SEO-optimise images - improve Google rankings [Instructions]

Achieving a good ranking on Google and other search engines is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, the SEO strategy of a website or online shop must take all components into account in order to maintain a consistently high flow of website visitors.

One of these components are the images that you have lovingly and strategically placed on your web pages. Among other benefits that images bring, they can generate traffic from Google Image Search.

The prerequisite for this is image SEO.

Image SEO sounds rather abstract and complicated at first. But it's not as complicated as you might think.

This article will provide you with important tips and show you how to optimise images and graphics to improve your site's ranking .

Let's first look at why you should use images or graphics on your website.

Do you have to include images and graphics on your website?

Yes, from an SEO and user experience perspective, it's a must. For the following reasons:

• Images break up the structure of your content.
• They complement and support the written word.
• (Info)graphics explain in a vivid way what is often difficult to explain in words.
• The time your website visitors and users spend on your website will increase significantly.
• The file name and the ALT tag provide Google and every other search engine with information about the content and relevance and serve as an opportunity to place keywords.

And here we are in the middle of search engine optimisation.

Google SEO - a few words about search engine optimisation

I think you know about search engine optimisation. You also know that you need to write SEO texts - that's the basis. That's why I'll keep it short and sweet. Just in case you don't know.

Search engine optimisation is there to help your website rank as high as possible in the search engines (mainly Google). Good rankings (page 1) bring a lot of traffic to your website. The higher up in the rankings it ends up, the more visitors and users it will attract.

Full stop. That's all there is to say at this point.

There is a little more to say about optimising your images and graphics. And I want to do that in detail now.

The benefits of images for your SEO

Basically, all the reasons mentioned above have to do with search engine optimisation. Some only secondarily, some primarily.

A loose structure of your content makes your text easier to read. It keeps the user reading. The time spent on the website increases and the bounce rate decreases. Important factors in search engine optimisation.

The use of images that support and complement your text - like infographics - leads to greater understanding. Your content (text and image content) is seen as useful and valuable. Readers share your articles on social media. Sharing any content on social media increases traffic to your website and sends out SEO-relevant social signals.

But let's move on to the actual optimisation of your images.

Why you should optimise your graphics and images for Google

But now let's move on to the actual SEO optimisation of your images.

You now know that you should use images and why. But it's not enough to simply insert them randomly and unedited into your text.

I'll show you later what you should definitely do. Let's get to the why first.

Traffic via Google image search

Well and correctly optimised images and graphics rank high in Google Image Search and ideally provide backlinks and traffic for your site. Traffic sounds so abstract.

These are visitors, users, interested parties and potential customers who have found your site thanks to a good image ranking. And the more visitors or users you have, the more likely you are to achieve your goals, such as a higher conversion rate.

So it's worth investing some time and optimising your images for image search. Is that right? Then let's get started right away.

Just a quick word first: If you're wondering how to get backlinks through image search. It's quite simple. If your media content (this includes text and image content) is found in the image search by other website operators, they may want to integrate it into their website. If they do this as it should be (in compliance with copyright), they will place a link to the source of the image (your website).

How do you achieve a good ranking of your website's images in the image search?

Through the high quality of each individual image and through the factors (keywords in the ALT attribute/ALT tag, keywords in the image description, keywords in the name of the file, etc.), which I will describe for you below.

I'll show you what image optimisation options are available. Including keywords in your images is only a small part of it. Even though keywords in the ALT attribute and the image description are certainly among the most important optimisations.

Here's what Patrick Kowalski from the SEO University has to say about it. Then we'll dive into image SEO together, point by point.

Video: 1x1 of image optimisation for Google

I think you've now got a brief overview. Now let's get more specific: I'll give you a few concrete tips to improve your chances of ranking.

Reducing the loading time - increasing the loading speed

Optimised images reduce the loading time of your website. And loading time is an important criterion. Google and other search engines don't like slow-loading pages at all and rank them lower in the search results.

And since we want to achieve exactly the opposite with image optimisation for search engines, namely high visibility, we have to take care of every little point that could prevent or promote a good ranking in the search engines.

What you should SEO-optimise for images

Here is a short list of elements that you can optimise for search engines:

• File format: Use the web-compatible file formats JPG, PNG, GIF. These can be read by all common web browsers.
• Image size: Upload your images to the server in the size in which you integrate them into your website. It makes no sense to store full-size images on the server, which then have to be scaled down when the page is loaded. On the contrary, it is detrimental, as large image files increase loading times.
• File size: Increase loading speed. This is what reducing the size of an image file is all about. I will explain later how you can reduce the already less memory-intensive file formats JPG, PNG and GIF even further.
• File name: Give your image a meaningful file name. Add your focus keyword to the file name.
• Title attribute: Google loves meaningful file names, but that's not enough. Add a title attribute to your image. Here you also have the option of using your keyword or an LSI keyword (Latent Semantic Indexing Keyword).
• ALT-TAG: In addition to the file name, this is another important unit of measurement. Google cannot interpret your image, but can read the stored ALT text or ALT attribute. And again, you can include SEO-relevant text. The same applies to the image description.
• Last but not least, pay attention to the text in the immediate vicinity of the image. This should relate to the image. And vice versa.

Difference between file size and image size

I don't know about you, but I initially had difficulties distinguishing between file size and image size. Now that I've been working with SEO and image editing for a number of years, it's clear to me.

Let me explain briefly. Maybe you still have your problems with it.

The file size of image files is given in kilobytes or megabytes. It is the amount of memory the image requires.

The imagesize indicates the dimensions of your image in pixels. In other words, the size displayed on the screen.

And then there is another factor that plays a role here and has a major influence on the optimisation of your images. The imageresolution. This is specified in pixels per inch. This is a quality criterion. The higher the resolution of an image, the more detailed the content is displayed.

Why is this important?

• An image with a large file size eats up storage space on your server and causes long loading times.
• An image with a large file size must be scaled down to the display size when loading. This also causes long loading times.

You can and should influence both of these factors to improve loading times. High-resolution images can be a special case.

Special case: High-resolution images

We generally use low-resolution images on the web. JPGs, for example, are usually published with a resolution of 72 pixels/inch.

However, there are cases in which images need to be displayed in high resolution (300 pixels/inch) and in full size. For example, the images in a photo gallery of a professional photographer. They cannot simply be downscaled and compressed. That would be detrimental to business.

But there is also a solution for this, which I will show you below.

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How and with which tools you can optimise your images for search engines

Now it gets interesting. I'll show you how to optimise your images and which tools are available for each of the points I mentioned earlier.

Choose the right file format for your website content

JPG (JPEG) is still the most commonly used file format for displaying images on the web. The advantage of this format is obvious. The compression. Images in JPG format have a smaller file size than other formats.

Of course, there is also a disadvantage. Image information is lost through compression. However, we can neglect this disadvantage in SEO, as the images we use in our content are only intended to support the written text. In addition, the difference to non-compressed images is not or hardly recognisable to the human eye.

Images in PNG format are also popular. Usually when transparent backgrounds are required. For example, if you want your image to blend in with the background of your website.

The GIF format is preferably used for animated images. Where previously elaborately designed Flash elements (which Google doesn't like at all) were used, gifs are used today.

How do I convert images from another format to one of the formats mentioned?

You can basically do this with any simple image editing programme. You don't necessarily need an expensive tool like Photoshop or similar programmes. The free Gimp, for example, is a very good alternative to Photoshop. Open the file you want to convert and save it in your desired file format. That's it. That's all you need to do.

An image is saved as a JPG.

If you don't want to download image editing software to your computer, you can also convert your images online. This is possible with Online Image Converter, for example. However, you will probably find countless other options on Google.

If you use these 3 formats for your graphics and images on your website, you have already done everything right from an SEO perspective.

How do I scale the image size of my images?

This isn't rocket science either. If you know what size you want to include your image in your content, open it in a programme of your choice and change the size of your image.

I edit my images in Photoshop. There it looks like this, for example:

To change the image size, select Image > Image size

A window will open. Enter the desired size of your image here and confirm with OK.

As in Photoshop, it basically works the same way in any other application.

Reducing the file size - how do I do this?

You know by now that reducing loading times is one reason why you should make your images SEO-ready. You've already taken the first step by choosing the right file format.

Now there is also the option of compressing your images for use on your website.

1. If you have built your website on the WordPress CMS, you can use the corresponding extensions/plugins. For example, I use the plugin WP Smush.
2. Kraken.io. You can upload your PNG and JPG to this site and have them compressed free of charge.

The easiest way to subsequently optimise your images in terms of compression and image size.

1. You upload your page to PageSpeed Insights and test the speed at which your website loads.
2. The tool shows you the problems that are slowing down the loading speed and gives you recommendations on how to fix them.
3. Find the recommendations relating to images.
4. Optimise the images in question.
5. Load them back onto your site.

But let me explain this in more detail.

Test page speed and make images SEO-ready

As already mentioned, go to the PageSpeed Insights page and test your loading speed. You can trust the site, it's a Google developer site.

The online tool tests the speed of websites and provides a result as well as suggestions for optimisation.

Image SEO with Google Developer Tool

I'll show you the process using an example page.

Step 1: Enter your URL in the form.

Step 2: Click on Analyse

After the result has been calculated, an analysis appears

As you can see, the performance still needs to be optimised.

... and just below you will see optimisation suggestions. In our case, there are 3 recommendations relating to images.

We are only interested in the images at the moment. You can view the suggestions by clicking on the small arrow on the right.

A drop-down window will open in which you can see the details of the recommendation.

You can read the recommendation, see the affected elements/images and see the potential savings on the right.

Step 3: Optimise the images by implementing the recommendations (e.g. compression with the kraken.io tool).

If you see the recommendation "Provide images in modern formats", this means the formats JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, WebP. You can find out more here.

Step 4: Now you just need to replace the images on the server with the optimised ones.

This is best done using an FTP client. Find every single image on your server and overwrite it with the optimised one. This preserves the link structure, which may be destroyed if the image is uploaded to the CMS media gallery again and the image would not be displayed.

Step 5: Once you have finished, analyse your site again and be surprised at how much the optimisation of the images alone has achieved.

Special case: images with high resolution are needed

As already mentioned, a photographer, for example, needs his photos in the highest resolution in order to present them on his website. In this case, however, a gallery with preview images should be integrated into the website so that the loading time of the page is not extended as a result. Clicking on one of the thumbnails will then open the original image in full size and resolution.

Image SEO using meta data or image tags

Another important step in optimising your images for search engines is the so-called meta data or meta tags, which are embedded in the HTML code. These include the following:

• Title attribute
• Alt text
• Image description

You should definitely take this part seriously. These steps are necessary, otherwise Google will not be able to categorise your graphics correctly. The search engine still has its problems with interpreting image material, even though AI (artificial intelligence) is making great progress in this area.

But before you get to the meta information, you should give your image a descriptive file name.

Naming images correctly - the file name

Google can't interpret your images. So you can help by naming your images meaningfully.

• 02_06_18.jpg may be good for organisation and findability on your computer, but it's bad for Search Engine Optimisation.
• picture-seo.jpg is better.
• image-seo-with-google-developer-tool.jpg is also cool.

Let your images speak to Google.

Hyphen or underscore

As you can see in the examples above, you can hyphenate or underscore the individual words in the file name. Although that's not quite right.

Google sees underscores as connecting and hyphens as separating. So be careful: Even if the hyphen in German spelling joins words together, it is considered by Google to be separating.

Example: "image-search" is evaluated as two words, namely images and search. If you want to rank for the keyword "image search", you have to write it as one word.

See what Matt Cutts, formerly of Google, says about this:

Title attribute

Assign a title attribute that contains your focus keyword. This text appears when hovering over the image. Write in what you want the reader to see.

Alt text

If the browser or a screen reader cannot load the image for some reason, this text will be displayed. Therefore, you must always use alt tags (also alt attributes, alt attributes or alt descriptions). Your key term or topic-relevant words (LSI) should also be included here.

Matt Cutts also has some tips on this:

Meta description

Describe your image in such a way that even a blind person knows what you want to express with the image. Again, use words and keywords that are relevant to the topic.

How and where do I enter this meta data?

With a CMS, such as WordPress or Joomla, etc., this is very simple. When you upload the image, you have the option of adding titles, alt texts and meta descriptions straight away. However, you can also do this later or change it. With WordPress it looks like this:

For an HTML page, you have to enter the meta data in the code. Here is an example:

Note: I advise you to include your keyword and relevant words in the file name and meta tags, but don't be spammy.

So, with these measures and tips, you now know how to optimise images. You've learnt why you should carry out these optimisations and you've also learnt how to do it.

Before I come to the conclusion, take a look at what Rand Fishkin from MOZ has to say on the subject:

Video: SEO for images

Conclusion

Of course, optimising images is just one small piece in the big mosaic of search engine optimisation. There are factors that are much more important. OnPage and OffPage optimisation comprise over 200 Google ranking factors. But when it comes to top search results on Google or other search engines, the air is pretty thin. Search Engine Optimisation is precision work these days.

Every little thing can make the difference between search results at position 1, 3 or 8. The higher up you are, the more users will find you. And that's the whole point.

The question of whether you should optimise your images for searches on Google and the like can therefore be answered with a clear YES from my point of view. Now you know why, what, how and with what.

If you still have questions about image SEO or need support with optimisation, just get in touch with us. Write an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. call us on +43 1 353 2 353 or send us your enquiry using our contact form.

Frequently asked questions about image SEO

How can images be SEO-optimised?

Images can be optimised for search engines by using meaningful file names and alt tags that describe the subject of the image. Images should also be compressed to reduce the loading time of the website and included in sitemap.xml and robots.txt.

How should I name images for SEO?

Images should be named for SEO with a meaningful file name that describes the topic of the image and contains relevant keywords. It is important to separate the file name with hyphens and not to use spaces or special characters. An example of a suitable file name would be "blauer-herrenanzug.jpg".

What format should images have for SEO?

For SEO, images should be in Webp or JPEG format, as these offer high image quality with a small file size and therefore reduce the loading time of the website. PNG files are suitable for images with transparency. It is also important to optimise the image size and resolution.

What maximum file size should SEO images have?

SEO images should have the smallest possible file size in order to reduce the loading time of the website. Ideally, images should be less than 100 KB in size without compromising image quality. The file size of images can be reduced using compression techniques such as lossless compression.