Images are a staple aspect of your pages, blogs, and more. They create engagement and show your business visually. Despite their significant use, images alone won’t be powerful enough. SEO images, on the other hand, can make an immense impact, and we are here to tell you why. In this blog, we will cover what seo images really are, how to optimise them, and why it is vital to use them.
What Are SEO Images?
SEO images are simply images that are optimized to help improve your website’s search engine rankings. They’re not a special type of image; it’s all about how you use and format them on your site.
What Makes Image Optimisation Important?
1. Faster Page Load Times
Large, unoptimised images slow down your site. A slow site frustrates your visitors and can lead to higher bounce rates. Google also considers page speed a ranking factor.
2. Better SEO Rankings
Search engines can’t “see” images; they rely on things like alt text and file names. Optimised images give search engines more context, which can help your content rank better.
3. Improved Accessibility
Alt text helps screen readers describe images to visually impaired users. That’s not just good practice, it’s often legally required for accessibility compliance.
4. More Visibility Through Image Search
When your images are optimised, they’re more likely to show up in Google Images and other image-based searches. That means extra traffic with little extra effort.
5. Reduced Hosting Costs
Smaller, compressed images use less data and server resources, especially important if you’re running a large site or e-commerce store.
What Makes An Image SEO Friendly?
An SEO-friendly image isn’t just about good design. That means using clear, descriptive file names, writing alt text that accurately reflects what’s in the image, and choosing the right format and size for quick loading. It also involves placing your images in context with relevant content. These small technical tweaks can make a big difference in how search engines understand and rank your visuals.
Alt Text: Small Detail, Big Impact
Alt text often gets overlooked, but it plays a key role in both SEO and accessibility. It tells search engines what the image is about, and it also helps users who rely on screen readers to engage with your content. A good alt tag should be short, accurate, and written in a natural tone, not stuffed with keywords. Think of it as a helpful caption that lives in your website’s code.
File Types and Sizes: Choosing the Right Format
Using the right file type helps reduce load times without sacrificing image quality. JPEGs are ideal for photos, while PNGs work better for graphics with transparency or text. WebP is a newer format that offers excellent compression while maintaining quality. Alongside format, image size is just as important; resizing images to fit your design properly helps keep your pages light and efficient.
How Image SEO Affects the Mobile Experience
With more users browsing on mobile than desktop, your images need to be mobile-friendly. That means they should load quickly, scale properly across screen sizes, and not use up unnecessary mobile data. Google now prioritises mobile performance in its search rankings, so ensuring your images are mobile-ready is no longer optional; it’s a must.
Tools to Help You Optimise Images
You don’t need to do everything manually. Many free tools can compress your images in seconds. For bulk editing, WordPress plugins like ShortPixel or Smush are great time-savers. If you’re designing from scratch, platforms like Canva or Photoshop let you export images with the right SEO settings in mind. These tools make it easy to keep your visuals light, fast, and search-friendly.
How Can SEO Professionals Help?
While some aspects of image optimisation are easy to manage in-house, working with an experienced SEO agency can take things to the next level. Professionals understand how to balance quality and performance, ensure every image is properly tagged, and implement technical fixes like lazy loading or structured data. They’ll also be able to audit your current setup, spot hidden issues that might be affecting your rankings, and use advanced tools to streamline the process.
For businesses with large websites or e-commerce platforms, having experts handle image SEO can save time, improve results, and make sure nothing gets missed.
Increase Your Page Speed Today – Active Internet Marketing
At Active Internet Marketing, we work with a hundred small to medium businesses, helping them to appear above competitors in Google. One of our optimisation processes is with image seo. Contact us today, and our expert team will be happy to help!
