Images bring life to any blog or content but did you know the image impact in WordPress and that you can optimize visual content for SEO?
In other words, images contribute to the website’s SEO. The images help to make your blogs more attractive. In the case of product pages, images are a must. There are more than one billion searches made each day on Google Images. Thus, if you can optimize the images properly, they can rank and garner more visibility on search engines.
Optimizing images is creating, preparing, and adjusting high-quality images in ideal format, resolution, and sizes. The aim is to reduce the image size without compromising the quality. Image optimization is crucial for improving the website performance which leads to user experience enhancement.
Now we know the image impact in WordPress, let us explore how you can optimize visual content for SEO.
1. Optimize image file name
Name your image file with relevant and descriptive file names. Try to be as specific as possible with the file names. You can also use keywords for more effective image SEO. When you use descriptive file names or keywords, humans and search engines like Google will understand what the image is about. Therefore, when users search keywords for image search, your images appear in the search results.
For example, you are writing a blog on the Eiffel Tower and using different images of the Tower. Do not name the image file name PS31542.jpg. Choose a proper file name like Eiffel-tower-paris.jpg or Eiffel-tower.jpg. This way, you can get the most out of image SEO.
Do you want to learn about the best security plugins for WordPress? Click here!
2. Choose the right format
Another way you can optimize visual content for SEO is by choosing the image format. The right format for the images does not exist. It depends on the kind of image. The most used image format is the JPEG. Then there are other formats like GIF, PNG, WebP, and SVG.
GIF is the best choice for solid graphics with limited colors. JPEG is ideal for large photos and illustrations because it gives color and clarity with a small file size. PNG is suitable if you want to preserve the image’s background transparency. WebP is also the best choice for high-quality, small-size images. Likewise, the SVG format is ideal for logos and icons.
3. Resize the image
After choosing the format, resizing the image is also essential for image SEO. The website’s loading time is crucial for user experience and SEO. As a result, many users focus on speed optimization. The faster the website, the easier it is for users and search engines to visit the pages.
When you upload an image with a large resolution to display in a smaller size, it significantly impacts the web page’s loading page. Even though the image is smaller, it still needs to be loaded. Therefore, resize the image file. Compress your scaled image to reduce the size of the file. WordPress does compress the images when you upload. But for better results, you can use websites like Squoosh, jpeg.io, etc.
4. Use alt texts and captions
To optimize visual content for SEO, alt texts and captions also play a crucial role. The alt text or alternative text helps the search engine to understand what the image is about. Search engines to accurately index the visual content. Individuals using screen readers or having limited bandwidth connections can benefit from the alt text.
The captions appear beneath the images and may not affect the image SEO directly. However, the captions are visible to the web page visitors and add to the visual experience. It helps to improve the user experience and engagement.
5. Create a suitable SEO title and description
The next tip for optimizing visual content for SEO is to create a suitable SEO title and description. Google uses your page’s SEO title and description to determine the information to display in search results. Therefore, your images should be suitable for the SEO title and description.
In the case of WordPress, the platform takes the image title from its file name. The image titles can provide additional context to the alt text. Similarly, it is also essential for user engagement. If the text to provide the image information isn’t enough, expand the description to explain the image.
6. Add image structured data
Adding structured data or scheme markup on your web pages assists the search engines in showcasing your images as rich results. For example, Google Images shows a prominent badge on the image it knows text. Google Images supports schema markup for products, videos, and recipes. These markups provide information about your page, increase click-through rate (CTR), and bring traffic to your website.
However, you have to follow Google guidelines for your images to appear in rich results. Similarly, the images should have the image attribute and be crawlable and indexable. WordPress Yoast SEO plugin automatically inserts accurate structured data for images on your WordPress website.
7. Create an image site map
An image site map tells the search engines about your web pages and website structure. Therefore, you can optimize visual content for SEO by creating an image site map. You can include anything from photos. Videos, memes infographics, etc, to your site map for the search engine crawlers to notice them
In the case of an image entry, you need to include the title, description, URL location, caption, and license information. For video entry, include the title, description, URL location, thumbnail URL, and raw video file URL. There are plugins available in WordPress for creating an image site map. Some examples include Yoast SEO and AIOSEO. These plugins make the task of creating an image site map easy.
Conclusion
We will conclude today’s topic of “Image Impact in WordPress: Optimize Visual Content for SEO.” You can use these tips to optimize your image SEO and enhance the user experience. Add relevant images to your content and not just insert any random ones. Use the alt text, captions, and title text to your advantage.
We hope this article has aided you in understanding the importance of optimizing visual content for SEO!
