When I tested several images using Google Cloud Vision (the technology that powers image recognition in Google Search), here’s what I learned: (Google believes this is a dog, but it’s a wolf). Google has advanced a lot through machine learning.īut, its ability to recognise simple objects is far from perfect: Image Filenames for SEO: Seven Actionable Tips So that’s EXACTLY the size I make the images. You want to resize the image to the exact width of the space you want to put it in. I like it because of its “save for web” option, which helps me keep file sizes low without losing quality.Įach of these tools allows you to edit the image size in pixels.
RIOT – A free image optimizer for Windows.
ImageOptim – A free tool for Mac that has “save for web” features.Preview – Standard on all Macs and has everything you need for basic image editing.Pixlr – A free online tool that works great for minor formatting.There are plenty of tools available to edit your images outside of WordPress. Instead of just loading your image, leaving your website’s CMS to reformat it… In addition to loading the larger image, my CMS will need to format and edit the image to fit the dimensions of the page… Larger than necessary images add extra weight to a page and slow down the site. If I were to upload an image even 1px wider, it’d be a waste. The largest image size that will ever be shown is 640 pixels wide. The page you are on right now has a content area width of 640px. Resize Your Images to “Optimum” Proportions (And Slash Page Bloat) Open your image in your favorite image editing software, click export, save as, and you’re set! 4. Once you’ve picked the appropriate file type for your image… Bad for screenshots of apps and websites or text. JPEG – Good for photos of people, places, or things. It keeps text looking clean, but can be problematic for file sizes. PNG – Good for screenshots of apps and websites with gradients. Bad for small images inside a screenshot like a profile picture or a gradient like the top bar of a browser. Also OK for flat images with no gradients. Identify what already ranks, then create something completely different.ġ) Check the search results for your target keyword(s).Ī few years ago I sat down to write a piece of content optimized around the term “ seo experiments”.Īnd I noticed the image results were littered with screenshots and diagrams. The key to creating “stand out” images that win more attention and clicks is this: To rank high-up in Google Images search – you need images that STAND OUT! Whilst images with lower engagement get moved down. Images that win higher engagement (such as scrolls and clicks) get moved up in the rankings. Thanks to innovations in Google’s machine learning algorithm (AKA RankBrain)… Why You Need to Become a Jedi of Image CTR You’ll compete against every single one of those websites in Google Images search. If you use the same stock images that hundreds of other websites use… guess what?
Using generic stock images on your site kills your EAT rating (Expertise Authority and Trust) which has a huge impact on rankings these days. Kparser includes “Google Images” in its options too: Other keyword research tools focus mainly on Google web-search, YouTube, and Amazon search engines.
Use the Kparser keyword tool to get keyword suggestions specific to Google Images. Treat your images as standalone pieces of content with their own target search term(s). Instead of just choosing from your main content keywords… Step 3 – Cross your fingers and hope those keywords get some amount of search volume in Google images and (by complete-and-utter-luck) you pick up a tiny trickle of image search traffic.Īnd, that’s if you remembered image search at all – you probably didn’t.įrom now on, I want you to think about keyword selection for image SEO differently. Step 2 – 30 seconds to haphazardly pick keywords from your list (ignoring image search stats) before adding those keywords to your image ALT tags. Step 1 – Spend hours agonizing over web search data to identify a keyword list for your page or post. The (Smart) Way to Choose Image SEO KeywordsĬhances are your current approach is something like this: If you can master the art of identifying high-volume search terms for your images, you’ll not only benefit from A LOT MORE search engine traffic, but you’ll move ahead of your competitors who skip this important first step.