{"id":370,"date":"2020-07-15T20:25:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T14:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=370"},"modified":"2020-07-15T20:25:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T14:55:08","slug":"the-ultimate-guide-to-advanced-image-alt-text-optimization-to-drive-more-traffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-advanced-image-alt-text-optimization-to-drive-more-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide To Advanced Image & Alt Text Optimization To Drive More Traffic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to Image SEO, the first thing that pops up in our mind\nis optimizing the alt texts, but it goes far beyond that. Image Optimization is\none of the most neglected aspects of SEO, but it does not have to remain like\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is no one talks about it in detail, but we must remember\nthat image search has the potential to drive massive traffic to your website.\nIn this guide, we will discuss the ways to optimize your images to rank higher\non image search results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importance Of\nImages<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Images play a significant role in giving context to your content.\nUsing appropriate images can help the readers understand and engage better with\nyour content and also break large text blocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Google is moving towards visual search, we are increasingly noticing\nimages occupy prime positions in the SERPs, often above the typical organic\nresults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, one thing that you must not forget is to choose the images\ncarefully. All of us have become kind of used to seeing the same stock images\non every other website. To stand out from the competition, use bespoke, unique,\nand original images to make your content valuable and communicate your story\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of image search can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t be ignored. You\nmust make it a part of your SEO strategy, the sooner you do it, the better your\nresults will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Image SEO?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Image SEO or image optimization is all about enhancing your website\u2019s\nimages. It is done for two main purposes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • To increase your ranking on Google image search results,<\/li>
  • To enhance the overall optimization and visibility of a web page.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Image SEO involves different tasks such as naming files correctly,\nadding and optimizing alt texts, reducing image sizes, etc. to help Google\nunderstand your website\u2019s images better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Although one of the most asked questions regarding image SEO is\nwhether these tasks are still needed to be done considering Google\u2019s\nadvancement in using AI and machine learning to recognize images. The answer\nremains, \u201cYES!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even though Google\u2019s image recognition abilities have significantly\nimproved, it still cannot read all image types. Moreover, SEO is not just about\nhelping the search engine understand what the image shows. Poorly optimized\nimages are one of the primary reasons behind slow web pages and making\nimprovements can have a considerable impact on your site\u2019s loading speed and\nPageSpeed score. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Therefore image SEO should not stop at optimizing alt texts; of\ncourse, it is one of the main parts of the process, but it is only \u201cone of the\nmain parts.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What are Alt Tags and Alt Texts?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

    You must have heard about optimizing alt texts, alt tags, alt\ndescriptions, and sometimes, alt attributes from SEO professionals. All these\nwords are used interchangeably to refer to the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Alt tags are nothing but text description or an alternative for an\nimage that indicates what the image shows for search engines or people using\nscreen readers to access a webpage. However, the original purpose of these alt\ntexts was to make the images accessible to the visually impaired audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Alt texts help boost your site\u2019s SEO performance by adding relevant\nsignals and allowing search engines to comprehend the content of an image\nbetter and help it rank higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How\nTo Optimize Alt Text?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

    Writing descriptive alt texts shouldn\u2019t have to be hard necessarily.\nMore likely than not, writing good alt descriptions is all about using your\ncommon sense to explain what the image depicts simply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, we can break down this process into three best-practice rules\nthat you should follow when optimizing the alt text of your images. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Be Descriptive and Specific<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Alt texts should always be able to describe the content of an image in\nbrief. Be as specific as you can while specifying the image. This will help it\nin ranking better in the image search and give context to your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Be Relevant <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Alt tags are a place to describe what an image displays instead of\nspamming exact-match keywords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Alt texts need to be precisely relevant.  Try to write them in a manner that relates to\nits page topic, especially when the image is more generic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. Be Unique<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Most people make the mistake of using the main keyword of the page as\nthe alt text for all the images on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Always write unique alt texts for every image describing its specific\ncontent instead of repeating them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          How\nImages Affect PageSpeed Scores?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

          If you have used Google PageSpeed Insights tool before, you must have\nseen image optimization quoted as one of the primary methods of improving your\nwebsite\u2019s PageSpeed score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Large images are the main culprits here since they take more time to\ndownload, ultimately slowing down your site\u2019s loading speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          7 Advanced Image Optimization Tips<\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

          Image SEO goes way beyond than just adding and optimizing alt texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          There are several ways how you can improve your website\u2019s performance\nand help it rank higher in the search results. Let\u2019s have a look at these 7\nadvanced tips for image optimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. Name the images properly<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            One of the best practices is to use descriptive names for your images.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            You must have noticed while exporting pictures from phones or cameras;\nthey are assigned generic names. Don\u2019t upload the images with their default\nfilename. Give it a name that describes what the image shows. Also, separate\nthe words using dashes instead of underscores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Make it a habit when publishing images. Go ahead and update the\nfilenames of the previously published images. It might take some time, but it\nis worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. Resize images according to the display dimensions<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Another common issue is that the image file is much bigger in pixels\nthan the image display dimensions on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              For example, the iPhone X\u2019s back camera generates an image of 4032px x\n3024px, and the maximum width that this image will display on your website is\n600px. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Now the difference in these file sizes is vast. Using various images\nthat are bigger than their display size will result in increased page file\nsize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Therefore you must resize images to their maximum display dimensions\nbefore uploading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              1. Reduce the image file size<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                One of the best ways of reducing the image file size is by resizing\nthem to their maximum display dimensions. However, that isn\u2019t the only way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                There are plenty of online tools available that will help you to\ncompress your images and reduce their file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                1. Make an image sitemap<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  If you genuinely and seriously want Google to discover all the images\non your website and make them rank better in image search results, you should\nmake an image sitemap that contains the URLs of all your images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  This improves the chances of your image ranking higher in search\nresults. Also, making a sitemap that search engines can use makes more sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  1. Host images on a CDN<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    A CDN (Content Delivery Network) caches the images from your website\nacross various servers in multiple locations across the globe. This means that\nyour images can be served to a visitor from the closest location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    You can easily set up a CDN using one of the tools available online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    1. Implement lazy loading<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      Images are no doubt the asset on a page with the biggest file size,\nand therefore the reason behind slowed down website speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      But we can\u2019t eliminate the images because they offer a truly valuable\nuser experience. However, we can utilize lazy loading to hold off the browser\nfrom loading an image unless it is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      It means the user first lands on the page quickly, and then the assets\nload up. This is not just for images; you can also utilize it for JavaScript. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      For example, if a reader doesn’t scroll down to the second half of the\npage, those assets won’t be loaded. This will bring apparent performance\nimprovement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      1. Leverage browser caching<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                        Google PageSpeed Insights often recommends to leverage browser\ncaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        Browser caching is when a user’s browser stocks files, which means the\nnext time they visit the page, the assets will load up faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        When a user visits a page, the images are first downloaded and then\nshowed. Without browser caching, this whole process will have to be repeated.\nBut with browser caching, the browser will already have these files in store so\nthe page will load much faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        This can be very impactful for websites where people often revisit the\nsame pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        So this was all about the advanced image and alt text optimization to\ndrive more organic traffic to your site. Let us know how these strategies work\nout for your website in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                        When it comes to Image SEO, the first thing that pops up in our mind is optimizing the alt texts, but it goes far beyond that. Image Optimization is one of the most neglected aspects of SEO, but it does not have to remain like that. The problem is no one talks about it in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}