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Image SEO Optimization Improve your search rankings
P eo ple are finding my blo g fro m my imag es ! Yes thats
co ntent ro cks , and my pag es are SEO o ptimiz ed, a lo t
fro m Go o g le Imag e Search. I knew s eo o ptimiz atio n
o rtant, but until no w I had no t taken the time to lo o k
ave. And yo u can benefit fro m all my new-fo und-wis do m.
o u in o n all the details abo ut o ptimiz ing imag es fo r
n eas y SEO oppotunities ! Your s ite is full of imag es .

rig ht. Altho ug h my

o f hits are co ming
fo r imag es was imp
into it. So no w I h
Belo w I will fill y
SEO. Dont mis s out o

Imag e SEO O ptimization Fac tors

T he mo s t impo rtant parts o f Imag e SEO o ptimiz atio n are the imag e filen
ame and the alt tag o n yo ur pag e.
Imag e F ilename
As s trang e as it mig ht s eem, the filename plays a ro le in Imag e SEO. So pl
eas e PAY ATTENTION to the fo llo wing filename po inters ! 1. Do nt us e jus t o
ne wo rd (o r wo rds to g ether) to name yo ur imag e files 2. Name/Des cribe t
he imag e well 3. Us es das hes /hyphens no t unders co res o r plus es , to s e
parate the wo rds in the filename (mo re details here fro m s mart peo ple) A s
mall detail abo ut po int 3: Go o g le s ees das hes as wo rd s eparato rs , and

unders co res as jo iners s o to Go o g le: Mad-L emming s = Mad L emming s Mad_

L emming s = MadL emming s
The Alt Tag
Its o k if yo u do nt kno w what an Alt tag is , let me explain. T he alt tag is p
art o f the imag e H T ML tag . H ere is an example alt= filing c abinet in row s
rc=http://madlemming s .co m/wpco ntent/uplo ads /20 13/0 7/filing -cabinets -ro
w.jpg > It g ives a des criptio n o f the imag e to dis play if the imag e is no
t available OR if a text reader is us ed (like fo r vis io n impaired peo ple i
mag es are no t s ho wn to them o bvio us ly!). But mo re impo rtantly fo r the
SEO and imag es : It is als o us ed by G oog le to find out what your imag e is
about. So it pro vides keywo rd relevance to s earch, and helps rank yo ur imag
es o n s earch res ult pag es (SERP ). So what s ho uld we put in the alt tag o
f an imag e? L imit the text to 15 0 characters o r les s (the res t mig ht no t
be read by the s earch eng ines ) P ut keywo rds mo re to wards the beg inning
T ry to write a relevant des criptio n which is als o related to the pag e (if p
o s s ible) Always us e the alt attribute fo r imag es yo u want indexed in s ea
rch eng ines (ie. imag es us ed in yo ur s ites backg ro und/co ns tructio n etc
can be ig no red) T he fo llo wing is an Alt tag c hec ker fo r checking yo ur
webpag es to ens ure yo u have them. F eedbo t Alt T ag Checker
The Title
T his is an o ther attribute o f the Imag e H T ML tag that yo u can us e to pro
vide imag e info rmatio n. Mo s t bro ws ers us e this ins tead o f the Alt tex
t to dis play to the us er when yo u put yo ur mo us e o ver an imag e. Acco rdi
ng to many g urus like SEO Mo z , it has no SEO impact. H o wever, fo r yo ur us
ers s ake it is bes t to have both the alt and title attributes .
WordPress Imag e SEO
If yo u us e Wo rdP res s like me, the fo llo wing will s ho w yo u ho w to fill
in the abo ve attributes fo r yo ur imag es (alt and title). On the rig ht yo u
will s ee o ne o f the two places yo u can fill in the Alt and Title fields in
WordPres s . I have hig hlig hted thes e fields in red, alo ng with the imag e f
ilename. ** No tice the imag e name has das hes between the wo rds . If yo urs d
o es no t, re-uplo ad it after chang ing the name. T here is no way to do this i
ns ide Wo rdP res s that I kno w o f. So if yo u jus t want to dis play an imag
e (witho ut Captio n) the fields I have filled in (ins ide the red bo xes ) are
the two yo u need to take care o f each time yo u us e an imag e to SEO o ptimiz
e imag es . Note: I have no ticed Wo rdP res s o ften ig no res the title text
yo u fill in when yo u uplo ad the imag e. Yo u need to edit the imag e ins ide
yo u po s t and add it ag ain fo r it to be added. WordPres s Plug in for Imag e
SEO Optimiz ation I do nt us e a plug in fo r editing thes e attributes o f my i
mag es becaus e it is s o s imple to do it yo urs elf (as s ho wn abo ve). H o w
ever, if yo u want a little extra help, this plug in is s o mething I have

fo und that mig ht help. L et me kno w if its any g o o d :> Imag e SEO Wo rdP re
s s P lug in
O ther Imag e SEO Fac tors
Anchor text
T his is the text that is us ed fo r dis playing a link. T he s ame
yo u want to link to an imag e (becaus e yo u can link directly to
RL ). L inking to imag es is no t do ne very o ften, ho wever if yo
us e an imag e o r create backlinks fo r imag e SEO it is wo rth co
T he richer the link ancho r text, the better the imag e will rank
ng ines . It is als o wo rth varying it fo r each link. (ie chang e
t)

is true when
the imag es U
u want to re
ns idering .
in s earch e
the link tex

Sitemap
F o r tho s e o f yo u who manually create yo ur s itemap xml, this is s o methi
ng to take into co ns ideratio n Search eng ines index yo ur imag es , s o make
s ure impo rtant imag es are included in yo ur s itemap. Yo u will need to ens u
re s pecial tag s fo r the imag es are included in yo ur main s itemap, o r yo u
can create a s pecial imag e s itemap. H ere is Go o g les ans wer o n imag e s
itemap if yo u need mo re help.
Pag e load s peed & SEO Imag e optimization
F o r tho s e o f yo u who have fo llo wed Mad L emming s fo r a while, this is
no t a new to pic. P ag e lo ad s peed, and imag e o ptimiz atio ns make a diffe
rence to yo ur s ites SEO. Us ers and G oog le like pag es that load fas t. If yo
u are new to this idea, belo w is s o me previo us po s ts that will help. Lear
n about optimiz ing your imag es : Speed Up yo ur webs ite with s imple Imag e I
mpro vements Find s ome tools to optimiz e your imag es : So yo u need s o me to
o ls to wo rk o n tho s e imag es Finding free imag es : Spice up yo ur Webs it
e with F ree Imag es
T akeaways
Imag e SEO and o ptimiz atio n is ano ther impo rtant way to g et mo re traffic
to yo ur s ite. Optimiz e imag e SEO by adding the rig ht Alt text and o ptimiz
ing the filename with das hes between the wo rds . F urther impro vements can be
made with the T itle text and the imag es thems elves (s iz e, co mpres s io n
etc). SEO Imag e Optimiz atio n is s o mething yo u s ho uld be do ing NOW!
About the Author
Hi, Im Ashley. I blog about all things web, blogging and social media at Mad Lemm
ings. I have over 12 years of experience working with companies on developing we
bsites and web applications. I want to share my experience and make your life ea
sier at the same time. Together we will learn how to unleash the webs power by cr
eating your own website, whether it is for business or pleasure, professional or
hobby, blog or business website. We will demystify some of the things you need
to work on a website. Solve many problems in as simple a fashion as possible. Al
l in all, this will be the place you come to find the information you need to im
prove or fix your website or blog.