9 WAYS TO ENSURE IMAGES ARE HAVING AN IMPACT ON YOUR SITE

Images are a necessary part of any web page. When users arrive at your web page, they expect to see high-quality images. While images are valuable to the user experience, they are also essential to search engine optimization. If you want images to drive traffic to your website, then you need to follow these tips.

1. Name your images descriptively: Search engines operate on keywords, but images do not contain any keywords. To make your images show up in search results, you must name your images. Give your images names that accurately describe the image.
2. Optimize your alt tags: Alt tags determine the text that is displayed when an image cannot be shown. The text appears when a user hovers over the image. Alt tags seem insignificant, but they add significant SEO value to your website. When a search engine scans your site, it cannot see your image, but it can read the alt text. Make sure each image features clear and concise alt text, so search engines find your images. If you include alt text with every image, then you will see an increase in your search rankings
3. Make your images files smaller: Large images are extremely impactful, but they can lead to frustration. If your files are too large, then visitors will experience longer load times. Consumers are willing to wait around three to five seconds for a page to load, after which they will leave. Page visits have a large impact on search rankings. If your pages do not load quickly, then people will skip your page, and your search ranking will suffer. A good rule is to keep your image files below 70kb in size. If you keep file sizes low, then your search ranking will improve.
4. Finding the right image: When searching for images for your site, you should avoid future legal issues. Using copyrighted material will cause trouble for your site. If you already have images, then you can post your images to the site. When finding other images for your site, you must pay attention to licensing. Flickr offers a variety of images and allows users to filter by license. This tool will help you quickly find the pictures you need. Another excellent resource is Freeimages; this site includes 400,000 images that you can be used on your site. Find images that you can legally use to avoid future issues.
5. Avoid third-party image hosting: Many companies offer to host images for you. These sites save space and bandwidth, but they offer some critical disadvantages. When these sites are overwhelmed with traffic, your site will display an error message. Missing images can be extremely frustrating for visitors to your site. To offer a frustration-free experience, you can host your own images. Image hosting takes up space, but it guarantees a consistent experience for your visitors. Consistency is critical to growing a website, host your images and offer a consistent experience for website visitors.
6. Anchor text: You may link to images within your writing. This strategy keeps your writing flowing while showing people valuable images. Using anchor texts, you can link your text to an image. Make sure your anchor text is relevant. Using terms like “image” or the file name itself will hurt your search engine ranking. Use relevant keywords for your anchor text. Picking a keyword will make it clear what users should expect from the link. Relevant keywords also provide search engines with meaningful information on your page. Utilizing keywords in your anchor text will increase your search rankings.
7. Match your images to your content: It seems obvious that images should match the rest of your content, but you should still spend time looking each page over. Your web pages should feature keywords, images, and other content that is all aligned. Using an image just to include a certain keyword is not helpful. Using irrelevant keywords on a page will convince search engines that your site is spam. To avoid being seen as spam make sure your content aligns with your SEO strategy. Keeping your site consistent will keep your site in search results.
8. Avoid keyword stuffing: Stuffing your page with keywords is an extremely tempting strategy. Many people think there is a correlation between the number of keywords used and your search rankings. This belief is correct to an extent, but the coherency of your content is more important than the number of keywords used. If your content becomes hard to understand because of keywords, then visitors will avoid your site. To make your website compelling you should make file names, alt text, anchor text, and file names descriptive and short. Remember that while keywords drive visitors to your site, the content will keep visitors on your site. Focus on the user experience to keep your website on top.
9. Make sure your images have a purpose: Images are critical to your site, but each image must serve a purpose. Check that every image relates to the topic of the page. The internet is filled with decorative images, but they rarely serve a purpose. Keep your images topical,  and your site will remain engaging for visitors.

Images are a valuable part of any website, but many companies do not consider the SEO implications of their images. By putting thought into every part of your website, you can grow your search ranking.