format is the right one?
5. Which image file size is the right one?
6. How should image data be structured?
7. What is an image title tag?
8. What is the significance of EXIF data?
9. Useful software tips for SEO image optimization
10. Conclusion

A website without visual highlights will not excite anyone. Images attract attention and have a magical appeal, generating users and revenue. Google has known this for a long time and implemented the Google image search in 2001. Since then, it has been used billions of times a day and therefore wants to be conquered by webmasters and SEOs.

In this article, we show you which areas of SEO image optimization are most important, how Google comments on it and with which software the whole process runs smoothly.

Why is image optimization in SEO worthwhile?

Images improve the user experience and are therefore a decisive factor for Google in the ranking of a page. For SEO managers, image optimization is not an option, but a special focus, with which two significant goals can be pursued:

• Achieve the highest possible ranking in the Google image search
• Improve the general visibility of a website

Source: Google

SEO image optimization is undoubtedly worthwhile. However, it requires targeted measures, which we are now starting:

11 Google Best Practices for Successful SEO Image Optimization

SEO image optimization is not a guesswork and it does not need a philosophical approach either. Google already provides a helpful Documentation with Best Practices and associated references in its Google Search Central. Here you will get the most important learnings summed up:

1. Always focus on your users

If you want to reach your target group with your own website, you should definitely focus on them. Therefore, take the following seven tips to heart:

• Create your websites for your users, not for the search engine.
• Your images should be in direct context with the rest of the content and increase the benefit of a page.
• Place the images as far up on a page as possible and preferably next to the corresponding text.
• Better avoid embedding important text exclusively in images. Not all users can access it and not all tools can "read" text in the image. It is better to additionally integrate the text in the Alt attribute.
• Ensure qualitative content, also apart from images (see Google's tips).
• The Google image search is used especially often with mobile devices, so definitely pay attention to responsive compatibility and quality.
• Also ensure a clean and uniform URL structure.

2. Optimize your title and your meta description

Google uses the title and meta tag to generate the Google snippet for your webpage. By optimizing these data, your chances of better image ranking increase. Google has practical guidelines available for this:

Title Tag: The title tag is the webpage title and is displayed as the heading of the search result in the Google search. To optimize it, you should consider the following:

• Each page of your website requires its own, individual title tag
• Use your focus keyword in the page title
• Avoid unnecessary repetitions of keywords and other text elements
• Design your title tag meaningful and stimulate the users' curiosity
• Maintain a maximum character count of 56 (incl. spaces) – otherwise the headline may not be fully displayed in the Google search

Meta Description: The Meta Description (also called Meta Description) is the page description in the Google search result of your page. Here too there are some tips that you can consider:

• Each page of your website requires its own, individual Meta Description
• Provide a brief and concise insight into what the user expects on your page
• Stimulate the curiosity of the users to encourage clicking
• Keep a maximum character count of 156 (incl. spaces) – otherwise the page description may not be fully displayed in the Google search

Image search desktop:

Source: Google

Image search mobile:

Source: Google

3. Provide additional, useful metadata

In addition to the title tag and the meta description, there are further information with which you can feed your images:

• Filename: The filename should contain a meaningful description of the image and contain relevant keywords if possible.
• Caption: The caption is a text that is displayed under the image. It should contain a meaningful description of the image and contain relevant keywords if possible.
• Meta tags: Meta tags are tags that are embedded in the HTML code of the page and contain information about the image. There are various meta tags that can be used for image optimization:
  • og:image: --> This Meta tag is used in the Open Graph Protocol and contains the path to the image to be displayed on the page.
  • image: --> This Meta tag is used by various search engines and contains the path to the image to be displayed on the page.
  • itemprop="image": --> This Meta tag is used in the Schema.org format and contains the path to the image to be displayed on the page.

Metadata information is particularly important for online shops. Here, shop operators can not only provide the aforementioned metadata but can also supplement it with image information on product descriptions, product prices, brand as well as stock levels.

4. Use structured data

With the help of in-page markups, you provide targeted information about your page. Images are equipped with structured data and delivered as additional information in the Google image search. Currently, Google supports these rich search results for products, videos and recipes.

Examples of structured data are the following:

• Schema.org: Schema.org is a standard for structured data supported by various search engines. With Schema.org markup, information such as the title of the image, the caption, the author information, and the licenses can be specified.
• Open Graph Protocol: The Open Graph Protocol is a standard for structured data used by social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. With the Open Graph Protocol, information such as the title of the image, the caption, and the path to the image can be specified.
• Exif data: Exif data are metadata stored in image files and contain information about the image, such as the camera with which the image was taken, and the date on which the image was taken.

Source: Google Search Central

5. Watch the loading speed of your pages

The larger an image and the better its quality, the more it can affect the speed of a page. We will show you how to solve this problem later on. Google also wants to help you and does not hide the most important tips: Optimize your images.

You can determine the current speed status of your website with Google's free tool PageSpeed Insights.

Source: Google/ PageSpeed Insights

6. Use high quality photos

Even though it is a bit time-consuming to provide high-quality photos, they appeal to your users much better than blurry image material. Also in the Google thumbnails, high quality photos are more attractive and increase the chance of being clicked.

7. Create complete image information

Here, the file name and alt text play a crucial role: We have already provided you with practical tips in the article about Image SEO. Nevertheless, we will briefly go into it here:

Filename:

In practice, the temptation is often very big to simply add images quickly and thoughtlessly - and without changing the original image file name. However, the file name plays a notable role in the indexing of the images by Google.

An automatically generated file name, like in the following example, should therefore better be overwritten with a more distinct naming. The image, by the way, comes from Pixabay and is downloaded with the following file name: bicycle-gfb387981a_1920.jpg

Source: Pixabay

For placement within your content, it is advisable to rename the image - for example into vintage-racing-bike-black.jpg.

If a user searches in the Google image search for a vintage bike, you have a better chance to be displayed than with a file name that reveals nothing or very little about the image content.

A short note on our bicycle image example:

For these purposes, we simply used a stock photo from Pixabay. For your products and services this is of course a no-go, especially legally. In guide and blog content, they can be used in moderation, but they provide a very impersonal touch that your users will sense. What is sufficient here as an example, it is better only to use in moderation.

How to set your own image material optimally, you can also find out in our article on the topic Editing photos.

In addition, Google recommends translating file names when a website is multilingual.

Alt-Text:

Besides the filename, the alt text of an image also determines how well it can be interpreted. The alternative text serves, as the name suggests, as an alternative to the image - especially when the image cannot be loaded or screen readers are used. The Google algorithm also uses the alt information for machine vision.

The alternative tag is another HTML-coded place where you can place meaningful keywords and describe an image more closely.

Example of an Alt attribute:

As high quality as your image material is, so should be the alt text. Therefore, endow it with suitable keywords which not only match the image, but also the remaining content of the page.

Source: Google Search Central

By the way: Not every image needs an alt attribute. Some graphics just serve to separate your content, frame it or support the reading flow. Therefore, decorative images like background images, buttons and lines do not need an alt text.

8. Use images as HTML content

Google reads your image information in the form of semantic markups, i.e. annotations of HTML content and machine-readable meta information. What does not work are CSS images.

Source: Google Search Console

9. Create your own image sitemap

By creating an image sitemap, you can inform Google specifically about your image content and make crawling easier for the search engine. Then, external domains may also be used, as is usually done by Content Delivery Networks.

If you want to know how to create an image sitemap, take a look at the corresponding guide from Google.

Source: Google Search Console

10. Use optimal image formats

Google supports images in the formats BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP and SVG. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of the individual formats in more detail below.

11. Provide responsive image data

Websites that allow flawless access both on desktop and on smartphone, score full points in terms of user friendliness. This of course also applies to your image material, which ideally adapts automatically to the device and its screen dimensions.

In the following image you can see a suggestion from Google, which allows different versions of the same image to be played out for different screen sizes using the srcset attribute:

Source: Google Search Console

Further assistance to make images responsive, can be found on W3docs.com.

Now that you know what Google expects of your images and graphics, let's take a closer look at some points. This way, you not only optimize your images, but also your feel for the entire topic.

Where should images be placed on the website?

To increase the visibility of your images, the most important keywords should be found in the surrounding text. This gives Google a clear message that you have carefully considered the placement of the image.

In the following example, you see a hero image between headline and body text. It does not take much interpretation to recognize the harmony between text and image:

Source: 30tausend.de

Regarding keywords, as always: Do not overdo it. The text must be coherent and keywords must not become pitfalls. Rather, we recommend you use matching synonyms and long-tail keywords to signal Google the thoroughness of your content.

Also the order of the images is crucial for both your users and the Google robots: An image that is close to the headline should therefore also have a strong reference to it. The same applies to subheadlines.

Which image file format is the right one?

There is no uniform format for the representation of visual content such as photos and graphics. The main criterion for selecting a format is to choose the one that presents an image in the best quality and smallest file size.

JPG file format:

Advantages of JPG:

• Web suitable file format that can be read by every known browser
• Especially suitable for displaying photos, as it supports the full color spectrum
• Mostly serves as starting format
• Universally and usable for almost all applications

Disadvantages of JPG:

• Cannot display transparency
• As a pixel-based format, image enlargements quickly lead to loss of quality
• Also, when compressed, graphic details are lost

PNG file format:

Advantages of PNG:

• Very high web suitability
• Represents transparent areas
• Allows lossless compression
• Versatile and especially suitable for logos and image-text combinations
• Serves as an alternative to JPG and GIF

Disadvantages of PNG:

• Not applicable for animations
• Usually requires more memory than JPG files
• Embedded Meta information does not comply with common standards (EXIF, IPTC)
• Loss of quality when scaling

SVG file format:

Advantages of SVG:

• Represents graphics in the form of vectors
• Allows lossless scaling at relatively small file size
• Supports animations using JavaScript
• Can represent transparency

Disadvantages of SVG:

• Causes display problems with older devices or browsers
• More difficult to edit
• Requires special plugins to embed them on the website

GIF file format:

Advantages of GIF:

• Can be read by all known browsers
• Allows transparent backgrounds
• Especially suitable for graphical elements, diagrams and animations
• Delivers small file sizes due to color reduction

Disadvantages of GIF:

• Max. 256 colors possible, therefore not suitable for photos and images with fine color nuances

WEBP file format:

Advantages of WEBP:

• Combines the advantages of JPG, PNG, and GIF
• Delivers graphics in small file size
• Allows representation of transparency and animations
• Supports lossy and lossless compression

Disadvantages of WEBP:

• To convert files into WEBP, an additional plugin is required
• Not supported by old browsers and therefore a fallback image is needed
• Subsequent image editing requires conversion back into JPG, GIF, or PNG

Source: Louise Myers Visual Social Media

You can also find further reference points regarding image size and resolution in our basic article about Image SEO.

Which image file size is the right one?

The smaller a file, the better its performance and the higher the chances of a top ranking in the Google image search.

Large files require more resources. If these are not available, the image cannot be loaded and the user leaves to take a faster path.

Bad Bounce-Rate and bad image ranking you will also experience when a website contains too small or barely recognizable images. Unclear and pixelated graphics are anything but state-of-the-art and a disadvantage that cannot be compensated by a small file size.

For the golden mean, we recommend you to keep the majority of the image material under 70 KB, then a few outliers up to 150 KB are not a problem. Most of the time it is images in JPG format that can best master the balancing act between quality and file size.

If you already have an eye on the file sizes, then consider this aspect again separately for the mobile display, because mobile page speed is an extra ranking factor.

How should image data be structured?

Image data is structured within the HTML source code and is identified and categorized by the following tags:

• Title-tag
• Alt attribute

While the Alt attribute has SEO relevance, the Title tag is mainly a topic for usability tuning.

Your image data is already well structured if you logically store it on the server so that you can find it at any time. Most Content Management Systems (CMS) already solve this automatically. However, with large amounts of image material it is sometimes necessary to create suitable subfolders in order to keep an overview.

By means of a clean folder structure, you usually also equip each published image with a logical URL, which in turn makes the work easier for the Google bot.

Source: wp-kurs.com

With the help of the .htacess file, you should also protect your files from external access. This concerns the folders surrounding the images, but not the images themselves. In the .htaccess file it is defined which programs and users are allowed to access. The Hypertext Access file has other advantages that you should know.

We have summarized these advantages for you in the following articles: .htaccess-SEO and Create .htaccess file.

What is an image title tag?

The title tag (also called title attribute) of an image shows image information that is referred to as "title" within the HTML code. Via mouseover, the title tag can often be displayed directly in the browser.

Through this HTML element, you share meaningful information about the image which is also in relation to the rest of the content. In the image title, you therefore place the most important keyword and maybe a second one.

Example for a title tag:

What is the significance of EXIF data?

EXIF data describes specific information of a photo, which are automatically created by production with a digital camera or smartphone and are directly integrated into the image file. Originally, EXIF data was developed for cataloging and documenting image material and contains the following information:

• Date
• Time
• GPS data
• Copyright
• Camera model
• Settings
• Contact information
• u.v.m.

Regarding SEO image optimization, you only need to know that Google has the ability to analyze this data and reserves the right to use EXIF data to evaluate your images.

If an image has no EXIF data, that is not too bad, as other factors, such as the Alt attribute, have a much stronger influence. Additionally, you can display and supplement EXIF data with software like Photoshop or Gimp.

EXIF data are most suitable for your business to register your copyright, domain, contact options or labels. Due to the localization by address and GPS data, the data can also be a small aid for Local SEO.

Useful software tips for SEO image optimization

Image optimization within the scope of SEO is best achieved with a complete SEO suite. All-in-one systems keep a tight rein on your website and its surroundings and have become indispensable in optimizing, managing and analyzing. In terms of SEO image optimization, they support you in these tasks among others:

• Analyze the entire page and evaluate missing data (e.g.: alt tags)
• Monitor your SERP rank tracking
• Support in content creation and content optimization
• Demonstrate keyword strategies for your content production and your Image SEO
• Review and monitoring of load speed

On OMR Reviews you can test many different SEO tools. There you will find not only price information but also practical demo links.

Based on high quality user ratings you can also find the 8 best SEO Tools on OMR Reviews.

These tools will definitely help you succeed in SEO image optimization:

Seobility

Sistrix

Ahrefs

Semrush

SE Ranking

Ryte

You can also cover individual areas with free systems. These include the Google Search Console as a fundamental SEO basis, the crawler from Screaming Frog SEO Spider or AnswerThePublic to stake out a complete subject from the users' perspective and to hunt for keywords.

We also know about the best free SEO tools: You can read them in our article The 7 best free SEO tools.

Conclusion

The Google image search is a powerful and highly frequented tool and almost as important as the regular Google search. Google not only uses your images to hold them ready for the image search, but also to better understand the contents of the associated website. Therefore, well-optimized images increase the relevance of a website and are an important source for your traffic.

To sum up again the most important tips for SEO image optimization:

• Use speaking file names
• Equip alt attributes with keywords
• Create an image sitemap
• Use meaningful images of the best possible quality
• Work with the right file format and save file size
• Optimize surrounding text and pay attention to keyword symbiosis
• Use SEO tools to optimize extensively and sustainably