If you’re looking for ways to further your SEO by the mile, then image optimization is the way to go. It will do more than just boost your website’s loading speeds. Keep reading to find out more!
Image optimization? What is it?
Well, to start, it is a process that involves creating and presenting high-quality images in an ideal format, size, and resolution for the purpose of enhancing user engagement. Apart from that, it also involves the task of labeling the said images accurately so that search engine users will be able to better understand the context provided in a web page.
Does image optimization seem like it has a lot of steps to follow all at once? Don’t worry, later on in this same article, Proweaver will share with you how it is done!
Why should you do it?
Your competitors are doing it, why shouldn’t you? Although, aside from simply not being left out from the crowd, image optimization comes with a lot of perks you shouldn’t miss out on:
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It hastens page loading speed
It’s highly understandable that you would want high-quality images for your website. After all, they look more appealing than grainy and pixelized pictures.
However, there is also a catch that comes with crisp and big images; it slows down your page’s loading speeds. In effect, this does not only heighten the bounce rate for your site but also drops down your rank when it comes to SEO. Why is that, you ask? Well, in this day and age when everyone wants information available instantly, search engines pick websites with faster loading speeds to internet users.
This only goes to show that pages with faster loading speeds lead to higher web traffic as well. So, if you want to grow your online audience and boost up your SEO rank, then optimizing your website’s images is one option you definitely must consider.
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It increases SEO ranking
New to SEO and not sure what it is? That’s okay, we will give you a short overview of it.
Specifically speaking, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is defined as the process in which you take measures in order to help it rank in search results.
What’s so great about ranking up top in search results? Well, the answer is truly simple. It makes your content more visible to the public. When that happens, you can expect higher inbound traffic to your website, lesser money spent on ads, and additional PR for your brand.
Aside from implementing a custom web design, image optimization is also another way in which you can boost your SEO ranking so be sure to give it a try!
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It enhances user engagement
Think about it. What is that one main reason why you set up a business website? Is it just all so you can showcase your products and/or services? No, it isn’t! It’s about giving your clients a means to get what they need from your brand in the most convenient way possible.
However, that may not be the case if they are constantly stuck on waiting for a minute or two just to get your website to finish loading. If anything, having a slow website is like putting your clients through the experience of waiting in line all over again.
So really, doesn’t that just defeat setting up a business website anyway? In some cases, it might even encourage your prospects to just give up waiting and switch to other service providers instead. (You would probably do the same thing in their shoes!)
If you want to avoid that and speed up the way your business website loads, optimizing images is one way you can do it.
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It boosts conversions
When browsing through the internet, are you keen on pausing to read every line of text, or have you noticed that you are more prone to checking the content that has pictures on it?
Good visuals call attention. That’s why physical stores have display cases. It’s so they can show onlookers what they have to offer and invite them inside. It’s the same principle used when creating a custom web design. The more attractive your setup is, the more likely you will be able to draw in a crowd.
Wait, where does the image optimization all fit in then? Well, you see, no matter how well your physical shop, or in this case, your business website looks, all of it will be for naught if it remains unable to deliver timely results. One of the ways in which you can change that is by implementing image optimization. With great visuals and fast service, your business website is sure to skyrocket in popularity.
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It influences revenue
Running a business
has one main goal and that is to ensure that your revenue flows fluently. But how does image optimization play into that role, exactly?Well, here’s the answer. It starts a positive domino effect. As you may have seen from the points that we have mentioned above, image optimization unlocks better loading speeds for your website.
Once your business website is able to load instantly on demand, it will spawn more web visitors for your page. With more people coming over your website, it will alert search engines that you have the content internet users need. Through this, you can gain better SEO ranking, which you can expect to also lead more traffic back to your page.
Now that you have a heavy load of people visiting your website regularly, it’s inevitable for them to either make a purchase or book an appointment with your business. Still, even if they don’t turn to conversion, they will still be prompted to share your content, eventually leading to better brand recognition. It’s a win-win process.
So really, image optimization is the key to it all.
How do you do it?
Now, we’re talking! Optimizing the images on your website isn’t all that difficult. To begin, you should:
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Use an appropriate image
Take a look at the subject of your content and match it up with the image you select. The picture should give your audience an idea about what the text accompanying it is about. It should be compelling enough to drive them to continue reading your content.
Don’t forget to obtain a picture in the right format for the web too. Common file types you should stick with include PNG and JPG.
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Check the source
Now that you have selected an image, be sure to review if it’s free to use. If you don’t, you could be put in trouble for copyright infringement.
In order to avoid that, you can get the images you need from free and public image hosting sites instead such as Pexels, Bigstock, Twenty20, or Unsplash.
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Condense the size
High-resolution photos make up big files, and big files can slow down your page’s loading speeds. As a remedy to that, you can turn to condensing the image file in order to shave off the extra megabytes you don’t want.
However, do be careful when condensing your images as doing it too much can affect the picture quality as well.
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Resize the image
Now, you have to take note that the file size and the image size are not one and the same. Aside from compressing the file itself, you can also decrease the file size by cropping the image from any unnecessary details that may be in it.
This will not only lower the file size, but it will also bring your audience to focus on where you need their attention to be. However, if you want to keep the whole picture, you can also resort to scaling it down so it won’t be too heavy to load. (We’ve listed down a couple of tools you can use down below.)
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Add a title
If you have resorted to using stock photos available over the internet, you will find that most of them already have nondescript titles composed of letters and numbers.
However, since these titles will be representing the images when they are indexed to your site, you might want to change them.
Place a short description of what is happening on the picture and make use of hyphens for spaces. The reason behind this is that search engines will have an easier time pulling up your image when it is needed. (Your file names should look like “businesswoman-working-on-a-laptop.jpg” or “man-eating-breakfast.png”) Try to add in target keywords too so that you can boost your SEO further.
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Put a caption
The caption is the line of text that will appear if the image is unable to load. Apart from that, it will also be used to describe the photo you use for Google’s search index.
Since you will have more room to type in, try to be as descriptive as you can in one sentence.
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Align the image
Although this is not the main highlight of optimizing your images, you will still want to keep your pictures strategically aligned with respect to your content. This will give your posts a much neater look and draw in the eye of your audience.
What do you use to do it?
If you’re completely new to the game and are not sure which tool to use for image optimization, here we have listed down a couple few which you can use:
- Photoshop
- Affinity Photo
- Gimp
- Paint.NET
- FileOptimizer
- Trimage
Oh, just in case your website is built on WordPress, you can also simply download plugins for image optimization. Among the many plugins, here are a few examples that you can use:
- Yoast SEO
- Short Pixel
- EWWW Image Optimizer
- TinyPNG
- ImageRecycle
What should you do after you optimize the images?
After you’ve accomplished image optimization, the next step would be to determine whether your website loading speeds have indeed increased thanks to the changes that you have made.
To do that, you can use either of these tools to check your website’s loading speeds:
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- GTmetrix
- Pingdom
- WebPageTest
- WebWait
Since you will be updating your web content frequently, it would also be a good habit to check on your site’s loading speeds over time. That way, you can make sure that everything is in good working order and that your web visitors won’t have to wait too long to access your site.
Do you need help with optimizing your images for SEO?
We understand that the whole process of optimizing images on your website can be a bit overwhelming. If you decide that you would rather have professionals take care of it for you, then you can call on our team for assistance.
In fact, we don’t have just the capability to optimize your website’s images, but we can also take care of your custom web design, provide you with SEO content, as well as other related services. Furthermore, since our clients don’t just come from one business industry, our scope of expertise has broadened through the years as well. Whether your brand is about beauty, health care, logistics, or anything else in between, you can count on us to know the best approach for your business website, social media, and more.
If you’d like to check our services, you may do so by visiting our website. We can give you TWO FREE samples for your website build and FREE samples for content writing as well! Isn’t that neat?
Reach out to our team by giving one of our representatives a call today. You can find our contact details down below. We hope to hear from you soon! Don’t forget to share this blog post with a friend if you have found it informative.