SEO Basics: Image Naming

[webgeek]

In case you've gotten busy, forgotten what you've read previously, or have never thought about optimising your images so as to attract more visitors - consider the basic guidance from Google:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/114016

Skip the fluff and take note of the key points:
1) Give images detailed filenames so people know what they are before they open them
2) Don't keyword stuff the alt tags - these are for visualisations or descriptions go, as if all those who open the page are visually impaired
3) Image caption, title and text surrounding it - all send signals to search engines as to what the image is about

While image traffic doesn't usually convert particularly well, it is one step in the 'get found everywhere' approach to building brand awareness and laying the foundation for conversions later.

 

[positivesparks]

Nice tip WebGeek, there are some types of search that lend themselves to image search too. For example, I know a camping site here in Cornwall who get a fair amount of leads from people who find images taken by them of the beaches nearby. People search for the beach first, then see a photograph taken by the campsite and then want to consider staying there. I've also always wondered if Google would ever make image search "local", it would be great to search for pics of your favourite cake and discover you can buy one next door!

 

[webgeek]

If you'd like to take your image optimisations to the next level, check out this in-depth piece on all the things you can do to tweak those images:
https://developers.google.com/web/f...imizing-content-efficiency/image-optimization

 

[Social Management Pro's]

I always target long tail keywords with alt tags. If you have your exact keyword and it's all over your site, title, meta description and backlinks then you have a slap coming!

 

[fisicx]

I always target long tail keywords with alt tags. If you have your exact keyword and it's all over your site, title, meta description and backlinks then you have a slap coming!

Translation please. I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[webgeek]

We've stopped putting keyword phrases in the alt tags whenever possible. Instead, we're going visually descriptive.

Someone who is visually impaired does not need their screen reader saying 'picture of cheap plumber nottingham', when it comes to the picture on the page.

Instead, what benefits them is a replacement description of what is depicted like 'man using a wrench to repair leaking kitchen sink'.

The page title would be the place to mention cheap plumber nottingham.

The meta description would be better used to describe them enjoying the service, like.. Rest easy knowing our 24 hour emergency plumber will sort things in a jiffy, and at a guaranteed low cost. Or, if you really must use a feature approach, then something like... Our 24 hour emergency plumbing services in Nottingham are inexpensive and fast to respond, guaranteed.

If you like using the keywords in optimising, then consider the filename of the image. cheap-emergency-plumber-nottingham.png

 

[webnise]

Nice tips. Yes, Filename, Alt text are obvious places to put your keywords but try not to over-stuff them and similarly the surrounding text. Also, put descriptive keywords in image's meta data such as Author & Copyright, Location, EXIF, XMP, Maker Notes and ICC Profile (search image metadata to find tools that allow you to edit these things).

 

[javamad]

Hi,

Also make sure you tag appropiately with microdata .. check out the microdata schema website for the specification

Obviously only the actual product photos as product

General company or theme images should be microtagged as 'Company' or Organization.

This is a great way to get up there in image searches

 

[StartUpC]

Just for the sake of it, here is a fresh example:
One of our Client's site became number two due to image "Title" tag. Originally no one really understood what happened: in Webmaster Tools we've seen that the site is reported number 2-3 for a "keyword" that actually does not really important [Name of a town]. Then we realised, that due to an image title tag the site is No2 among the pictures.
Funny - the mistake has not been "corrected" since the distortion it generated have been filtered out of our displayed search results analysis.
On the other hand the town have been searched 1000s times within a month - hopefully on the long run it would be able to generate useful traffic. The site has had 1 [one] single click / visitor due to this picture. 100 % bounce rate...

 

[StevePoster]

I always target long tail keywords with alt tags. If you have your exact keyword and it's all over your site, title, meta description and backlinks then you have a slap coming!

Okay then Google will slap you for that!

 

[tombuckland]

Okay then Google will slap you for that!

Not srs right?