Images can be an asset for search engine optimization but are often overlooked by people seeking to make a website. Images can drive traffic through image search as well as inclusion in universal search results. There are several different ways to image SEO that encompasses better ranking in search results, optimization for the user experience and in a few cases, optimization for better and easier sharing of images. For image SEO, it is useful to think of optimizing images as optimizing a minute web page within the web page. Items like URL structure, descriptive tagging and anchor text and are important elements in optimizing images for search engines, just like normal websites. Here are some tips to help you optimize your images to better their search performance and how they appear on the web page once you have decided to make a website.

Getting the right images

Getting the right type of image is something which cannot be ignored. The right images will add value to an article or page that will give confidence for people to share the page and create back links. It is widely accepted that whilst great text is still the primary item seen on the page, the

You can use Google Images, Flickr, stock.xchng and iStockPhoto to locate images for your website, as long as you search with the correct licensing. (It is allowed to search Creative Commons and other licenses available to the public.) If you do not have the correct permissions and licenses there is a good chance you will be forced to change them and be sued.Do not post the image if it isn’t Creative Common licensed create it or purchase it.

Use the keywords in the name of the file

As keywords in post URL’s are vital for pages, it is equally true for images. It is important to use keyword-rich words in the filename of your images for assisting the all important search engines ascertain relevancy. Google recommends that you try to use common image types of file like BMP JPEG, GIF, and PNG. They also recommend putting your separate images in a single folder on your site.

Create descriptive alt text

Tags or alt text are an additional method that search engines like Google help ascertain what the image is all about. Very different to the more conventional web content, search engines are unable to ascertain images text content. Search engines have to depend on captions around the image, alt text, the names of the files and the other text that surrounds the image. By adding text that is descriptive in the alt tag will aid the search engines establish exactly what the images content is. Where an image is used for navigation purposes, say as a link to another page, it is important to ensure that using alt text is meaningful and relevant to the content of the page that it is being linked to.

Anchor text that is correct

A crucial element in image SEO is Anchor text. If you want to link text to images, your anchor text can be an important part of how your images are ranked when it comes to keywords. It is recommended that you use anchor text that describes the image. An image that is linked with keywords helps the search engines and visitors to your website.

Matching the images to content

The content around the image should be relevant to everything you have once you have made the decision to make a website. When everything is all aligned, the search engines will confirm that the image is relevant and that you are not spamming

Do not cram as many in as possible

This is very important and applies to all forms SEO, Do not keyword cram when filling out image alt text. All your captions, alt text, and names of files should be descriptive and to the point, not a massive list of keywords. You have to optimize the images for the visitors to your website. Image SEO is as just as much about the experience of the user as it is about appearing the highest in the search engine rankings.