![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/image-on-mobile-phone-800px.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you can optimize it, you should. And images are no exception.<\/p>\n
The images on your website represent another way to drive organic search traffic. Image SEO can be just as important as optimizing your webpage text.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because visual search is booming. Just look at the growth of image-centered platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. Especially on mobile devices, people want to look for information visually.<\/p>\n
Search engines recognize this visual search trend. Latest statistics show that about 28%<\/a> of regular Google search results contain images, up from 19%<\/a> only two years ago. People run transactional and informational types of searches more and more frequently in Google Images search.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no wonder the search engine continues to invest in new features to improve the Google Images user experience.<\/p>\n TL;DR<\/strong>: Google Images represents another path outside of regular web search for your audience to find your site and discover your content. Developments in Google\u2019s image-ranking algorithms put more emphasis on quality and relevance. We provide a list of ways to optimize images for a website and drive traffic from image SEO.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n First, we\u2019ll explain the latest news about ranking in Google Images:<\/p>\n Then we\u2019ll dive into how to SEO images in 17 steps:<\/p>\n As I said, image search keeps evolving. So I\u2019ll start with an overview of the latest developments and opportunities in Google Images search.<\/p>\n Once you have images indexed in Google, they might show up in three different search environments:<\/p>\n By the way, if you have images you do not<\/em> want to appear in Google search, you can block them<\/a> in your robots.txt.<\/p>\n Google wants \u201cto rank results that have both great images and great content on the page\u201d (per this post<\/a>).<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all had the experience of finding an image and clicking through to a not-so-great webpage. To prevent this, the Google Images algorithm now considers not only the image but also the website where it\u2019s embedded.<\/p>\n Images attached to great content can now do better in Google Images. Specifically, the image-ranking algorithm weighs these factors (in addition to the image itself):<\/p>\n Google Images results pages also have some new features:<\/p>\n One futuristic feature that Google has already rolled out is its AI-powered Google Lens<\/a> technology. It lets users identify objects of interest within images<\/em> as they look through image search results. For now, the Lens feature works only from image search in mobile browsers, not in the Google app.<\/p>\n Using AI technology, Lens analyzes a picture and detects what\u2019s in it. If you click an identified object, Lens brings up other relevant image results. Many of these link to product pages so you can continue your search or buy the item you\u2019re interested in. On a mobile device screen, you can also outline any part of an image, even if it\u2019s not preselected by Lens, to trigger related results and dive deeper into what\u2019s in an image.<\/p>\n To show this in action, I searched for [diy fire pit], chose one of the results, and pressed the Lens icon (see the first image below). Lens automatically detected furniture items in the picture and offered related results (second screenshot). But I wanted the firepit, so I manually selected it to reveal a new set of image results (third shot):<\/p>\n All of this new AI technology encourages more image-based searches. It also increases the population of search results.<\/strong><\/p>\n If Google can understand what’s inside, even non-optimized<\/em> images, they might rank. So your images potentially have much<\/em> more competition.<\/p>\n And … image SEO becomes even more important. It\u2019s time to optimize your images so that they can stand out.<\/p>\n How do you ensure you can get your share of visibility in Google Images?<\/p>\n First of all, Googlebot needs to be able to crawl, index, and understand what your images are about. Only then can they rank.<\/p>\n The latest updates to Google Images tell us that relevance and quality are more important than ever. That means providing the search engine with as much context as possible.<\/p>\n Here are 17 important steps to SEO images \u2026<\/p>\n You might be surprised to know how many visitors you already get through Google Images search.<\/p>\n You can track organic search traffic from Google Images using the Search Console Performance report<\/a>.<\/p>\n How to track your Google Images search traffic:<\/strong><\/p>\n Alternatively, in Google Analytics you can use the Referral report. Google Images search traffic is broken out from other search traffic<\/a>. The line with the Source\/Medium \u201cGoogle organic \/ images\u201d is where you\u2019ll find that data.<\/p>\n Take a baseline and watch your search traffic grow as you apply SEO to your images.<\/p>\n Search engines want to reward high-quality pages. This applies to the information on the webpage that your image is hosted on, and to the image itself.<\/p>\n In its image best practices<\/a> help file, Google discourages \u201cpages where neither the images or the text are original content.\u201d<\/p>\n So whenever possible, take your own photos and make your own graphics.<\/strong><\/p>\n What if you have to use stock photos? There are a lot of ways to modify stock images to make them unique. You can add filters, crop them, overlay text, combine images, and much more.<\/p>\n Also remember that when you do use images from elsewhere, you must honor copyrights, license fees and\/or trademark laws.<\/p>\n Google now includes metadata support<\/a> for crediting images to the proper author and rights holder.<\/p>\n The image can even display a \u201cLicensable\u201d badge on the thumbnail in Google Images: Choose or create images that are helpful to the overall theme of the page. That might be an infographic, a diagram, an appropriate photograph, or something else.<\/p>\n Remember that search engines would rather rank a picture if it\u2019s on a webpage that will satisfy the searcher\u2019s intent with more relevant content.<\/p>\n Basic to image SEO, you need to use a file format that search engines can index. Beyond that, the file format you choose affects the quality and download speed. Both are important when optimizing images.<\/p>\n The three most common image formats used on the web are:<\/p>\n Other image file types that are becoming popular include:<\/p>\n SVG isn\u2019t right for photos or complex images, but it works well for simple graphics with geometric shapes, such as a logo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Now, next-generation image formats exist. These formats have better compression, are higher quality, load faster, and take less cellular data:<\/p>\n WebP<\/a> has been gaining attention lately. It\u2019s possible to convert existing JPEG and PNG files to WebP. There are even WordPress plugins that can do this on the fly, making all your images lighter weight.<\/p>\n From the Google Developers FAQ page on WebP<\/a>:<\/p>\n WebP is a method of lossy and lossless compression that can be used on a large variety of photographic, translucent and graphical images found on the web. The degree of lossy compression is adjustable so a user can choose the trade-off between file size and image quality. WebP typically achieves an average of 30% more compression than JPEG and JPEG 2000, without loss of image quality \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There\u2019s no single best way to optimize images. For each one, you need to find the optimal balance between minimum file size and maximum quality. Here are must-dos:<\/p>\n I suggest you bookmark Google\u2019s image optimization guide<\/a> for more technical how-tos.<\/p>\n Accessibility for all users is important. That\u2019s why adding alt attributes to images is part of our always up-to-date SEO checklist<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alt text<\/a> describes what the image is about to the visually impaired who use screen readers. It also can give search engines valuable information about the image\u2019s contents.<\/p>\n Only when appropriate, use a relevant keyword you\u2019re targeting to describe the image.<\/p>\n Remember that with linked images, search engines treat the alt attribute text as the link anchor text. For example, if you have a question mark icon linking users to your help system, include alt=”Help” in your image tag.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an optional title attribute that you can give to each image. Some tests have shown that Google does index image titles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Add a little extra context by describing the image in a caption. You can also give the image source here, if appropriate.<\/p>\n How should you name your images?<\/strong><\/em> This is an often overlooked step when optimizing images. But the file name does help search engines understand what\u2019s in an image, so it matters for image SEO.<\/p>\n When you save your image file, accurately describe the photo in a few words or less. For example, ugly-christmas-sweater is a better file name than IMG01534.<\/p>\n In a webinar<\/a> with Google\u2019s Gary Illyes at Search Engine Journal, he pointed out that it\u2019s just not feasible for large sites to have accurate file names for all their images (Pinterest, for example). Illyes said this was more of a nice to have than a requirement for ranking.<\/p>\n But more recently, John Mueller said<\/a> the URL and file name do<\/em> matter:<\/p>\n Use a good URL structure for your image files. Google uses the URL path as well as the file name to help it understand your images.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Also, if you move or rename an image file, set up a 301 redirect<\/a> from the old URL to the new one.<\/p>\nHow to SEO Images: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n
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What\u2019s New with Google Images<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Where Images Can Now Appear in Google<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Updates to the Ranking Algorithm<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Improved Features and Visibility<\/h3>\n
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![\"Related](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/related-searches-top-suggestions.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Suggested](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/related-searches-suggestions.png\")
<\/a>AI-Powered Results in Google Images<\/h3>\n
![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Google-Lens-demo.jpg\")
How to Optimize Images for SEO<\/h2>\n
<\/a>1. Track Your Image-based Traffic<\/h3>\n
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![\"Filter](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/gsc-image-filter.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/a>2. Create High-Quality, Original Content<\/h3>\n
\n![\"Lion](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/licensable-label-on-image-results.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/a>3. Use Relevant Images<\/h3>\n
<\/a>4. Have a Proper File Format<\/h3>\n
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![\"Raster](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/raster-vs-vector-graphics.png\")
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<\/a>5. Optimize Your Image File Size<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>6. Always Create Alt Attributes<\/h3>\n
<\/a>7. Make Use of the Image Title<\/h3>\n
<\/a>8. Create an Image Caption<\/h3>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/image-caption-wordpress.png\")
<\/a>9. Use a Descriptive File Name<\/h3>\n