Image Optimization: A Comprehensive Guide for Better Search Engine Ranking

Image optimization is also a part of website content optimization. Some people may have noticed that why other people's product images rank first, while mine are at the bottom. There are some tips and tricks.

In the fast-reading life of modern people, images can attract users' attention and provide things that require a lot of text descriptions. As the saying goes, 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' and adding pictures to articles can make them more interesting to read.

When optimizing images, the following points should be noted:

1. Optimization of Alt tags

Although technology has been advancing, search engine spiders still cannot understand what the images are expressing. They can only know that it is an image and then index it. Therefore, we must write content on the Alt tag to let search engines understand what keyword the image represents. Therefore, what should be noted when filling in the Alt tag? Describe the content of the image. If the image is unrelated to the article, it can be named directly in the title without piling up keywords.

2. Image description

In WordPress, generally, Description should be added to the image, which is a further explanation of the image. For example, how to do SEO optimization for pictures on the following website, and the description part of the picture is a further explanation of this picture. It is actually to help search engines better understand what this picture is expressing. However, this is still different from person to person, and some pictures cannot be written clearly.

3. Originality of images

Everyone knows that search engines like original content, whether it is text or images. Many people use images in articles by directly searching for them on the Internet, and this behavior is stealing pictures for search engines. Therefore, images still need to be processed and optimized a little, so that they can be considered to have some original elements.

4. Image source

If you need beautiful personal images, you can consider downloading some picture libraries. Some picture libraries are paid for downloading, and some are free to download, but the uploader has requirements that they cannot be used for commercial purposes. Product pictures are best taken by yourself. The sizes of pictures found on the Internet are different, especially the pictures downloaded from picture libraries are ultra-clear and large. Such pictures may give users some visual enjoyment, but in the long run, they are a kind of persecution for the website.

5. Image compression

If the image size is too large, it will not only affect the time for users to open the webpage for the first time, but the opening speed of the entire website will become slower over time because the image occupies too much space. Therefore, before uploading images, find some tools to compress them. The simplest tool is PS. If you need to use it in batches, X-image is the best. The image size should be compressed to less than 100K.

6. Image format

There are three common image formats: JPG, PNG, and GIF, and there is a certain relationship between the image format and its size, and it also has a certain relationship with the compatibility of different browsers. Pay attention to the following points:

Color distortion and incomplete image display. For such images, do not use them.
Use universal image formats. Currently, the universal image format is GIF or JPEG.
It is recommended not to use image formats such as PNG and BMP because the images in these formats are larger than JPEG, which will affect the loading speed.

Suggestion: JPG format is the best. If not, it is recommended to process it into JPG format with software tools, because the image quality is guaranteed. GIF images can be omitted or used less, which will affect the website loading speed. Many small icons on websites are PNG images, but the size of the image may be larger than JPG, so you have to check more.

7. Coordination of images and text

SEO is a wonderful thing. It is not that if you do ALT and write a description, the ranking of images will definitely rise. Optimization is a progressive thing. Image optimization also considers many levels of things. Sometimes, search engines will see what kind of text is around your article and images. For example, if the discussion around the image is all about Apple phones, then search engines are likely to judge that this image is related to Apple phones. Search engines will rank an image based on multiple tags! Therefore, the image is actually related to the content of an article. SEO is a meticulous job, and many things may not have an immediate effect, but the long-term effect will still be reflected, so everyone should try to optimize everything that can be optimized, which is always beneficial to the website.