When many people think about SEO, they think of keywords and search engine rankings for content. However, images are also an important component of successful SEO. Without optimized images, your website is likely to lag behind its competitors. 

The goal of your business’s website is to attract visitors. While your written content plays a role in this, image optimization does, too. Web searches still attract the majority of web traffic, but more and more, web surfers are clicking on images to take them to websites. 

The Top Benefits of Image SEO

One of the most obvious benefits of images for your website is aesthetic value. Images are far more eye-catching than text, allowing your brand a more memorable impression. Visitors are also more likely to browse a visually interesting website than a wall of text. 

However, the ability of images to take visitors to your site is a growing benefit. As consumers become more likely to click on images in web searches, it becomes more important for businesses to include optimized images with all of their content. 

When you provide alt text for the images on your site, you make it possible for search engines to display those images in relevant searches. This can allow you to engage with your target audience (and, therefore, high-quality leads), just by implementing SEO for your images as well as your written content. 

Image Alt Text Tips

As you’re writing alt text for your images, make sure to be specific about what the image displays. This will ensure that it gets shown in relevant searches. However, don’t make the alt text too long, wordy, or generic. While including many words in the alt text may seem like it will make your image more prominent in web searches, it will simply make it pop up in irrelevant searches.  

Page Loading Speed

In addition to SEO efforts, optimizing your images by compressing them and saving them as a PNG or JPEG offers several benefits. One key benefit of image optimization is an improvement to the loading speed of your web pages. High-quality images are an asset to your site, but can notoriously increase the amount of time it takes for that page to load. By optimizing the images on your website, you can ensure that all of the pages load as quickly as possible without sacrificing those beautiful photos and graphics. This will prevent visitors from leaving your site due to prolonged loading times. 

Image SEO For Greater Web Success 

Search engine optimization for your website is a worthwhile effort for the success of your business. By engaging customers, generating clicks, and creating a more visually interesting website, you can grow your brand while creating a professional image. For comprehensive SEO services, contact WattMedia today.