Image SEO

The visuals of your website and blog are key elements to communicating who you are in business. Image SEO is the technology you need to know.

As committed professionals, we invest a lot of time and money into establishing a virtual presence for our business. To maximize this initial cost, we have to maintain our website using specific protocols.

I am writing a series of blogs for business owners on the fundamental principles for SEO ranking. I also address how to write blogs that will bring you SEO results.

Image SEO and complete image optimization are complex, so to help you understand the process better, I’m going to simplify the main steps here.

Of the many articles I’ve read on image SEO, this is the one I recommend when you’re ready for a deeper understanding:

Preparing images for use in your article by Michiel Heijmans of Yoast.com.

The reason I like this article so much is that it agrees with my philosophy of addressing all aspects of a website, including the visual and image SEO.

Michiel Heijmans says about Image SEO:

“Image SEO is the sum of a number of elements. With Google being able to recognize elements in the image better every day, it makes sense to make sure the image and all elements contribute to user experience as well as SEO. It would be foolish to try to fool Google.”

Here are the important elements for image SEO:

1. Choose an image that resonates with the content. If you use several different images, make sure you post them near the appropriate content and not randomly.

2. Rename the image with your main key word, or long tail key word. This key word should also be in the title of the article and h1 header.

3. Reduce the file size. Michiel suggests a couple of tools and websites. I really like Jpegmini. Large images will slow down the website. This is why you want to aim for great quality at low resolution.

4. Save the reduced and renamed image and post this one. When the image is saved with the new title, which includes the key word, WordPress automatically names the photo URL properly.

5. The Alt Text describes the image. The Title Text is a way to add the key word one more time for image SEO. More about Alt Text and Title Text in this blog. (TBA)

6. The photo description when you add the photo in WordPress is the place to briefly describe the article. This is one more opportunity to add your key words. (I use the same description for the photo and the Alt text.)

7. The caption is the writing that appears under the photos. Sometimes an article gets too busy, and the h1 header next to the image is self-explanatory. In that case, you don’t want to add captions. Consider making a fun comment about the photo to encourage people to read on.

Practical examples of image SEO

“The Entity Called the Web” 
I had fun writing this article while I disregarded maximizing content optimization. I used a widely searched expression, “web,” so I didn’t expect optimization results. This is the general formula suggested by Michiel Heijmans for tagging images:

<img src=”image.jpg”alt=”image description”title=”image tooltip”/>

Below is how the formula will be automatically formatted:

<imgsrc=”image.jpg”alt =”Fresh content will help your blog with Google”title=”the web”/>

All you will have to do to alt tag and title tag your images is to add the writing you have chosen for each image:

• Alt Tag / description: Fresh content will help your blog with Google

• The Title Text (the main key word): the web

For better ranking with SEO, rememebr that:

• The title and h1 header must contain the key word (in this case “web.”)

• The image was designed to show the content visually. (Doesn’t that troll visually represent my written content?)

• The caption explains why the image is what it is and is supposed to entice the reader. (The web is hungry for fresh content written by poor souls like us content writers.)

Scroll to the images below to see how to add the Alt text and how the caption shows on the blog.

For a better understanding of the elements that will complete your website, go to Training for All Your Website Needs

Thank you, Michiel Heijmans of Yoast.com, for your detailed blogs on optimization. Your work is amazing. Thank you for reviewing this article. Follow Michiel on Twitter

The blog “Optimization Tips: Image SEO” offers a simplified formula for understanding the complex process of optimizing your images. Understanding basic image SEO will bring you closer to a complete optimization of your website.

XOXO Monica

This blog should be read in conjunction with the other blogs I’ve written on basic SEO for content and images with WordPress.

It’s hard to suggest which blog to read first. You almost have to read them at the same time. Before you do anything, make sure you understand how every step in maximizing your content and image works with WordPress. How every step completes the other steps for optimal results.

Here are some of the steps and relevant blogs:

• Content Optimization Fundamental Principles
• Optimization Tips: Image SEO
• Maximize Writing Results with Yoast SEO
• The Art of the Title Maximize Writing Results with Yoast SEO
• Merging It All Together