Optimizing Images for SEO

Savvy bloggers know to take every opportunity to increase their appeal to search engines. Optimizing images can help with this.

Why should you care?

Because every time your website or article comes up in the search engine results, you have the opportunity to drive additional traffic to your website… and that means more readers and, if you are selling something, more customers!

Here are some easy ways to use the images you place on your website for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes:

Optimize the File Name

Your camera may automatically generate an image file name like “234455.jpg.” The search engines have no idea what to do with that! Instead, before uploading to your website, rename the file to something distinguishable like “easy-pumpkin-pie.jpg.” Make the title descriptive with a few of your keywords, but don’t go overboard with a fifteen-word title.

Use the Alt Attribute

Search engines use the alt attribute field to help determine the content of the image; if the alt field is empty, the engines don’t always know how to interpret the image.

If you’re using WordPress, it’s simple to change the alt information. Upload your image using the “Add Image” function, and then in the “Alternative Text” field, add your alt text info, again using your descriptive keywords.

Use the Title Attribute

The title is what shows up when your cursor hovers over the image. Fill in the information for the title just as you would the alt attribute, using the same method from the “Add Image” function on WordPress.

Use Your Keywords in Your Article

It seems obvious that you’d want to use your keywords in your text, but some bloggers forget, thinking it’s enough to mention them in the title and/or the attributes above. Not so!

If your article is about how to make home décor items from dryer lint, then you should mention that phrase a few times in the text of your article and illustrate the article with a photo of revamped dryer lint.

The file name of the photo, as well as the alt and title attributes, should all support that keyword phrase.

SEO is mostly common sense. Think about what people would type into Google or their favorite search engine to lead them to your article. Then use that phrase wherever you can – without overdoing it.