Image Search Rankings or image SEO what is that all about and why on earth would I want to do that anyway?
Ever heard the saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words”?
Now, enter the commercial world…
Where the latest consumer research tells us that images are 1 of the Top 3 most engaging forms of content online!
Therefore, it does make sense to have those images on your website ranking well on Google – Agreed?
So, how to rank your images?
The image search rankings tips listed below should help you to significantly improve your image search rankings.
So, let’s get started with these 6 essential ingredients…
IMAGE SEARCH RANKINGS – HOW TO RANK IMAGES IN GOOGLE
Let’s breakdown each of these elements individually.
1. QUALITY
Using high quality images will naturally produce:
Higher engagement – The better the quality, users will be more likely to save, share with friends and family and return for more.
Better user experience – Research also shows that site visitors tend to stick around for longer.
Higher quality traffic – With site visitors less likely to bounce off your site, length of stay usually means better conversion ratios.
TIP: Make sure to optimise your images so that they load faster as ‘page speed’ is an important ranking factor.
Here are a couple of free tools that you can use to compress your images so that they load faster.
Compressjpg.com & Compressor.io
2. IMAGE PLACEMENT
Relevancy – Images should be relevant for the pages that they are placed on.
Above the fold – Placing your images where users can see them without scrolling does affect bounce rates and ultimately rankings.
Visibility – Images should be placed near relevant text to improve search indexation and visibility.
Image text – Although Google does have optical character recognition (OCR) from a crawl budget standpoint, it is advisable to avoid embedding text in images.
3. IMAGE DESCRIPTION
Titles – When adding images to your pages make sure that the page titles are relevant and include meta tags.
Image alt text – Include your primary keywords here but avoid repeating them over & over again. Instead use LSI driven or contextual keywords.
Context around images – Images should be placed where there is appropriate context surrounding them.
Add structured data – Adding image mark-up data is an important step that will help with better indexation and higher rankings.
4. CAPTIONS
Descriptive – Captions that are well described are better ranked while also being helpful to those that are visually impaired.
Around images – Place your captions above and/or directly below images for better search context.
Use semantic mark-up – Using the (<figcaption>) element to provide more information about the image.
Example =
5. IMAGE FILE NAMES
Relevancy – Change non-descriptive file names to more relevant descriptive names.
Keywords – Select and use your primary keyword as the file name.
Example = Instead of naming your image [001.jpg] – use something more accurate [NintendoWii.jpg]
Learn more about image search rankings from Google’s very own, John Mueller below:
6. SITEMAPS & HOSTING
Ranking Potency – Boost the ranking potency of your website images by including:
Image sitemap – higher crawlability, higher indexability & higher rankings.
Faster hosting – Install mod_page speed to perform many speed optimizations automatically.
Too many images – Split up large sitemaps with smaller more search engine friendly numbers.
IMAGE SEARCH RANKINGS – RECAP
To rank your images on Google image search follow these guidelines:
- Use quality images
- Place them on relevant pages
- Use appropriate titles, meta tags & mark-up
- Place descriptive captions around images
- Select keyword rich file names
- Create image sitemaps
- Install Google’s mod_pagespeed
And there you have it…
All the essential steps and best practices to get your images ranking well on Google, to enjoy higher engagement, better user experience & higher conversions.
Let us know how you get on in the comments below and don’t forget to like & share this post if you found it useful.
And if you get stuck or need any further help with your SEO, please contact our London SEO Agency for help and advice.
Darryl & his team are proven experts in growth-hacking digital campaigns, helping businesses grow to their fullest potential online while lowering their cost of acquisition.
A sought after speaker at high-end Digital Marketing conferences, Darryl is available for private business consultations, seminars and conferences.
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