Aside from impressive texts, image optimization is another effective way to improve traffic on your website. SEO image optimization is not just about adding a few alt texts to images. It explores several other elements that help to rank higher on search engines.
The primary aim of image optimization is to assist Google in understanding the content of your images. Images can be optimized to improve SEO and enhance users’ experience. Image optimization is one of the most effective strategies that are often overlooked.
Two examples to compare (click to open images)
Not optimised image (1920 by 1311, Size: 780 KB):
Optimised image (1920 by 1311, Size: 381 KB):
Perfectly optimized images can drive lot of traffic to your website. Below are image optimization tips that will help you to increase your website traffic.
- Keep Your Images Relevant: Relevance is one of the features Google, and other search engines hold to high esteem. Even visitors on your website can get turned off with too many irrelevant images on your website. It is best to include only relevant images on your website. The image should align with the reputation of your website and with the article’s content.
- Use Appropriate Names for Your Images: Using appropriate names for your images makes it easier to locate them. It makes it easy for Google to match them with relevant searches. The right name for your images doesn’t have to be excessively long or complicated. All you need is a short, concise, and descriptive title.
- Explore Descriptive alt Texts and Captions for Your Images: This tip is similar to the image name. The primary role of alt texts is to describe images. The alt texts are what the readers see on the screen when they see the image displayed on their browsers. Alt texts and captions don’t have to be excessively long. Making them descriptive and concise rather than long will yield better results.
- Pay Attention to Your Images Sizes: The size of your image will affect your website’s loading speed as much as it will affect the overall outlook. The primary consideration of the size of your image should be the dimension of your website. Likewise, you need to pay attention to the responsiveness of your website while sizing your images. It is better to optimize it to fit various screen sizes.
- Use the Best File Type: The file type you are utilizing for your website images has a role to play in the image’s quality and size. The three most utilized image file formats are JPEG, GIF, and PNG. The image compression ability and size of images vary drastically with different file types, which in turn affect your website’s load time. Google confirmed loading time on mobile and desktops as one of the essential SEO ranking criteria.
Therefore, it is best to use image formats that enhance load time, allows compression, and gives impressive quality. - Explore Vector Graphics: Exploring vector graphics where necessary is one of the most reliable image optimization strategies. You can even use it for general image elements like logos. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs) is one of the most utilized vector formats, and you can compress it using GZIP.
- Build Image Sitemaps: Google believes images to be valuable source of information. Using sitemaps will provide Google with additional information about the picture. It will also give easy access to the URL of photos that would ordinarily be difficult to access.
Conclusion
The position of images in increasing website traffic is becoming progressively relevant. They can help you quickly relay complex information, improve user experience on your website, and improve your overall quality. Adding images to your website is one step, optimizing it to increase traffic is another step. Including photos in your content will only be worth it if you optimize them for specific roles.
Image source: https://pixabay.com/