Usually, when one talks of search engine optimization or SEO services for that matter, people focus more on content and forget that images too play a vital role in search engine rankings. Optimizing them right can get you excellent SEO results! Here a few tips (for image optimization) that strongly recommend:
Optimize your images for better search engine ranking
Image source: http://egomonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Optimize.jpg
1. Create Alt Tags
Each image needs an Alt Tag for it to be read or identified by the search engine, because the search engines don’t read images directly. These Alt Tags therefore, need to be descriptive, crisp, yet keyword rich. Don’t try to stuff too many keywords in it, but make it short and to the point with a main keyword.
2. A Page With Long Description
Linked to the image should be a page, which describes the image in detail. This should include more information in terms of how, when, where and why the picture was clicked, and what all attributes are there in the picture.
Describe the picture with as much accuracy and detail as you can. So basically, just like Alt Tag, there would be a longdesc, which would have a URL connecting to the page with more details.
3. Make A Unique File Name
Don’t go in for generic filenames, as they are difficult to compete against on search engines. Instead, go in for unique, descriptive filenames, which match your image best. That would help you to make it stand out against the other generic images.
4. Adjust File Size
Your images need to be big in terms of dimensions, yet small in terms of storage space. There are quite a few services on the Internet that help you achieve this. The bigger the dimensions, the more appealing an image looks, and small storage size would mean that it can load faster and takes less space.
5. Modify EXIF Data
The EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data is like the Meta data that goes with the image, and includes details such as camera model, aperture, shutter speed etc. You must make this as descriptive as possible to make your image seem rich.
6. Add Snippets
There has to be one main image, to which you can link your company website or blog. This image is more or less like your virtual face. So, when someone searches for your company, this image comes up in the search listings, and is tagged with your website. This technique increases the click through rate.
7. Rich Anchor Text
You can add links to your images for it to rank up in search engine listings. The anchor text should be rich and effective, for you to get good results.
Finally, make sure that you wrap text around your images on the website for it to have more information associated with it. For local searches, it’s best to use GEO locations, so that local keywords can be linked to the images for better results.