The 2023 Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Images for SEO

Rick Saake

February 21, 2023

Welcome to the ultimate guide on SEO image optimization! In today’s SEO landscape, images attract and engage website visitors. But a good-looking site isn’t the only factor contributing to a better search engine ranking. A site needs to be optimized for search engines to help Bing and Google understand what your site is about.

Optimizing images for SEO can seem daunting, but it’s pretty simple once you understand the basics. Below, we’ll cover everything you need to know about image SEO, including the importance of adding alt text, resizing and compressing images, and the best WordPress plugins for image optimization.

Before we dive in, let’s start with the basics:

What is SEO Image Optimization?

Image optimization ensures that images on your website are optimized for users and search engines and includes reducing the file size of images, using the correct image formats, and adding alt text. Optimizing images can improve the load time of your website and increase the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Why Resize Your Images for SEO?

Resizing images for SEO is vital for a few reasons:

Reduced file size: Large image files can slow down your website and make it difficult for search engines to crawl your pages. By resizing your images before uploading them to your website, you can reduce the file size, which will help improve the load time of your website.
Improved user experience: Faster load times can improve the user experience, making it more likely that users will engage with your website, reducing bounce rates, and increasing the chances of conversions.
Increased visibility in Google Image search: Google considers page load time as a ranking factor in its algorithm. By resizing images, you can reduce the load time of your website, which can improve your chances of appearing in Google Image search.
Reduced data usage: Resizing images can reduce data usage for users accessing your website through mobile devices and can be especially important for users with limited data plans or slow internet connections.
Better display: Resizing images can also help images to fit the design and layout of your website better and can make your website look more professional and polished, thus improving the user experience.

It’s also worth noting that resizing images can mean something other than reducing the resolution. Ensure that the image’s width and height are adjusted to the appropriate size for your website. For example, if you have a website that’s 1200 pixels wide, you don’t need to have images that are 4000 pixels wide. Making the image larger than it needs to be will slow down your website.

Best WordPress Plugins for Image SEO Optimization

Many WordPress plugins are available to help you optimize images for SEO. Some of the most popular include:

WP Smush: This plugin automatically compresses and optimizes images as you upload them to your website, reducing file size without losing quality.
EWWW Image Optimizer: This plugin can optimize images in any format and includes tools for resizing and compressing images.
ShortPixel Image Optimizer: This plugin uses advanced compression techniques to reduce images’ file size and includes features for resizing and optimizing images.
Optimole: This plugin combines client-side and server-side optimization to reduce image file sizes and improve load times.
Imagify: This plugin offers a range of optimization options, including lossless and lossy compression, and also includes a bulk optimization feature.
Kraken.io: This plugin uses advanced compression algorithms and includes tools for resizing and optimizing images.
Lazy Load by WP Rocket: This plugin uses lazy loading to only load images when they come into view, which can help improve load times and reduce data usage.
Compress JPEG & PNG images by TinyPNG: This plugin uses smart lossy compression techniques to reduce the image file size and has a bulk optimization feature.

Top 13 SEO Image Optimization Tips

Here are the best tips, practices, and techniques for optimizing images for SEO, including everything from adding alt text to compressing images. Whether you’re new to search engine optimization or a seasoned pro, this guide is packed with actionable tips and tricks that you can start using today to improve the visibility and performance of your images in search engines. So, let’s dive in and discover the best ways to optimize your images for SEO!

Choose the Right Format

Different image formats are better suited for different types of images. For example, JPEG is best for photographs, while PNG is best for graphics with transparent backgrounds. Using the correct image format can help reduce the file size of your images, making them faster to load.

SEO Optimize Image File Names

When you save an image, give it a descriptive file name that includes relevant keywords. Search engines use file names as a way to understand the content of an image. For example, if you’re uploading an image of a red rose, you might name the file “red-rose.jpg”, but if you have a keyword you are trying to rank for that is “long-stemmed red roses”, then using the practice of naming images for SEO would suggest “long-stemmed-red-roses,jpg”.

Compress Your Images

Large image files can slow down your website and make it difficult for search engines to crawl your pages. Compressing images can reduce the file size without losing quality. You can use Photoshop or an online compressor like TinyPNG to compress your images.

Use Unique Images

Using stock photos can make your website look generic and unauthentic. Instead, use unique images that are relevant to your content. This will not only make your website look more professional, but it will also increase the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search. Note that Google is starting to use its own image AI to review images and look for unique images to show in image searches.

SEO-Friendly Alt Text

Alt text describes an image that screen readers and search engines use. It’s important to add alt text to all images on your website, as it helps search engines understand the content of an image. When adding alt text, make sure to use keywords that are relevant to the image and enhance your image alt text SEO.

Make Images Mobile-Friendly

More and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet. It’s important to ensure that your images are optimized for mobile devices, as this will help improve the user experience and increase the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Define Image Dimensions for CLS

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures how much a website layout moves around while loading. One way to reduce CLS is by defining the dimensions of your images in the HTML or CSS. This allows the browser to reserve the space for the image before it loads, reducing the chance of layout shifts. The reason this is so important to SEO is because Google uses CLS as one of the top areas it focuses on in its search engine algorithm.

Add Images To Sitemap

Adding images to your XML sitemap can help search engines discover and crawl your images more efficiently. This can increase the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Use Next-Gen Image Formats

The best next-gen image formats for SEO are WebP and AVIF. These formats offer smaller file sizes and better compression than traditional formats like JPEG and PNG.

WebP: Developed by Google, WebP is a modern image format that offers superior lossless and lossy compression compared to JPEG and PNG. It can reduce image file sizes by up to 34% without losing quality. WebP also supports transparency and animation, making it a versatile format for a wide range of images.
AVIF: AVIF is a new image format that uses the AV1 video codec to compress images. It offers a higher level of compression than WebP and can reduce file sizes by up to 50%. AVIF also supports a wide range of color spaces and supports transparent images.

The benefits of using next-gen image formats for SEO are

Faster load times: Smaller file sizes mean that images will load faster on your website, which can improve the user experience and reduce bounce rates.
Better compression: Next-gen image formats use advanced compression algorithms that can reduce file sizes without loss of quality.
Wide browser support: WebP and AVIF are supported by most major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
Improved SEO: Faster load times and smaller file sizes can help improve the performance of your website in search engines, which can increase your website’s visibility in Google Image search.

Not all browsers support these next-gen formats, so it’s also a good idea to provide a fallback option for the images like JPEG or PNG.

Google has been working on a new next-gen image format – WebP 2, which is not ready for general use, but initial testing shows it is 30% less in size than WebP, so we will likely continue to see optimizations in image formats soon.

Use a CDN for Load Time

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can help improve the load time of your website by serving images from a location closer to the user. This can help reduce the time it takes for images to load, improving the user experience and increasing the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Lazy Load Images Further Down the Page

Lazy loading is a technique where images are only loaded when they come into view. Using Lazy loading images can help reduce the time it takes for images to load, improving the user experience and increasing the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Take Advantage of Browser Caching

Browser caching is a technique where a browser stores a copy of a website’s resources on the user’s device. Using browser caching can help reduce the time it takes for images to load, improving the user experience and increasing the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

Add Image Structured Data

Adding structured data to your images can help search engines understand the content of an image and increase your chances of your images showing up in Google. Structured data can be added using schema markups.

Image SEO Wrapup

Optimizing images for SEO is essential for both users and search engines. By following the best practices noted above, such as adding alt text, resizing and compressing images, and using the correct image formats, you can improve the load time of your website and increase the chances of your images appearing in Google Image search.

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