Hello Chasers,
When we look at optimising online we need to consider how a search engine (e.g. Google browser) functions.
Once we understand this we can then make sure we optimise our blog and website’s content, headers, subheaders and meta descriptions – (those HTML tags that summarise the webpages content.)
The image for today’s blog post is the first search engine results page (SERP) Google produces for the search term, “excel table examples.” Notice how, in addition to the “Images” tab at the top, Google pulls in a substantial pack of clickable images to the beginning of the main results page — before any organic text results are even visible.
The images have been described as an excel table in its Alt Text area.
Over 43% of Google’s SERPs today, show videos & images – and that’s likely to increase. That means, despite your best SEO efforts, you could still be missing out on another source of organic traffic: your website’s images.
How do you get in on this traffic source?
With SEO for Images using alt text!
Also known as alt tags and alt descriptions, alt text (or alternative text) is the written description of an image that appears in place of an image on a webpage if the image fails to load on a user’s screen. This text helps screen-reading tools describe images to visually impaired readers and allows search engines to better crawl and rank your website.
Image SEO refers to the optimisation of images to get more traffic from search engines. For example, optimising for image SEO can help your site rank higher on Google Images. That’s because alt text lets you tell Google what the image shows. It can also contribute to your site’s accessibility for users, as well as explain to users what an image should show if an image is broken.
Google Image searches account for 21% of all searches.
This is why it’s crucial to pay attention to your Image SEO- you’ll be missing out on a huge amount of traffic if you don’t. Image SEO can drive significant traffic to your site in two different ways:
- using optimised images increases the chance of ranking in Google Images; and
- images are an important part of on-page SEO.
Google is increasingly showing images in the regular search results, often above the usual organic results.
Now, when adding alt text, it’s best to be descriptive without overdoing it. Imagine you’re on the phone with someone and need to explain how an image looks – how would you best describe it?
Generally, it’s best to stick to a maximum of 125 characters when writing alt text. This is because most screen readers (assistive technologies to help those who are visually impaired) stop reading alt text after 125 characters.
It’s also helpful to include relevant keywords in your alt text, but there’s a fine line between being specific and being spammy.
Optimised alt text can help Google understand the context of your visuals if you use natural descriptions, but a word of warning, “keyword stuffing” can create a poor user experience. And even signal to Google that your page is spam.
If used correctly, you will have an optimised image that will provide a better chance of your ideal customer finding you.
Have a great day!
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