[dropcap style=”dropcap1″]I[/dropcap]mages generate attention. Expressive pictures emotions. This could be one of the crucial keys to getting valuable traffic and ranking in search results.
Texts are significantly enhanced by images and help the user to capture the content of the page faster. Regardless of the Google image search is not to be ignored, because even here, an increase in traffic is possible in the front rankings.
But what requirements do the pictures have to satisfy?
Optimized images rank better in Google Image Search. So the ranking of the URL can be brought up across devices in the search results.
Page speed
As we can see again and again in the Google PageSpeed Insights, compression of the images is a useful way to improve the PageSpeed and thus the user experience.
Since the loading speed only recently became the official ranking factor on Google, this must not be neglected.
Also, the Google premise “Mobile First” causes to pay attention to fast loading speed, especially since smartphones and tablets usually require higher loading times for images.
Title
The image title becomes visible when you mouse over. This description can be used to enrich the text with keywords.
Daily Routine
Another way to increase keyword density is to use the alt attribute. This is only displayed if an image cannot be loaded. It has an additional function for people with visual impairment, because some special browsers can read this old day to give the user an idea of what is shown in the picture.
Captions
Pictures are not always completely self-explanatory, so it makes sense to use a caption to make it understandable to the user.
Also Read: Top 2 Best Free Image Optimization Plugins For WordPress
Name Image File
Give your image file a unique name that, at best, includes the relevant keywords or search terms, because if the search query and name match, you’re more likely to find your image in Google Image Search.
File Size
If image files are too large, the loading speed slows down, which may cause users to cancel the visit before the page is even loaded. It can also influence your ranking. This does not refer to the dimensions of the image but to the amount of data, because even with small images always loads the original, which can affect the charging speed negative.
File Format
For the representation of images, the formats .jpg, .gif and .png. To be used
(.jpg for background graphics and photos, .png or .gif for layout graphics).
Quality
A reduction of the image quality to 80% is hardly noticeable to the eye and saves space as well as loading times.
Pictures Sitemaps
When crawling the web page, the crawler automatically captures images and places them in the appropriate search index. To make it easier for the search engine to crawl images so that images are recognized and indexed, create a separate sitemap for images. This helps search engines find unindexed images to include in the search index.
Conclusion to the picture SEO:
Consistent image enhancement can make your site better ranked and faster in loading. This higher page speed affects both the usability, as well as a higher traffic through the Google Image Search. For this reason, you should not ignore the image optimization. Even these simple measures can make the difference.
