Traditionally, images have always been critical in breaking up long-form content to improve user experience, but this is not their only use. The advent of product marketing requires a concise demonstration of products for online shoppers. Treating images as stand-alone content goes a long way in boosting ranking and raking up organic traffic. To integrate these roles so that your images complement a text and improve product visibility, consider optimizing your images. Here are some of the aspects you should consider:
Image Size
If you are working with a professional digital marketing company in Los Angeles, you know by now that mobile-friendliness is crucial in the ranking of your website. Your images should not only be adaptable to mobile devices, but also have an appropriate size to boost loading speed. Choose images with simple details as gradients, drop shadows, and patterns increase the file size. Settle on one image type as opposed to mixing them up. For example, if you opt for a photograph, avoid mixing it up with illustrations since this will increase the file size. While illustrations and texts work together, avoid superimposing text on images. By having smaller files for your images, you boost the loading speed, which is a ranking factor.
Format
The size of an image and its accompanying characteristics dictate its saving option. A common mistake while saving images is using the wrong format. JPEGs incorporate many colors are great for photographs. On the other hand, PNG images support transparency and are suitable for small images such as logos and illustrations. GIFs are appropriate for animations, simple art, and other small size files.
Relevance
If an image has to add SEO value to your site, it has to support the accompanying content or serve as the content itself. It should improve the user’s understanding of your overall aim. You should, therefore, never add images with the sole purpose of adding to the aesthetics of your page. An illustration of processes or a product adds value to the page as they offer a little more than making it pretty. When you use appropriate images, you also increase the chances of users sharing it.
Text Descriptions
The image title tags, caption, and alt text allow you to give the images some context. The title tags should include relevant keywords, while the alt text should explain the image. The latter offers you a chance to describe the image, so it serves as an alternative text for search engine bots. When users hover over it or in case of a slow-loading page, the text surfaces too. Also, text readers pick this text up to explain what it is about to visually impaired users. An appropriate description is, therefore, quite significant in boosting ranking. Don’t use it as a place to stuff keywords but take the chance to give it the most befitting context so users can relate to it.
It is essential to consider images as part of your SEO strategy. When optimized appropriately, they will appear in the results page snippet and rank well in the images results. Appropriate descriptions and captioning also help both users and search engines to interpret and give them some context.
