Advanced Image SEO: 6 Optimization Practices For Visual Search

When it comes to image SEO, basic practices like alt text and image filenames are just the tip of the iceberg.

Deep dives into advanced strategies can give your visual content the edge to stand out in search results and enhance user experiences.

For digital marketers, web developers, and content creators, get ready to level up your image optimization game with these six essential practices:

Key Takeaways:

• Images can significantly impact SEO: Well-optimized images can directly influence your website’s visibility, user engagement, and SEO ranking. Ensure your images are of high quality, relevant, and well-optimized.
• Proper keyword use in images: Keywords aren’t just for textual content. Using relevant keywords in your image file names and alt tags helps search engines understand and index your images properly, improving your website’s visibility.
• File format and size matter: Images should be in a web-friendly format (like JPEG or PNG) and optimized for size to ensure faster loading times. This contributes to a better user experience and can help improve your SEO ranking.
• Use of Structured Data: Using structured data can help search engines understand the context and content of your images better, further enhancing your SEO.
• Accessibility is crucial: Alt text and captions aren’t just for SEO. They also make your images accessible to people who use screen readers, which is a crucial aspect of web accessibility.

Structured Data

Structured data organizes and labels website content to make it easier for search engines to understand.

By adding structured data markup to your pictures, you can provide meaningful context, such as the type of image, its subject matter, and copyright information.

It helps with SEO and improves accessibility for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers.

This can, in turn, enhance the user experience for all visitors by providing more relevant and dynamic search results.

Various structured data types can be utilized, with Google Images accommodating specific content types:

• Product Images
• Videos and Animated Images
• Recipes
• Logo, Company Name, and URL for Branding Purposes

Product Images

For e-commerce websites, product images are crucial for driving conversions.

You can directly provide information like price, availability, and reviews in search results using structured data markup.

By providing valuable details upfront, you can make it easier for potential customers to find your products and increase their likelihood of purchasing.

Use the Product type, as suggested by Google in the Search Central Documentation, to add structured data for product images.

Here’s an example:

By adding this code, you help potential customers earn a product snippet, which includes the product image and information on price, availability, and review ratings.

It may look in the results pages something like this:

Videos and Animated Images

Structured data markup can also be used to enhance video and animated images in search results.

By providing information like duration, thumbnail URL, and upload date through VideoObject, you can give users a sneak peek of your visual content before they even click on it.

Additionally, Google Images supports animated GIFs and WebP images, so make sure to include structured data for those.

Recipes

Using structured data can be a game-changer for food bloggers and recipe websites.

Adding recipe markup to your content lets you provide details like ingredients, cooking time, and nutrition information in search results.

This not only makes it easier for users to find and try your recipes but also adds visual appeal to your listings with mouth-watering images.

And who knows, perhaps your recipe will end up being featured in Google’s Recipe Carousel or other rich result features.

Logo, Company Name, and URL for Branding Purposes

Structured data can also be used to enhance brand recognition in search results.

By adding Logo markup, you can provide your company’s logo, name, and website URL for potential customers to see right from the search page.

Google utilizes this markup in knowledge panels and visual elements to enhance users’ ability to locate your organization’s information on search.

Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a technique that delays the loading of images until they are needed, instead of loading all visual content at once.

This can significantly improve page load times, especially for websites with high-quality or numerous images.

By implementing it, you not only enhance user experience but also improve your search rankings.

Here’s that it easier for users to find and try your recipes that  Google stated on their web.that dev website regarding the benefits and implementation of lazy loading for images:

Implementing this process can significantly enhance your website’s performance. Minimizing the volume of data required during the initial page load streamlines the user experience and accelerates loading times. This optimization not only benefits user engagement but also contributes to improved search engine rankings by enhancing site speed (which is a ranking factor).

Google offers a guide on lazy-loading content essential for search robots to access content. If you’re unfamiliar, JavaScript is required for implementation, so coding expertise may be needed.enhance user experience and

Luckily, if you are sing WordPress, a plethora of plugins can help implement lazy loading, such as Smush Lazy Load. Or, you can opt for a hosting that offers this included in its services, such as WP Engine (my choice for hosting erikemanuelli.com).

Of course, no coding is needed for both of these options.

Browser Caching

Browser caching is a method of storing website data in a user’s web browser.

In short, you allow certain files to be stored locally, reducing the amount of time it takes for the page to load when revisited. This not only improves site speed but also decreases server load and bandwidth usage.specific

To set up caching, you have two options.

To manually do this, you must add specific code snippets to your .htaccess file, a configuration file commonly used on Apache web servers to handle various settings and directives for  what makes which helps with brand consistency recognition and appearance,

Here’s an example:

Of course, if you are not confident in working on your website’s backend, you can opt for a WordPress plugin like WP Super Cache (+1 million installations).

After activation, the plugin delivers static HTML files in place of PHP scripts to visitors who are not logged in, considerably enhancing site speed.

No coding is required for this option either!

Image Compression

Image compression is the process of reducing an image’s file size without significantly impacting its quality.

This can greatly improve page load times, especially for websites with high-quality images.

To accomplish this, you can use a free online image compression tool like ShortPixel:

Or, if you are using WordPress, you can use the ShortPixel plugin to automatically compress images as you upload them. This not only saves time but also ensures that all of your visual content is optimized for web performance.

Once you have a live page, ensuring optimal performance is essential. You can check its loading time using PageSpeed Insights by Google. This tool will provide valuable insights to help you identify areas where enhancements can be made, ultimately improving your page’s overall score and user experience.

Content Delivery Network

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers in different geographical locations that work together to distribute website content more efficiently.

With a CDN, you can decrease the distance between your website’s server and its users, resulting in faster load times.

For example, if you have a website visitor from Australia, and your server is in the United States, a CDN will deliver content from a server closer to the user, reducing the time it takes to load.

Some popular services you can use include Cloudflare, Amazon CloudFront, and Google Cloud CDN.

They are easy to set up and can significantly improve website performance, especially for sites with a global audience.

Additionally, many CDN providers offer security features such as DDoS protection and web application firewalls, providing added protection for your website. This benefits user experience and helps with search engine rankings, as Google values site speed and security when determining ranking positions.

Open Graph and Twitter Cards

Open Graph and Twitter Cards are meta tags that allow you to control how your website’s content appears when shared on social media platforms.

Adding these tags to your website’s code, you can specify the title, description, and image helps with brand consistency and recognition andappearing when someone shares your link on sites like Facebook or Twitter. This strategy not only helps with brand consistency and  praise but also improves the visual appeal of your shared content, potentially increasing engagement and click-through rates.

In fact, without implementing open graph metadata, when sharing a link on Facebook, the platform might select a random image from your website to display alongside the link preview.

For example, here’s what Twitter Cards meta tags look like on HTML:

So, how can you implement them on your website?

It’s relatively easy.

If you are not using WordPress, specific code snippets can be added to your website’s header.php file to implement these meta tags.

Or,  if you are using WordPress, remember can help with this process, such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO Pack.

Takeaways

Implementing website optimization techniques such as lazy loading, browser caching, image compression, content delivery networks, and open graph and Twitter Cards can greatly improve your website’s performance, user experience, and search engine rankings.

Remember to regularly monitor your site’s speed and make adjustments to ensure optimal performance.

Always keep in mind that a fast-loading website is essential for providing a positive user experience and ultimately increasing conversions.

So, take the time to optimize your website and reap the benefits in the long run!

About the Author

Erik Emanuelli has been in the online marketing game since 2010. He’s now sharing SEO and blogging insights based on his experience. Check out more about him on his website at erikemanuelli.com