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#VIDEO 2 SEO - MARKETING 4 YOUTUBE VIDEO
#VIDEO 2 SEO - MARKETING 4 YOUTUBE VIDEO
Image SEO is doubly worthwhile: On the one hand, the visibility in Google image search is increased by using keywords in the images. On the other hand, scaled and compressed images ensure faster loading times, which generally has a good effect on SEO. These 10 tips will help you optimize your website's images.
What is the Use of Image SEO?
It is the images of a website that arouse emotions in the visitor within a split second and help decide whether to continue reading or threaten to jump off. The situation is different with machine visitors to websites: the Google bots cannot see images and they also have no feelings. Image SEO helps the bot to understand and classify images. And if the website loads quickly, this can have a positive effect on the ranking. And that in turn helps you get more traffic.
Tip 1: use unique images
The first tip may sound trivial: use unique images whenever possible. There is hardly anything that reduces the value of an article as much as a sucked-off stock picture that readers have seen many times.
Therefore: Take photos yourself or create your own graphics. Your picture must stand out from the crowd in the picture search and invite you to click. So rely on images that offer real added value for the readers and make sure that every image used has a function.
Tip 2: Use the correct file format - JPEG, GIF, PNG, SVG or even WebP?
The most common file formats for images are JPEG and PNG. While JPEG is the format of choice for photos, PNG is primarily used for graphics and for transparent images.
PNG files can be saved as either PNG-8 or PNG-24 in different quality. In the past, GIF was mainly used for logos, today a PNG is usually used for this or even an SVG file if it should be razor-sharp. However, SVG files cannot be easily uploaded to WordPress, as they are actually not files but rather the code. It takes a few tricks to do this.
Use SVG in the Divi theme:
Here you can find instructions from Elegant Themes on how to embed an SVG logo in a global Divi header:
SVG as a file in the media library
If you want to upload the SVG file to the media library, Divi provides instructions on how to adapt the function.php. These instructions also work for other themes
What is WebP?
Anyone who ran their website through the Google tool “Pagespeed Insights” has most likely received the following tip: “Provide images in modern formats” and saw the suggestions: JPEG 2000, JPEG XR and WebP.
WebP is an image format developed by Google that offers extremely attractive compression. The problem with WebP is that not all browsers support WebP - (Safari in particular is one that not supports it)
For this reason, as of today (2020), it is not only possible to upload WebP images to the media library. One possible solution is to use plugins that, depending on the browser used, provide users with either JPEG and PNG images or a WebP image. Plugins that provide this function are for example: ShortPixel or Imagify.
Tip 3: Correctly dimension images: scale and compress
The image size is absolutely relevant for the loading time of an image. There is no point in uploading an image with a width of 2680 pixels if the maximum width is 1080px. Ideally, the images are cut or scaled to the appropriate size before they are uploaded to the WordPress media library.
This can either be done using appropriate offline applications such as Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or GIMP (a free image editing program). There are also some photo editing tools online such as the PIXLR Editor.
In Photoshop you should always use the “Export”> “Save for Web” function to save. The file type and quality can then be selected. A value between 60 and 80 is recommended here.
Because every compression is accompanied by a loss of quality, it is important to find the right mix. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say how heavy an image can be, because this value depends on both the resolution and the color depth. Images in posts that usually do not run across the entire width are ideally under 250KB. Please also note tip 5.
Tip 4: use keywords in the file name
It is not uncommon for images to have hieroglyphic file names - consisting of a loose sequence of numbers and letters. But the Google bot can do little with "IMG20150711.jpg". You should therefore give your pictures a meaningful name that ideally contains important keywords. Please note the following guidelines:
no spaces: word separations with a hyphen. Hyphens are better understood than underlines.
no umlauts: make ä - ae, ö - oe, ü- ue etc.
Write everything in lower case because this reduces the risk of duplicate content.
Tip 5: Compress images - preferably before uploading them
There are several online tools for pure image compression (i.e. without scaling). Often times, you can get something out of these tools even after scaling. Two examples:
TinyPNG:
This tool compresses PNGs and JPEGs. This function is also available as a Photoshop plug-in so that the compression can be optimized directly in Photoshop.
Compressor:
With this tool JPEGs and PNGs can be compressed: lossless as well as lossy. The tool impresses with its intuitive handling.
There are several WordPress plugins that perform the compression when uploading to the media library. There is a WordPress plugin for TinyPNG. Image compression can also be done by the Shortpixel and Imagify plugins mentioned above, as well as many others.
The image compression service is free from all providers only up to a certain extent. Because even with the WordPress plugins, the actual computing power takes place on the provider's servers. This requires server resources and is associated with corresponding costs. It pays to compare the pricing model based on your own needs.
Tip 6: Set alt tags correctly
The alt tag or the alternative text has the task of describing what can be seen in the picture. Because the Alt attribute contains the information that is displayed to blind or visually impaired users when they visit a website or read out by screen readers. Use keywords here too, but note that the alt text has an important descriptive function. In any case, keyword stuffing must be avoided at this point.
Tip 7: customize the title
The title tag is automatically filled with the file name. The title has little meaning for SEO. It is helpful when looking for images within the media library. It is shown to website visitors when they move the mouse over an image (tooltip). For this reason, it usually makes sense to adapt the title tag and use the common spelling. Or, if desired, delete the title entirely.
Note to all Divi users: When using a picture gallery, the title can be displayed under each picture.
Tip 8: Use captions
The caption is displayed directly below the image. Unfortunately, too often it is not used. That's a shame, because studies show that these captions are read much more often than the body text - especially when an amount is scanned.
Note for Divi users: Please note that if the image labeling is to be displayed in Divi, the image must be integrated via a text module (!) And not via the image module.
Note to all Divi users: When using a picture gallery, the title can be displayed under each picture.
Tip 9: Lazy Load - from WordPress 5.5. Part of the WordPress core
Lazy load is a technique for optimizing loading times. Content that is in the visible area of the website is loaded immediately. Content that is not yet needed, on the other hand, is loaded with a delay. This is particularly useful for loading images. The WordPress developers are also aware of this, which is why the function is included in the core of WordPress 5.5. have built in. Anyone who has previously solved this function via a plugin should check whether the plugin is still required.
Tip 10: Include images in the XML sitemap
Depending on the SEO plugin used, it is possible to create a separate XML sitemap for images. If you use Yoast SEO, you will not find such a separate Image XML Sitemap. But that is not a problem - on the contrary: the images are provided directly via the XML sitemaps of the respective page type.
Conclusion on SEO for images
Conclusion on SEO for images
Image SEO takes place before the images are uploaded to the media library - tips 1 to 5 have shown this.
That doesn't make optimizing existing images easy. Therefore, it is better to do images SEO from the beginning or start today and heed the tips when creating new content. Whether it makes sense to optimize existing content has to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
1. Because well-tagged images are included in Google Image Search. The image search is a traffic provider that should not be underestimated.
2. Because images are a good way to place keywords because of their attributes.
3. Because faster loading times are good for SEO: Images are a common reason for slow loading times, so scaling and compressing images is worthwhile for SEO.
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