Pictures are such a big part of blogging these days. I participated in a twitter chat a while ago about blogging and photography. The general consensus was that pictures are necessary for a blog. Not only are pictures great for readers, but they can also help your SEO. This post will discuss how to save images and how to upload them to WordPress to optimize them for SEO.
How to save a picture for best image SEO
First, you need to save the image with a specific name. Don’t name the image something silly, or leave the image DSC_102. If you aren’t editing the photo, make sure to change the title by right clicking and renaming the image. When you name the picture, always make sure to include dashes – between each word. In code language, a dash represents a space.
By giving your image a specific name, it gives you another place to put keywords in your HTML; which will increase your chances of the image being found. Be strategic in naming your images: make sure they are clear descriptions of what the image is, and include keywords related to your post.
Check out this example: I named it caramel-apple-cupcake.
How to save the picture on your blog for best image SEO
Now that your picture is save correctly, upload it to your blog post. Once you upload an image, the right hand side will give you options for the attachment details.
Alternative text (Alt text)
The alt text is the text that will show up if the image doesn’t load. It is also the text that computers read for the visually impaired. Pinterest often uses the alt text as the default description text for a pin. As you can tell, the alt text is very important for your images. In short, the alt text provides a description of what the image is. Always include an alt text!
HTML for an SEO Image
For those of you that like the nerdy side of blogging, let’s take a look at the code for the an optimized image.
There you have it. You are now an image SEO expert! The great part is, you don’t actually have to touch the code if you don’t want to. You can do it all through your WordPress interface.
Do you include a picture with every blog post?
I started blogging and it’s a useful topic
SEO to reach your audience is becoming increasingly futile. Could social media optimisation be
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Thats a nice tip. I just started blogging and it is going to help me a lot. Thanks!
You are sooo lucky to discover this one early on! Make sure to resize them, too. Good luck blogging.
Image SEO should be in every online marketeer’s and copywriter’s toolbox. Here’s what you should take in account to optimize your images!
Another option for images already added to your WordPress website is a plugin called “Media File Renamer”. https://wordpress.org/plugins/media-file-renamer/
It also tries to update any references to the old filename, but it could miss some. So just be careful using it.
I’ll have to check that tool out, sounds great. Thanks Ryan!
Another question. In the top image you saved your image as “carmarel-apple-cupcake”. I see you saved it in the file of “food”.
Question, it that a file (food) you use just for images of your food photos? Do you divide the images into various files that fit the content of your blog subjects? If so, could you give an idea of the file names one might use? Roughly how many files or what is too many? Is it just general names or do you get crazy with sub titles also? I realize it depends on the blog but just a general question. This would make perfect sense but I hadn’t thought of having files for the images. I’m so obsessed with organization and would like to start (new blogger) with the basics for my images. Thank you for all the great info. Now for an article on alt tags.
Hi Karen, that files is for organization on my computer and not really related to my blog.
For my files that I save on the computer related to my blog posts, I have a folder for each category and then within those folders I have a folder for every post where I save the edited pictures, the word document and any other useful information for that post.
Can you (or have you) posted about alt tags? I’d love to learn more about them. I’m new to your blog and to blogging and love everything I’ve read so far. Great post.
Other than the description in this post about alternative text (also known as alt text or alt tags), I don’t have a post about them. The alt tag is a short description of what the picture is about.
Here is the explanation from Google
“Images may seem like a straightforward component of your site, but you can optimize your use of them. All images can have a distinct filename and “alt” attribute, both of which you should take advantage of.
The “alt” attribute allows you to specify alternative text for the image if it cannot be displayed for some reason”
Thanks for the great post. I’ve been looking for this kind of information.
Justsome baisics but they are always useful:)
Just found this post through Pinterest, I never thought about using my photos to promote my blog! Thanks for the awesome tips! 🙂
Hi Jessica! You already have amazing pictures on your blog (they seem to do well on Pinterest!) just a small extra step to make them SEO friendly!
Great reminders here, thank you 🙂 I’m doing these things and learning more every day; the importance of good quality photos, as well as naming them for SEO is spot on. Taking the extra time (a few seconds?) to do these things will benefit us greatly. Thanks again 🙂
Hi Sandra! It is definitely worth the extra time! I just bought a new lens to help me take better quality photos, I can’t wait to get it! How do you take good quality photos?
I always learn so much from you! WIll start doing this on tomorrows post! Thanks!
Good! Every little bit helps when it comes to SEO.
This confirms some things I was hearing but wasn’t quite clear on. Thanks so much!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it glad this post cleared things up for you.
Thanks so much for this timely post. I’m working hard on getting my first blog up and running. I’ve been writing posts and adding images. I’m glad I found this before I started to publish. Now I can go back and correct my images to include SEO. My blog isn’t quite ready yet, at least not the way I’d like it but the more helpful information I find the higher hopes I have. Thanks again.
You’re welcome. Can’t wait to see your new blog. Send me a link or a shout on twitter when you have it up and running! Is there anything else you would like to see a blog tutorial on?
Great post full of some great reminders. We try to always follow this advice, but didn’t know about the dashes.
Yep! Dashes = spaces in code! I stopped by your blog, you’re alt tags look great! Thanks for visiting, it was nice chatting with you on the #sitsblogging chat!