The Importance of Naming Pictures Correctly
Naming pictures for seo
Image SEO starts with the right file name. Of course, this is the first location to use that keyword. Without even looking at the actual image you want Google to know what the image is about. For example, if your image is of your team in Paris, the file name shouldn’t be image1.jpg or DSC4536.jpg but instead along the lines of 2017-team-in-paris.jpg. The main keyword would be ‘team’ as that is the main subject of the photo, that is why it is added at the beginning of the file name.
Scale and file size of image for seo
Loading times are important for User experience (UX) and SEO. The faster the site, the easier it is for a customer to visit it and therefore are more likely to stay on the site for longer. Images can have a huge impact on loading times, especially when you load a large image and show it really small. For example, a 2500×1500 pixels image and showing it at 250×150 pixels size. The entire image still has to be loaded. To fix this issue all you need to do is scale the image to the size you want to show it.
The next step in image SEO should be to make sure that scaled image is saved in the smallest file size possible. You can still reduce the file size of these images by, for instance, removing the EXIF data. We recommend using tools like reaConverter Pro.
ALT text and title text
The alt text (or alt tags) is added to an image so there will be a descriptive text when the image for whatever reason can’t be displayed to the visitor. Make sure the alt text includes the SEO keyword for that page and relates to / describes the actual image. Title text for images is similar and a lot of people that use these simply copy the alt text. More and more people simply leave these out.
What is it for?
“The title attribute can be very useful, but it is not a safe way of providing crucial information. Instead, it offers a good way to provide non-essential information, for example, the mood of the image, or what it means in context.” it’s nice to have information indeed, and isn’t taken into account for image SEO.”