Image SEO: 15 Image SEO Tips for More Organic Traffic

When you search for images, you get the most related images on Google. You may wonder how Google knew what to show you. Actually, you can have this experience on behalf of image optimization SEO and image alt tags SEO. Therefore, if you want to know how to optimize images for SEO for your website, our guide will help you. Let’s discuss image SEO and its indexing process before some of the best SEO practices for images​.

Image SEO is the art of optimizing your website's images to increase their visibility chances in search engine result pages. After combining images and SEO together, you can attract more organic traffic to your website. Besides, you can provide information to readers through high-quality images on Image Search results.

The Key Image SEO Optimization Tactics

After every core algorithm update, search engines like Google want us to publish more people-friendly content while keeping the natural SEO practice. Image SEO is one of the natural practices without manipulating the search engine with over-SEO. 

The key tactics for image SEO are—

• Reducing image file size without compromising quality.
• Providing alternative text descriptions is important for users and search engine crawlers.
• Use clear and relevant names for your images.

Why Image SEO Optimization Matters

Image optimization helps search engines better understand and index your images. So you get the higher rankings for your website alongside top-notch user experience. Even if the user turns off images in their browser, they will know what the image area is about through the alt text.

Without image SEO, websites can lose their business, too.

In 2014, there was a report on Amazon saying that it lost 1% of sales for every 100 ms latency due to large web pages with non-optimized images. So, optimizing smaller image file sizes contributes to faster website loading speeds without losing revenue.

Many users turn directly to Google Images to find specific visuals. Again, billions of searches are conducted monthly on Google Lens, an app that allows users to perform visual searches using their camera or an uploaded image. Furthermore, Google frequently incorporates images into standard search results. 

For instance, in April 2024, a significant portion of standard SERPs in the U.S. included an image pack. These types of image results are highly effective in capturing user attention and driving clicks. So, image SEO will positively impact your overall search rankings.

Search engines, like Google, discover images by crawling web pages and extracting information such as metadata and file names. To understand the context of an image, Google considers various factors—

• Surrounding text
• Image file name
• Alt Text
• Captions
• Page Content

In addition, Google utilizes image recognition technology now to analyze the visual content of the image itself. So, no one can provide the wrong alt text to rank up a wrong image nowadays. When Google sees you have an optimized web page with all the best on-page SEO activities, you are most likely to rank.

Images are a powerful tool for storytelling. It helps defend the bounce rate of any web page because of offers a more visually appealing and engaging way to convey information. If we list down the major benefits of Image SEO, it may look something like this—

Higher Search Engine Rankings

Search engines like Google crawl and index your website to determine its relevance to user queries. When you add relevant and optimized images to your web pages, you provide additional contextual information that makes the page more reader-friendly. So, the ranking criteria are fulfilled.

Increased Website Traffic

Improved image SEO leads to better discoverability by the crawlers. Crawlers can simply know there is much more explained context hidden beneath the content. In turn, this results in higher SERP rankings and increased landing page and blog traffic.

Enhanced User Experience

As we mentioned earlier, well-optimized images contribute to a better user experience. The moment search engines understand that your images are of the correct file type, size, and resolution, you can improve page load speed and overall website performance.

here are no barriers to the optimization process. But we will give you 15 tips that all the top-ranked websites use in order to level up their ranking. 

1. Choosing the Right Image File Type

The first process of image SEO optimizations is selecting the appropriate image file format for optimal website performance and user experience. Google can index JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, BMP, and GIF formats better than other formats.

• JPEG: Suitable for photographs with little quality loss.
• PNG: Ideal for images with transparent backgrounds.
• SVG: Best for logos, icons, and simple graphics.
• WebP: Offers excellent compression in reduced file size.

In addition, you will see AVIF compressed images being used by top authority websites to optimize image size. But general users cannot download and view that sort of image in their default apps. But you can use GIF images to illustrate any infographics universally.

1. Reduce the Image File Size

To ensure the best website performance on search engines, you have to resize images to a small size while keeping the appropriate dimensions. Large images can significantly slow down page loading speed, but small images will not fit the width of the content.

As a solution, you have to export files in the right resolution and later resize them using lower PPI settings.  Also, choose which format contains the same image information in less size. For example, JPG is smaller in size than PNG images.

The key considerations for Image resizing are:

• Image Dimensions: Resize images to match the intended display size on your website.
• Image Resolution: A standard resolution of 72 PPI is sufficient for web images. 

If you do not have enough software, you can use any of the online image resizer tools to transform the size.

1. Write Meaningful Alt-Text

Alt text serves as a textual description of an image, which is crucial for both search engine optimization and readability. So, you have to provide context for search engines and screen readers inside it. A well-crafted alt text is the best practice of SEO.

The best practices for effective Alt-Text are—

• Describe the image accurately and concisely.
• Adding relevant keywords to improve search engine visibility.
• Prioritizing the needs of visually impaired users.

An example of effective Alt-Text is—

• Poor Alt Text: "Image of a cake"
• Good Alt Text: "A slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles"

To identify suitable keywords for your alt text, use one of the best keyword research tools like, Semrush. Premium tools will help you discover relevant keywords to optimize your image descriptions.

1. Help UX with Image Captions

Image captions are not a direct ranking factor, so publishers often ignore this. But you will see news portals publish captions to give readers perfect reference for the image.

After providing context just beside the image, the users can relate the image with the right context. Also, the search engine knows the image contains a similar context to the paragraph above or below. So, while it’s engaging users, it is also helping in indexing the image separately for the same search intent.

Follow this practice for the best SEO results for effective image captions—

• Keep captions clear, concise, and easy to understand by removing unnecessary text.
• Provide additional context, historical information, or timestamps to enrich the user experience.
• Use relevant keywords to improve search engine visibility.

Use captions judiciously, focusing on images that benefit from additional context.

1. Get Benefit from Schema Markup for Images

Using ImageObject schema markup, you will leverage structured data to search engines for better ranking opportunities. It will influence Google to know the context and content of your images. 

But always remember to provide detailed information about your images, including the— title, description, URL, author, and date of creation. On the other side, the markup won’t be much effective for your image SEO optimization.

1. Turn on Browser Caching

Browser caching is a technique that stores static files like images on a user's device to reduce load times and server requests. When a user revisits your website, the web browser can load cached files directly. So you get faster page load speed for them.

The benefits of browser caching are—

• Faster Page Load Times
• Reduced Server Load
• Improved User Experience

How to implement browser caching—

Set cache expiration headers. To do it, configure your web server to set appropriate cache expiration headers for images. Then, use a CDN (Content Delivery Network) that can store static assets like images closer to users. An expert website developer team can do this for you within days.

1. Avoiding Copyright Checks

Using copyrighted images without permission can lead to significant legal trouble. From the recent news on copyright lawsuits, we know that companies like the Postal Service and Skechers have faced costly lawsuits for copyright infringement. 

To avoid such issues, always ensure you have the right to use an image. This includes obtaining licenses from stock photo providers or creating your own original content. Do not forget that ignoring copyright laws can result in DMCA takedown notices and potential legal action.

1. Never Hiding Images with Text

Hiding text behind images is one of the black-hat SEO practices that can bring in penalties from search engines. It’s true that using images creatively can enhance your website's design and user experience. But you must make sure to avoid hiding important text elements like H1 headings. 

If you have no other options to exclude texts from contents, instead of hiding texts, consider using long-tail alternative text for images to optimize them for search engines. 

1. Include Image in Sitemaps

To improve image visibility in search engine results, consider adding images to your sitemap. You need it for a few reasons:

• Search engines are more likely to discover and index your images when they are included in a sitemap.
• Improved indexing can result in increased organic traffic.
• WordPress users can utilize plugins like Yoast or RankMath to generate sitemaps.
• Non-WordPress users can employ tools like Screaming Frog to create sitemaps.

1. On-page SEO for Image Optimization

On-page SEO can impact the visibility of your images in search results. For instance, you can optimize your pages for both text and image-based searches. Just add the following:

• Craft clear and concise title tags that accurately reflect the content of your page and the images it contains.
• Write compelling meta descriptions that entice users to click through to your website.
• Employ tools like Semrush's On-Page SEO Checker to receive tailored recommendations for optimizing your pages.

The meta description often comes beside the image after the searchers clicks on it and zoom it. If you write everything in 50 characters, it makes higher chances to see the meta texts beside images.

1. Add a Lazy Loading System to Keep Readers

Lazy loading is a technique that delays the loading of images and other resources until they are about to be viewed by the user. Many of us call this grey box simulation. 

You can get enhanced page load times through it, especially for pages with many images. Here is the process to implement lazy loading.

• HTML Attribute: Add the loading="lazy" attribute to image tags: <img src="image.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Alt text">
• JavaScript Libraries: Use libraries like LazyLoad or Intersection Observer for more complex lazy-loading scenarios.

But there are some important considerations. You should only apply lazy loading to images that appear below the fold to avoid negative impacts on performance.

1. Responsive Images for Mobile Devices

Given the prevalence of mobile devices used by 64% of people to visit websites, now we need to optimize every image for smaller screens. Here, the responsive image techniques ensure that images display appropriately on different devices.

How to make responsive images:

• Follow responsive design principles to adapt your website's layout to various screen sizes.
• Select appropriate formats like JPEG, PNG, or WebP based on image quality and file size requirements.
• Reduce image file size without compromising quality to improve loading times.
• Use plugins in CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal to simplify the process.
• Delays the loading of images that are not immediately visible to the user, further improving performance.

1. Differentiate Righr Keyword & Phrase

You might have known that effective image SEO starts with deep keyword research. So, your main job should be to identify relevant keywords and phrases while doing the image SEO.  Just make sure your target audience might use it to search for images related to your niche.

Use keyword-finding systems to uncover valuable insights. Always add keywords strategically into your image file names, alt text, and captions to improve your website's visibility in search engine image results.

1. Write Body Content with an Image

The body content also plays a special role in image SEO, just like content SEO. Imagine you are primarily a visual artist, and you upload your photography and paintings. But uploading those images just with Alt tags is not enough.

Instead, you can add a small paragraph beside the image to increase the image value to its top. Remember to align your written content with the theme of your images. This helps search engines understand the relevance of your content and improve your website's visibility.

1. Share Images on Social Media

Do you know that social media and forum discussions have the most domain authority? If you upload your image with the right alt text, your image can rank better. 

In 2024, Google is prioritizing LinkedIn, Facebook, and Reddit posts. So, if you share your content on one of these sites, you are most likely to rank the content. 

5 ways to identify all the issues with image optimization for SEO. They are— broken image links, missing alt-text, improperly sized images, mobile optimizations, and image optimization for Google Lens. Even a semi-professional expert in SEO can do this without any special tools. Let’s discuss how to do the fixes!

Method 1: Checking Broken Image Links

Broken images can negatively impact your website's SEO and user experience. It can diminish the sales of an e-commerce website.

How to identify: Use tools like Semrush Site Audit to find broken image links.

How to Fix: Update the broken links with correct URLs or remove them altogether.

Method 2: Finding Missing Alt Text

Missing alt text blocks the accessibility for visually impaired users and reduces the visibility of your images in search engine results.

How to identify: Use tools like Semrush Site Audit to find images without alt text.

How to Fix: Add descriptive alt text to each image, focusing on relevant keywords.

Method 3: Detecting Improperly Sized Images

Large image file sizes can slow down your website's loading speed and negatively impact user experience and SEO.

How to identify: Use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify large images.

How to Fix: Compress and resize images to optimize their file size.

Method 4: Checking Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile-unfriendly images can negatively impact your website's mobile performance and user experience.

How to identify: Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test Tool to check your website's mobile compatibility.

How to Fix: Ensure images are responsive and optimized for all probable screen sizes.

Method 5: Completing Image Optimization for Google Lens

Optimizing images for Google Lens can increase the visibility of your website in visual searches.

How to Optimize:

• Provide high-quality, high-resolution images.
• Use descriptive file names and alt text.
• Add IPTC metadata to your images.
• Use Google Merchant Center to list your products.

Now, if you are still unsure about the image optimization process or if you have a large website with image optimization issues, of course, you cannot do it yourself. In such cases, you can contact us to get your things done most accurately.

At VISER X,. Our team of expert researchers, content creators, and graphic designers work synergistically to deliver exceptional image SEO solutions.

How We Enhance Your Image SEO

• In-Depth Keyword Research
• Compelling Visual Content Creation
• Strategic Image Placement
• Technical Image Optimization
• Comprehensive Image Metadata
• Regular Image Audits and Optimization

So, that was pretty much everything about image alt tags SEO or Google image SEO in broader terms! Following our tips, you can identify the issues and get all the benefits of image SEO. Image SEO is nothing but makes the image fit for the search intent. For professional business websites, it is always better to appoint a digital marketing agency to complete all your optimization processes.

Do I need copyright permissions to use any images on my website?

Yes, you need copyright permission to publish on your website. Otherwise, your image could be considered a duplicate. There are many copyright-free images you can find online. But, the best practice is publishing a unique image that does not match other sources. You can visit paid sites like iStock to get licensed images.

What happens after using too many images on a page?

Your web page may look baffling after using too many images. It can reduce the page loading speed at the same time as causing confusion to the visitors. So, when you have to upload a lot of images, ensure you have provided enough spacing among them for a clean user experience besides compressing them.

Should I create shareable images for social media?

Yes, you must create an image shareable on social media. Images have more views compared to text-based content. If you can create images according to the right aspect ratio, social media users are going to have the best viewing experience, resulting in more reactions and responses.