When was the last time you chose to upload an image to your website and kept praying for it to be downloaded? Content is definitely king, but it needs the support of many other items. Images play an integral role in search engine optimization. Images can make many interesting changes to your website. One, it can slow your page down if the image is extremely big. And many search engines are not programmed to read all types of images. You need to include an “alt” text if you want the search engine to recognize it!
According to a recent study, more than 30% of web searches are based on images. Many amateurs and even professionals in search engine optimization spend a lot of time optimizing their images. If you want to engage in image optimization, you are going to spend your time and effort on one of the most powerful SEO assets of all. So, let’s get started on how to optimize images like a pro.
Format!
First things first, you must ensure that the image is in the right format. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if someone told me that there are multiple types of images. Before you choose an image for your website, you must verify its file type. The most commonly used image formats on websites are JPEG and PNG. JPEG offers smaller images of lower quality. On the other hand, PNG offers high-quality images, but the files will be bigger.
For most website developers, PNG is the untold and unsung hero of image optimization.
Compress!
If your website is going to have multiple images, you must invest some time and compress the files. When search engines crawl into your site, the chances of your website getting rejected are high if you have huge images. Always compress the images as much as possible. Compressing will reduce the overall weight of your website.
There are many tools to help you with image compression. A compressed image would load at a faster speed. You can improve the speed of your site by 2 to 5 seconds easily.
Uniqueness!
Last but certainly not least, you must look for uniqueness in all your images. Don’t end up copying images from other websites. Generic stock photographs will bore online visitors, and make them focus on some other website. This is why you should always create your own collection of images for your website.
