Image SEO - Win the Ranking with These Factors

The eye reads too, especially the eye of the Google Imagebot. The right images in the right place add that certain something extra to your page and make you want more. More reading, more clicking, more buying. Therefore, regularly put your photos, graphics and illustrations in the spotlight and check them as part of image SEO measures.

In this article, guest author Margit Kustor-Neubauer explains which elements are significant for image search engine optimization and how image SEO is carried out. With appropriate tool recommendations, you will finally become competent in this topic. Let's go!

Why is image SEO important?

Google evaluates pages equipped with images better than pages without images. Thus, graphic elements and photos are important components of your website, as they influence the overall ranking. The Google image search is also a reliable technology with a magnetic effect.

The enormous importance of search engine optimization for your image material is therefore merely based on the behavior of your users. Image SEO is therefore not intended for a machine, but primarily for your visitors.

Or to put it differently, a product without a product image is surely a reliable shelf warmer.

What factors must be considered for the search engine optimization of images?

Both editorial and technical factors must be considered in the search engine optimization of images. Some of these are done internally, i.e., within your CMS, and some are already done during image editing. Other to-dos, on the other hand, are best done by specialized SEO tools - more on that later.

Source: own graphic

Images with expressiveness

It may sound banal, but it is often forgotten and not infrequently a somewhat authentic stock photo ends up on a page for the xth time. It is better to use images, photos and illustrations that have a strong expressiveness, are unique and especially match the running text exactly.

To a certain extent, Google can already 'see' images. Therefore, a photo of a red tomato does not match a love declaration to blue rubber boots.

Adjusted to page title and headings

In addition to the above point, an image should not only match the running text of a page, but also coincide with the page title, headline, and subheadline. This gives your reader a homogeneous and easily comprehensible framework that drives up your image ranking.

Optimal file format

Definitely use web-compatible file formats to ensure that they can be read by any web browser. For Google itself, it doesn't matter what the file extension of your image is, but because of the effect on file size and image quality, you should still choose an optimal format depending on the nature and purpose of the image.

JPG: It's best to use it for photos with many details and colors. Despite the diversity of colors, JPG files usually have a slim file size and can be loaded quickly.

PNG: In contrast to JPG, PNG can also display transparency and thus integrate an image into a differently colored background. Therefore, they are the perfect format for logos.

GIF: This format was in a way the predecessor of PNG and is still a good choice in the graphic field, especially for smaller animations.

SVG: SVG files are a good choice for vector graphics, diagrams, icons and also logos. SVG images are stored not in pixels, but in paths, allowing scaling without loss of quality.

WEBP: This relatively new format was developed specifically by Google and is intended as a replacement for JPG, PNG and GIF. It supports transparent content and lossy or lossless image compression.

File size

We have already recommended that the loading speed of your website is an important ranking factor for Google. Therefore, you should make sure to use the smallest possible file sizes. At the same time, however, you need high-quality and high-resolution image material, because with thumbnails and highly pixelated photos, SEO relevance will suffer. Using image compression, you can significantly reduce the byte size of an image file while maintaining the quality. The latter is hardly noticeably reduced.

Image size

If the dimensions of an image are too small, your users and also Google can or want to do nothing with it. If they are too large, there is a risk that it will not work so well in the mobile view or that the loading time is simply slow. Therefore, image size is another factor in image optimization.

To simplify matters, here are a few standards:

• Landscape format (4:3 or 16:9) instead of portrait format
• Images next to texts require a minimum length of 300 pixels
• Freestanding images over the entire width should have a minimum of 600 pixels, maximum 2000 pixels

Also, spare your servers and only load images in the CMS in the size they will be played out. This saves you unnecessary data volume and later scaling work.

Speaking key names

1. File names with keywords

The naming of the image file has a special status from an SEO point of view. Therefore, avoid generic and meaningless file names like: 'IMG_14680823.jpg', 'Foto_20221010.jpg' or 'Headerbild-neu.jpg'.

Instead, you should equip the name of the file with relevant keywords, which you also use for the corresponding texts. This provides the search engine with clear instructions for linking an image to topics, a product, and other details. Provided, of course, that the name actually matches the illustration.

So you can definitely name a picture showing a wool pullover 'unisex-pullover-brown-alpaca-fall22.jpg'.

So that the file names can be easily interpreted by Google and the processing by the browser is also error-free, you should use the following character set:

• Lowercase letters and numbers
• No umlauts, no 'ß' and no special characters
• Hyphens for clean separations of keywords or characteristics

2. Alt tag with keywords

Alt tag is short for Alternative Tag and is another attribute that has a say in terms of image SEO. The alt tag guarantees that a picture can at least be described if it cannot be displayed for technical reasons. The alt tag of a picture therefore serves as a textual alternative to the picture.

In the topic of digital accessibility, pictures with an alt tag also have an advantage to interpret by screen readers and virtual assistants, but also without external or technical help. To continue our example, a screen reader would describe an image with alt text as follows: 'fluffy brown unisex pullover made of 100% alpaca wool.'

In the best case, you equip alt tags in the following way:

• Maximum 100 characters
• Relevant keywords
• Not more than a description of the image, but not less
• Feel free to use complete sentences

Source: ahrefs.com

3. Title tag with keywords

The title tag also deserves attention in the process of image optimization. Although the title attribute is less important for SEO, it is still another source of information and keywords. In addition, you improve usability with this step and complete your meta data.

The title itself does not have to deviate much from the file name. We therefore title our sweater example: 'Unisex pullover in brown alpaca wool fall collection 2022.' The title is usually displayed to users via mouse over.

Provide your own image sitemap

In addition to the normal sitemap, you can also create a separate image sitemap to quickly inform Google about your image content. All image URLs with image tags are virtually available for complete indexing. The image sitemap is stored on the web server like conventional sitemaps, but can also be uploaded via the Google Search Console.

How do you carry out image SEO?

To help you get a handle on optimization work faster, we have a step-by-step guide for you here. This works for both regular image optimization measures and for the creation or addition of image material.

Source: own graphic

1. Check each individual image specifically for its substantive strength and if possible, forego mediocre stock images.
   ⁠
2. You are currently working on a picture? Then pay attention to a compatible landscape format that also matches the style of your website and scores points in the mobile view.
   ⁠
3. When saving, give the file a name that matches both the picture and the target page.
   ⁠
4. Also choose a suitable format - JPG for photos, PNG for graphics or even WEBP is good. The important thing is that all common browsers can handle it.
   ⁠
5. How large is the image file? As a guideline, you can stick to the limit of 200 KB. Specialized tools and image compression will help you get rid of unnecessary kilobytes or delay their play-out.
   ⁠
6. When the image is uploaded to the CMS, also make sure that the file name is correctly taken over. If you create your own directory or subfolder, also name these appropriately, as the directory structure is usually included in the image URL.
   ⁠
7. In this step, you now set the attributes alt tag and title tag directly in the CMS. Many content systems prioritize keywords, but be sure to take a look.
   ⁠
8. Now place the image in the appropriate place on the page. The text in the immediate area should be well coordinated with the image, as should the headline and subheadline.
   ⁠
9. Using internal links, if sensible and in the same context to each other, you can prove the value of the image content at several points.
   ⁠
10. All images uploaded and integrated to the liking of your image SEO? Then you can give Google a helping hand with an image sitemap.

Finished. Your image material is now fully optimized. Regular audits also prove to the search engine that no dust collects on your image content.

Which tools are suitable for image SEO?

Here are the promised applications that are true artists when it comes to image optimization. Besides image SEO, they of course also support you in other optimization tasks. At OMR Reviews, you will also find detailed reviews, information about licenses and prices and helpful links.

Audisto Crawling

With Audisto Crawling, you analyze your entire website structure and uncover technical SEO problems, duplicate content and crawling or indexing errors. Users particularly appreciate Audisto Crawling for the ability to crawl huge numbers of subpages without much effort.

Regardless of the size of your website, you can set the following measures for image SEO:

• Add existing sitemaps with image info or create a separate image sitemap
• The crawler also evaluates images, videos, audios and corresponding links
• With the help of the Image Error Checker you can specifically check your image material and display correct use of alt attributes, definitions and size attributes

Audisto Crawling is available in two different packages. You can get the Audisto Crawler for €95 per month. If you also want to use Audisto Monitoring, you pay €1,090 per month. With an annual subscription, you only pay for 11 of 12 months in total.

Source: Audisto.com

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

With Screaming Frog SEO Spider, you have a website crawler at hand that extracts website data and draws attention to regular SEO problems. As part of your SEO image check, you can do the following tasks with it:

• Display of all images and image URLs to adapt them specifically
• Show all images from a file size of 100 KB
• Marks where the alt text is missing
• Generates image XML sitemaps at the touch of a button
• Plans SEO audits at selected intervals
• Shows you in retrospect which positions have already been improved

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is equipped with many features as a free variant. There is even more available through license packages from £185 per year and user.

Ryte

Ryte describes itself as a central hub for SEO, quality assurance, web performance, accessibility and several other things. Image optimization is also not neglected in Ryte:

• Ryte shows you if your content is balanced and if sufficient media are being played out in addition to texts.
• The tool also checks whether the images used have a good resolution and are available in a suitable file size and format.
• Through clear reports, you can see file names, titles and descriptive alt tags and change them specifically.
• With lazy loading, you also reduce the loading time of your website. This means that an image is only loaded when it enters the browser's field of vision.

Ryte can be tested for free and is available afterwards starting from €99 per month for smaller websites. Prices for the Ryte Enterprise Suite must be requested individually. There is also a separate package for agencies that takes an unlimited number of websites under its wing.

Source: Ryte.com

XOVI

XOVI is an all-in-one SEO software made up of individual tools for a lot of functionality and appeals especially to SEO professionals. The search for suitable keywords and the associated monitoring, a comprehensive Onpage analysis with the display of rankings and the uncovering of potentials, can be specifically addressed with XOVI.

In the process of search engine optimization for images, the application supports you in these tasks:

• Thanks to the Content Relevance Search, you can comfortably find out which images are of high importance for your website
• In the context of the Onpage analysis, XOVI checks your images for alt texts, loading time, and file size
• With the Page Speed Tool, too, the loading time of your images is scrutinized

The smallest package from XOVI with single access costs you €99 per month. More Onpage Crawls and more accounts are available in the Business Package for €149 or in the Enterprise Package for €499. You can test XOVI for 14 days for free beforehand.

Source: xovi.de

Source: xovi.de

Conclusion

Images put your content in the right context, which is much more efficiently comprehensible for users. As a sub-area of search engine optimization, image SEO primarily targets the topics of usability, info management, and loading time, which are also increasingly in the spotlight of Google.

Optimized image material therefore leads you to better placements in Google image search and increases the visibility of your website. More users and improved conversions are certainly the end product if you regularly and sufficiently take time for the mentioned influencing factors.

For even more SEO input and tool tips, we would be happy to refer you to the following articles:

• These are the 8 best SEO tools

• Keyword research: How to find the right search terms for your SEO strategy

• SEO content: With this guide, persuasive website content is a sure thing