Images are a huge part of an SEO strategy. Any piece of long-form content, nowadays, has little potential to attract attention unless it has images strewn in it. Owing to this, the need for your images to be optimized in accordance with Google's SERP algorithm is paramount.
Before we get into how to set about with your image SEO strategy, you must know how Google's SERP algorithm works. It weighs up every single characteristic of a website and each webpage of the website, right from the navigability to the relevance of content, and gives it a SERP score, which determines how high up on the SERP it appears when a search comes in. The best SEO analysis tools are well versed with this and will provide you with the right strategy to conduct your SEO. In this blog let us talk about Image SEO in particular.
RIGHT SIZE
If an image is not deemed the right size for the web page, Google is not pleased. The SERP algorithm strikes marks
off for it. Make sure to use an image compressor to keep the resolution whilst reducing the size of an image to one
deemed appropriate for the website. You can get details into image size specificity simply by conducting a free SEO
analysis.
RIGHT FORMAT
Don't try and shoehorn a picture where it does not belong. Make sure you use the right image format for the right
size and resolution of the picture. Make the image look as natural as possible. The algorithm prefers files that are
jpeg or png.
IMAGES SHOULD BE YOUR OWN CAPTURE
Google rewards originality! If the image is unique, and you hold copyrights over it, Google considers it valuable
and will give you the benefits of higher scores. Make sure you use pictures clicked or created digitally by you. It
is a valuable investment for organic SEO.
PAGE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION IS A MUST
Would you be interested in a book with no title or description? Precisely. A web page must have a title and description so that Google's spiders know at a glance what the web page consists of. This also helps it determine relevance and hence ensures a higher score for your website altogether.
ALT TAGS DESCRIPTIVE
The alt tag is an HTML tag that provides a description of the image it is linked with. This is the most important
element in image SEO. The more detailed and accurate an alt tag is, the more exponentially your chances of landing
up higher on Google's SERPs shoot up. Make sure you name your images with careful consideration of the object,
location, type, and relevance to the text.
GIVE CREDITS FOR IMAGES
No one likes a thief! It is preferable to use original photography, but if you're going to use someone else's, make
sure you give credits where due. This also helps in earning backlinks to your website, another important facet of
organic SEO. The more backlinks your website has, the more credible it is.
KEEP COPYRIGHT IN MIND
Last but not least, if someone flags your website for copyright issues, that is a huge blotch on your record. Make
sure to steer clear of it, and as far as possible, use your own intellectual property.
Follow these tips for Image SEO, and your website will be primed for a high SERP ranking!