{"id":1616,"date":"2020-01-26T18:43:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T13:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.promozseo.com\/blog\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2020-06-09T11:20:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T05:50:38","slug":"image-optimization-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.promozseo.com\/blog\/image-optimization-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Image Optimization SEO: Optimize Images for WordPress and E-commerce Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today in the age of internet marketing and content marketing, visual contents play a vital role in engaging your website visitors and converting them into paying customers. However well you do the on-page SEO<\/a> if the images are not properly optimized; you are bound to experience lower search engine rankings and thus, less traffic to your website, and ultimately fewer sales conversions.<\/p>\n

So, how to do the image optimization so that it not only ranks high on Google image searches but also engages your customers with your website and makes them buy from you?<\/p>\n

The answer is simple, SEO website images properly following the guidelines.<\/p>\n

But before we start showing you the right way of doing image SEO, let\u2019s first see the reasons why you should optimize the images and how it benefits your WordPress or e-commerce site?<\/p>\n

Benefits of Image Optimization<\/h2>\n

Images are powerful, period! And, optimized images have two-fold benefits. How?<\/p>\n

Well, let me explain.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first focus on the \u201cuser\u201d part.<\/p>\n

Optimized Images are Crucial for User Experience and Engagement<\/h3>\n

Do you love reading content that doesn\u2019t have relevant images to show? Isn\u2019t it boring? I wouldn\u2019t say I like it, and I believe that most of you don\u2019t as well.<\/p>\n

As human beings, we like to engage in contents that have a lot of high-res pictures, screenshots, and other rich media contents like infographics, GIFs, videos, etc. that explain something visually.<\/p>\n

When we visit a website, be it a simple WordPress website or an e-commerce store, if we see interesting and attractive images, we pause and check them. This generally happens due to two reasons. Maybe the image graphics are so beautiful and innovative that they made us stop there and check them. Or perhaps the image has explained something so systematically that we had to focus on it. But whatever could be the reason, this substantially increases the \u201caverage session duration\u201d of the site, which in turn reduces the \u201cbounce rate\u201d, and thus helps in better search engine rankings.<\/p>\n

But not only this. For an e-commerce website, images are as crucial as its product descriptions. If you visit an e-commerce product page and see a few low-quality images, it will immediately turn you off and make you exit the page. And I think this frequently happens with many online stores.<\/p>\n

So what made the e-commerce site lose a potential customer? The low-resolution images.<\/p>\n

This means, to engage your visitors intuitively with your content, you must have beautiful images to show on the page. Else, this will create a poor user experience which will lead your visitors to exit your website, thus increasing the \u201cbounce rate\u201d, reducing the \u201caverage session duration\u201d, which will finally, take down the site\u2019s organic rankings.<\/p>\n

Optimized Images are Indispensable for SEO<\/h3>\n

Now that you know that images enhance the user experience of a website, which in turn helps to improve the SEO, let\u2019s now see some direct SEO benefits of optimized images.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, as we know that appealing, high-resolution images influence users\u2019 experience significantly, on the other hand, we must make sure that they load fast on web browsers, especially on mobile devices.<\/p>\n

You should know that if your website takes more than 3 seconds to load completely, you are losing nearly half of the website visitors. Additionally, a one-second delay in the website\u2019s loading time decreases its conversion rate by 7 percent.<\/p>\n

So, now you can do some maths to figure out how much loss you are incurring every day.<\/p>\n

You will be surprised to know that most of the losses you are making in this regard are due to the large, high-res images you used on your website. When you used them to charm your site visitors, they are now backfiring you by reducing your traffic and sales.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly went wrong here? The images?<\/p>\n

No, not the images. And yes, the images.<\/p>\n

What does this mean?<\/p>\n

Well, see, high-resolution images are effective in drawing visitors\u2019 attention only when they see them. But what if most of your visitors exit the website because it is too slow to load?<\/p>\n

Does it make any sense? Certainly, not.<\/p>\n

So what do you do then?<\/p>\n

You need to SEO the images correctly to make them load faster, which ultimately results in a fast-rendering website, and that once and for all solves your problem.<\/p>\n

So now that you know the advantages of image optimization and how fast loading, high-res images can improve user experience and increase site\u2019s stay-time and sales conversion rate, let\u2019s now head straight to the main topic. And that is, how to optimize images.<\/p>\n

You may like : How to Write A Sales Copy That Sells \u2013 9 Steps to Win Customers \u2013 A Sales Copy Template That Never Fails<\/a><\/div>\n

15 Steps of Image SEO for WordPress and E-commerce Websites<\/h2>\n

I am going to break down the entire image optimization process into 15 steps that will help you follow and implement them effortlessly for your WordPress or e-commerce website.<\/p>\n

#1 The Image Source Play a Vital Role in Image Optimization<\/h3>\n

You love high-resolution images, your visitors love high-res images, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you can download the image from any website you want.<\/p>\n

If you are downloading an image from anywhere from the internet, you need to make sure that it is not copyrighted. Else you may have to face a lot of legal difficulties later on. At the very least, you may need to take the image down if it infringes the copyright act and if the real owner of the image files a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act<\/a>) against you.<\/p>\n

So what can you do? How can you get high-res images to show on your website or e-commerce product pages<\/a> without a copyright breach?<\/p>\n

You have three solutions.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>: There are plenty of websites that offer high-resolution, copyright-free images. You can use those sites to find relevant images that match the context of your content or product. Though it is not mandatory, still, you can give credit to the original creator of the image when you use it on your website.<\/p>\n

You may use image sites like Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash<\/a>, etc. to download and use copyright-free images.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: Create the images in-house or outsource them. If you have a full-fledged graphics team at your office, you may take their help to design the images in-house. Else hire a freelance graphics designer who is capable of designing high-quality images and delivering them on time.<\/p>\n

If you are creating the images in-house or outsourcing them from a trusted freelancer, make sure to include the business logo on the images.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>: If you are running an e-commerce store<\/a>, depending on your product line, you may need to arrange photoshoots to create your product-images. This works the best for any website if you or your team members (internal or external) know how to take high-res images using a camera or smartphone.<\/p>\n

So the key point here is you have to use copyright-free images on your website for the best image-SEO results.<\/p>\n

#2 Image Type is Crucial for Image Optimization<\/h3>\n

Now before you download, create, or take an image, know the image file types that are the best for your website and image SEO.<\/p>\n

We see three types of image files, mostly on the internet, namely JPEG, PNG, and GIF. When these are extensively used image types, they have their own merits and demerits in terms of image optimization.<\/p>\n

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)<\/strong>: JPEG image file type is by far the best for image SEO. JPEG or JPEG is suitable for large size images for its color accuracy and clarity. But what makes JPEG the best for SEO is its relatively small file size.<\/p>\n

Nearly 72.3 percent of sites use the JPEG image file type, which makes it the most widely used image type on the internet.<\/p>\n

As we know from our previous discussion that the site\u2019s loading speed<\/a> is one very strong signal for search engine ranking, so from the beginning, we must take care of the image file size. Images are one of those website components that consume the maximum space. Hence, if we can control the image file size, we can substantially reduce the page loading time, and that will eventually improve the overall optimization and organic ranking.<\/p>\n

If you want to optimize the JPEG image further, you can use progressive JPGs, as they are more web-friendly. As the name suggests, progressive JPG format renders a blurry image version initially when the page loads and gradually sharpens the image quality. This never blocks rendering the other HTML elements of the page, which improves the page speed.<\/p>\n

\"progressive

Use Progressive JPEG image<\/p><\/div>\n

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)<\/strong>:\u00a0 PNG is the second most used image file type after JPEG. PNG file type is primarily used for images that require a transparent background, like a small icon, a button, etc.<\/p>\n

They are relatively larger in size than the JPEG images; therefore, avoid using the PNG file type for large images. Use JPEG instead.<\/p>\n

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)<\/strong>: GIF file type is used for animated images. This image file type is also larger than that of a JPEG image file and is not that SEO-friendly. GIF images are used on websites mainly as short videos, which if used contextually can improve the user-engagement significantly. Around 26.6 percent of sites are using GIF images, which is increasing because of its \u201cuser-engagement\u201d benefits.<\/p>\n

Google recommends the WebP image file format as it delivers the best quality of the image while ensuring the smallest file size. However, be careful while using WebP images. As of now, this file type is compatible with a few browsers and CDN providers.<\/p>\n

#3 Image Text to Optimize Images<\/h3>\n

After you download or create the image, you must add relevant texts to it to make it more SEO and human-friendly. This is an important image optimization technique that you must apply at least to the first image (cover image or banner image or hero image) that you are going to display above the fold.<\/p>\n

This becomes even more essential when you download a copyright-free image from an external source to show as your primary image.<\/p>\n

\"image

Add and optimize image text<\/p><\/div>\n

I am sure; you know the fact that Google doesn\u2019t index content that is duplicate, which is used earlier on a URL and indexed already by Google. But most of the time, we think that content refers to the written content only. However, this isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

In reality, images are also content, and like your written copy, if you duplicate an image on your website, Google may not want to index it against the content (URL). This may lead to no traffic from image searches.<\/p>\n

Besides, images are nothing but a bunch of pixels and colors. As human beings, we can memorize (index) any written content, but when it comes to an image, we cannot do it.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because there is no text on the image which makes it impossible to memorize.<\/p>\n

So, now if you think it from the search engines\u2019 perspective, how come Google indexes the image if it doesn\u2019t have the relevant text on it describing its topic?<\/p>\n

Well, you have to add the text to the image to make it unique on the web and search engine friendly. Google\u2019s image processing techniques help it read the text you added on the image, which makes the image optimization and indexing far better.<\/p>\n

So, how to add text to the image?<\/p>\n

There are several ways you can do this. If you know Adobe Photoshop, you can use it; else make use of online image editing tools like Canva<\/a> to add text to images.<\/p>\n

\"canva

Use Canva image creator<\/p><\/div>\n

While adding text to the image, make sure, the text is clearly visible and readable. Also, confirm that the added text is descriptive and has one or two important key-phrases.<\/p>\n

If you want to use a screenshot of any webpage, make sure to take the screenshot of the portion that best describes the purpose of the image. Having some in-line texts describing the image topic makes the screenshot even more powerful in terms of SEO.<\/p>\n

For example, if you are creating content on WordPress SEO techniques<\/a>, while writing about the keyword analysis process using an image like this (see the image below) will make the image more optimized for terms relevant to \u201cWordPress SEO\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"image

Optimize image screenshot<\/p><\/div>\n

The point is simple yet effective. Help Google to understand the image better and in return, get a well-optimized image and drive heaps of traffic from image searches.<\/p>\n

You may like : How to Create, Set Up, and Optimize Google My Business Listing \u2013 A Definitive Guide to GMB<\/a><\/div>\n

#4 Image Dimension Optimization<\/h3>\n

After you add text to the image, it\u2019s time to optimize the image dimension. Doing it manually is better for image SEO.<\/p>\n

So the first question is, why should you optimize the dimension of the image?<\/p>\n

Well, let\u2019s say you have created (or downloaded) an image that is of 5000 PX width. Indeed, you are not going to show that large dimension image on your webpage. Else this may break the UI of the website, and the site will take forever to load the image on the browser.<\/p>\n

So what next? How do you do this?<\/p>\n

Usually, people upload the same large image to the server and display the smaller dimension on the browser, which fits the interface. WordPress has the image settings where you can select the image dimension you want to be displayed.<\/p>\n

Now, does it solve the problem?<\/p>\n

No. It does not.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because the browser is still downloading the same large size image from the server and resizing it when displaying the image on the webpage. So, technically, there is no change, and the site will continue to be slow in loading, which will indeed adversely affect its ranking and traffic.<\/p>\n

So how to solve this image problem?<\/p>\n

You should manually resize the image to the largest dimension you want that image to be displayed on your site. You can use Adobe Photoshop, MS Paint or online image resizing tools to do it for you.<\/p>\n

\"image

Optimize image dimension<\/p><\/div>\n

This will dramatically reduce the image file size, which will make the website load faster on browsers, especially on mobile devices.<\/p>\n

#5 Image Compression for Image SEO<\/h3>\n

Using JPEG doesn\u2019t guarantee the smallest file size. Besides, there is something called EXIF (exchangeable image file format) data which is a standard that occupies some space which ultimately makes the image larger in size.<\/p>\n

The EXIF data is the type of ancillary tags that are commonly used to specify the photo exposure program, aperture, white balance, shutter speed, ISO speed, lens type, focal length, camera model, picture date and time, etc.<\/p>\n

These data are useful for photographers to understand and learn how the picture is taken, using what settings, etc. But, this has nothing to do with image SEO or website optimization. Therefore, while optimizing the image, you must delete the EXIF data and compress the image file further to reduce its size.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of third-party web-based applications, tools, and WordPress plugins<\/a> that you can use to remove the EXIF data and compress the image file.<\/p>\n

I prefer using Kraken.io<\/a> because of its easy-to-use web-based interface and quality compression without much loss. Additionally, you may also use tools like ImageOptim<\/a>, ShortPixel, JPEGmini<\/a>, jpeg.io<\/a>, TinyPNG<\/a>, Optimus, WP Smush<\/a> WordPress plugin, etc. Most of these image compression tools and plugins allow bulk image upload, which makes the process quick and easy.<\/p>\n

\"image

Compress image file size<\/p><\/div>\n

However, try to do these things manually, not using plugins. Remember, the overuse of WordPress plugins may slow down the WP website.<\/p>\n

#6 Image File Name Optimization<\/h3>\n

Now that your image is almost ready to be uploaded on your website, you must optimize its file name. Image file name optimization is one of the most crucial image SEO techniques that is either overlooked or over-optimized.<\/p>\n

Remember, the image file name becomes a crucial part of the image URL; hence, it must be optimally optimized to deliver the best results.<\/p>\n

So how to optimize the image file name?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n

But before that, always remember that the image you downloaded or created doesn\u2019t have an optimized file name. So you must do it manually.<\/p>\n

If you have an image like \u201cimg001.jpg\u201d, its file name is certainly not optimized. So, for a blog topic like \u201cimage optimization seo\u201d what should be the primary image file name?<\/p>\n

\"image

Optimize the image file name<\/p><\/div>\n

It can be \u201cimage-optimization-techniques.jpg\u201d or \u201cimage-seo-techniques.jpg\u201d or \u201cwordpress-image-seo.jpg\u201d or \u201cwordpress-image-optimization.jpg\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n

If you are running an e-commerce website and selling \u201cblack Nike men’s Fly.by Low Ii Basketball shoes\u201d, then the best image file name could be \u201cnike-men-basketball-shoes-fly-by-low-ii-black.jpg\u201d.<\/p>\n

So what can you see from the above image file name alternatives?<\/p>\n