Ranking high on Google images can be used together with other forms of SEO to deliver value to your business. Even though we have all benefited from image optimization, Google images traffic is often underrated, which would explain why there are not so many business owners who aim to rank photos.
However, a large percentage of Google Search traffic happens on Google images. Many users prefer to use Google images to find content mainly because of the straightforward nature of imagery.
The competition in ranking images in Google is lower compared to ranking text. This situation provides a great opportunity that can be profitable for your business.
By ranking images on Google, you can include a logo on the image for branding purposes. You can also drive extra traffic to your site through image optimization. Images can appear in Google’s featured image block in the top results even when users perform traditional web searches.
Leverage your web properties that rank high
If you have web properties that are already doing well in Google rankings, use them to get your images high up on Google Image results.
If you have a business website or social media profiles that rank well for your keyword, upload well-optimized images to such platforms. This will give you an edge in the rankings. Google trusts websites and profiles that rank high, and in effect, it trusts the images on such sites.
Optimizing your images is key. Google algorithm uses a few ranking factors to deduce which images will rank for certain keywords. Such factors include:
Image file name – Your image’s file name matters, and that is why you should ensure that the file name is closely related to the keyword you are aiming to rank for. In many cases, when you save an image on your PC, the computer generates an automatic file name that is usually unrelated to the contents of the image. Do not upload your picture with such a non-optimized file name.
Image Size and Dimensions – The size of your image should be compressed to reasonable dimensions to allow clear viewing while at the same time ensuring better loading speed, and therefore, better user experience. Images that are too big may not be user-friendly. On the other hand, images that are way too small may have low visibility.
Image metadata – Your image metadata is also an important ranking factor. After uploading your image, check the Meta title, caption, alt text, and description. Ensure that these pieces of information are diligently filled out depending on the keyword you want to rank for.
Image engagement – If your images get more clicks and views, they will rank even higher. When more people start clicking on your image, Google algorithm takes note of this and revises your ranking to a higher rank. Some of the reasons your image may have high engagement is because it is of high quality, highly interesting or it is highly relevant according to users.
Hosted Page elements – Your hosted page will also influence how your images rank. Your page URL, page title and the surrounding text help inform Google in its ranking. Google algorithms use the elements to deduce the relevance of your image in relation to a particular keyword. The more details you provide about your image, the more Google algorithm can understand the content, and the more likely it is for Google to rank you higher.
1. Alt text
You should match the alt text of the image to the keyword you want to rank for.Likewise, If you have image describing about Off page seo optimization then alt text should be the keyword which you ranking for. This helps google to know about the image.
2. Content near the image
The web content in the neighborhood of your image should be closely related to the target keyword. Google algorithm checks this content while ranking images.
3. Authority
Authority becomes more important if the keyword you are aiming to rank is very competitive. If you want to take a rich snippet image spot, ensure that the hosting website of your image has comparable authority to the competition website that has the actual text snippet.
4. Syndication
Syndicate your image out to the entire available image sharing websites such as Google plus, Google Picassa and Flickr. Link back to your original image.
5. Juice the image
Embed your image on a few PBN sites just like you would do while ranking a YouTube video.
The description of your image should have the proper long tail keyword phrases.
Inbound links should have the proper anchor text. Also, inbound links from multiple domains that rank higher on Google will boost your website’s ranking to a greater extent.
If your image is hosted on root domain, it is likely to score a higher rank than images hosted on free servers or other servers.
If you want to rank higher on Google images, consider having outbound links to highly related content that can help the researcher get more helpful information. Links to related posts and keywords explanations can boost your image rank.
Image SEO can be a great investment in growing your website’s traffic. The rate at which your rank will improve depends on multiple factors including the level of competition and your website’s authority.
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