Google Updates Its Image SEO Best Practice Guidelines 

Google has changed its guidelines for images. Updating them can be much better for your website’s SEO. We discuss the changes below.  

A recent update to Google’s best practice for images document has signified a minor change that will help website owners get the best from SEO. This recommends that the same image file name URL should be used for identical images. This should be done even if the image is duplicated in a different place on your website. 

It clarified the position by saying, “If an image is referenced on multiple pages within a larger website, consider the site’s overall crawl budget. In particular, consistently reference the image with the same URL, so that Google can cache and reuse the image without needing to request it multiple times.” This was done to help crawling, so that it can be consistent, particularly on larger websites.  

Usually, if websites are using the same image on multiple pages, perhaps a company logo, it is uploaded multiple times under different guises. This means Google is finding duplicate images under different names. It also takes up unnecessary space.  

The images on your website, when applied correctly, can have a huge impact on search engine optimization. Google has a dedicated image search that has around 136 billion images. Thus, it is another way people can find and access your website.  

Generally, image SEO comes down to how you label the information attached to a picture or graphic. Not only should this be a thorough description of the images, but it should also contain keywords. This ensures that it appears when people search for certain topics, help, or products. A keyword tool is essential when doing this, letting you cross-reference search volume with competition so you can get the best keyword for your needs. Generally, trying to follow these guidelines can help you achieve a better level of SEO.  

These are the main pieces of text you will add to an image for SEO purposes. Getting this right is essential, as it can increase traffic to your site. 

Image title tags are the name given to the picture. You don’t have to include these for Google, but attaching the right keywords will catch the attention of searchers. Use quality keywords and describe the image accurately.  

Alt text is a little more in-depth. It should describe the image for anyone who is visually impaired. Google also uses them, more so than the title. It will access this to understand what the image is and its relevance. Thus, you will need to go into more detail here.  

Finally, ARIA is an Accessible Rich Internet Application. It is a W3C specification that uses HTML, making content on the internet more accessible to those with disabilities. You can use ARIA tags as a substitute for alt text. By doing so, your website will become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and possibly rank higher in searches.  

Read also: Choosing the Right Packaging Materials for Your Products

Original photos will always be much better than stock images. Stock images will be used by hundreds of people online, possibly thousands. While this does not impact SEO directly, it does influence the choices of humans. Would you click on a unique image in a search, or one splayed across several different websites? 

This becomes even more important if you are selling a product. As the consumer can not touch, feel, or smell your product, you only have an image to give them. Yes, getting professional photography done on your inventory is costly. But even imaginative, well-done pictures with your device, if labelled correctly, can do very well.  

Getting the right file format for your website can also make a difference to SEO. Mainly, this involves loading times. Faster appearances of an image mean your bounce rate lowers, and this impacts your SEO positively.  

Each file format has its own strengths and weaknesses, so you will need to make some considerations along with trial and error. For example, JPEGs are extremely popular. They can make small images that are full of color. However, they do use lossy data compression. This means it may reduce quality, and it is not good for text or animations.  

GIFS can be used for animations. They can be good for simple art and placed with a transparent background over other features. However, they do have large file sizes.  

PNG is a great middle ground. However, these files do not load on every website. They can also not be used for animations.  

Spend some time optimising your images. This is a very important facet of SEO that can be overlooked. By doing so consistently, you will see a marked improvement in traffic and hopefully conversions.