Optimizing Your Site

- Optimising Images

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Images make your website and pages more attractive. And you can naturally use them to enrich your content.

As part of your overall content, images provide search engines with vital contextual information.

Consequently, images can also make an impact on how your pages are indexed and ranked by search engines.

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To give your online business the best chance of success with search engine optimisation (SEO), you should understand the fundamentals of image optimisation.

In this section of the KAMG SEO Content Hub, you’ll learn about optimising images for search engines and why and how you need to do it.

Let’s dig in.

What is Image Optimisation?

In terms of the overall SEO process, image optimisation is the process of ensuring that you create and deliver high-quality images. It involves making sure that your website and pages have images in the ideal format, size, and resolution to increase user engagement.

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Image optimisation also involves accurately labelling images in an effort to make it simpler for search engine crawlers to understand them and the context of your page.

Why Optimise Images

The job of search engines is to find online content and index it so that it can later be matched with any future relevant queries or searches made by users.

And you can improve how much your website content shows up for those searches by using search engine optimisation (SEO).

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SEO involves multiple processes that aim to optimise your website and content so that collectively they are simpler for search engines to find, understand, index, and ultimately present to search users.

The result of effective SEO is that people can find your content more often on relevant search engines results pages (SERPs), increasing your chances of getting them to visit your website.

  • The simpler you make it for search engines to do their job, the more you increase the chances that your pages will show up on SERPs.
  • Also, the better your content and the more optimised it is for SEO, the higher your pages may rank on SERPs.
  • And the higher you rank on SERPs, the more opportunities you can get for higher organic traffic volumes from search engines. This then results in more site visitors and greater chances of conversions and profits.
SERP

So essentially, you logically need to see to it that Google doesn’t only understand your website’s and pages’ text but also their associated images.

On the other hand, optimised images increase your page loading speeds. As a result, they can help increase user engagement and, consequently, search engine rankings.

According to the Web Almanac by HTTP Archive, one of the biggest contributors to a bloated page (a page that’s oversized in terms of the memory it takes up) is unoptimised images.

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Images consume the most size or bytes of any component of your website. So, their size and complexity can have a significant impact on your site’s performance.

When you reduce the size of an image without sacrificing its quality, page load times can improve and, as a result, website visitors’ experiences can also improve. 

Ideally, you want your website to load within only 3 seconds, or 2 seconds if it’s an eCommerce store. This is because research has shown that 40% of consumers will wait no more than 3 seconds before leaving or abandoning a site.

Furthermore, because optimised images take up less storage space on your server, site backups will be completed faster.

So, if you want your pages to not only be properly indexed by Google but also rank well on SERPs, you need to put an effort into image optimisation.

The Essential Steps to Image Optimisation

STEP 1 | Optimise Your Image Size

First of all, we must remember that the dimensions of your image and its email file size are not the same thing.

For example, the below image size is 1200×900 pixels.

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But if you were to look into the details of the image file, you would find its file size to be 1.77 MB.

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Images with a higher resolution and larger dimensions (often created with a professional camera) significantly slow down page loading times. While they work well for print reproduction, they must be scaled down without losing image quality to work well on the web.

Here are the steps to optimising your image sizes.

  • Pick the proper image format.

Generally speaking certain image file types are associated with certain use categories. 

Here’s an infographic from the 99designs.com article about different image file types and their attributes.

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As a general consensus, most agree that the most efficient file types to use for websites are JPG for images that are multicoloured and PNG for simpler images like icons.

However, our SEO experts at KAMG argue that, in general, the file type shouldn’t matter as long as the file size doesn’t slow your loading speed. And that principle is the critical rule to keep in mind.

  • Pick the correct compression rate.

Image compression is the process of reducing the size of a graphics file in bytes without sacrificing image quality to an unacceptable level. The smaller file size allows for faster loading speeds for your web pages.

Here’s an example of different compressions of an image from Adobe’s guide on compressing images.

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The original, uncompressed image (left) has a file size of 8.9 MB. The file size after compression (right) is 68.34 KB. Image compression reduces file size but also degrades the overall quality.

By comparing the insets from both images one can see how much detail has been lost.

When an image is overly compressed, the file size is reduced but the image quality suffers.

When using a low compression rate, the image quality can remain high, but the file size can also remain unaffected.

Ideally, one should try different file types and compression rates to see what works best for each image.

Many image-editing software programmes, including Adobe Photoshop, have a Save for Web option that automatically reduces file size while optimising image quality.

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If Photoshop is not an option, there are other tools that could be considered.

Image Optimisation Tools

WordPress Image Optimisation Plug-ins

Optimisation Checking Tools

These are tools to check if your website’s page loading times are fast enough after you’ve optimised your images.

STEP 2 | Optimise the File Names of Your Images

Choosing the appropriate file name is critical for your page’s SEO and ranking in image SERPs.

To maximise SEO power, name any image file before uploading it with relevant, descriptive text. Try to include the target keywords of your page if it makes sense within the page’s context. 

Separate each word of your image file name with hyphens (-).

Avoid using underscores (_) because search engines will not recognise them and will not be able to “see” the words individually.

Example:

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“A cat is excited to get a training treat” to describe the above image is better than just using the keyword “cat training.”

So a good file name for the image could be “cat-excited-for-treats-during-cat-training.”

STEP 3 | Use Alt Tags

Your readers may quickly understand what a picture is about, but search engine spiders often require additional information.

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ALT tags, also known as ALT attributes, are “alternative text” for images. ALT tags are used to describe an image or what it represents. 

ALT tags become part of your pages’ and posts’ codes.

Here’s the alt text to an image used on a dental clinic’s page. It says “image of a boy who’s about to wear a mouthguard.”

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One of the primary functions of ALT tags is to assist visually impaired users who use screen readers while browsing. It is also what is displayed in the place of an unloaded image.

And the tags are also used by search engines to better understand what the image is about in the context of your page or post.

So, without alternative text, search engines cannot accurately index your image content.

To increase search engine visibility, include brand-relevant words in your alt tags while ensuring that your text properly describes your image. Just avoid keyword stuffing, i.e. deliberately repeating keywords again and again on your page and its elements.

Here are tips for writing ‘good’ alt text.

  1. Describe in detail what’s in and going on in the image.

Think of how you can accurately describe the image to a blind person in as few words as possible.

  1. Only use keywords if they help accurately describe your image.

Google is already smart enough to know what your content is about even if you don’t use keywords directly. Simply try to describe your image well and if your keywords fit, then proceed; otherwise, you can drop it.

  1. You may not add alt text if the image is accompanied by a caption on the page.

You don’t have to repeat yourself. 

If your image is already properly captioned with a displayed text, it can already serve as your alt text although in a different format.

The less text your page has to load with, the faster your page loading speed will be.

  1. Don’t add alt text to decorative images.

Images that are part of your content’s context are called illustrative images. They are images that help the reader understand your page or post.

You should add alt text to illustrative images only.

Images that are simply there to make your page look nice are decorative images.

They are not truly part of your content and it would be a waste of loading speed to add alt text to them.

  1. Include text that’s in the image.

Transcribe whatever text is in the image.

Think about how a text-to-speech machine can help a blind user understand a text-heavy image like an infographic. And the solution would be to transcribe the text so that the machine can read it to the user.

STEP 4 | Use Descriptive Image Titles

If you use WordPress to host your website, the image title is usually derived from the file name. So you can sometimes leave it alone if you are sure that your file names are already SEO-friendly.

If you don’t use WordPress or the title doesn’t adequately describe the image, rename it just as you would file names.

STEP 5 | Describe Your Images With Your Copy

Acknowledge your images and talk about them in your content. 

The most straightforward way to do this is by captioning them.

Image captions may not have a direct impact on SEO, but they are visible on a website page, unlike file names and alt text.

As a result, they can improve the user experience.

Aside from using captions, ensure that your images and text complement each other.

One thing to keep in mind (especially for blogs or posts) is that you shouldn’t simply put up an illustrative image and not talk about it with your text. You want your reader to contextualise your image so describe it on your copy.

Images on service pages usually are treated with alt text instead and not written about on body text.

STEP 6 | Use Original Images

Stock photos are acceptable, but they will not necessarily help your search rankings. This is because other websites frequently use the same images. 

Similarly to how unique written content improves SEO, it’s a good idea to upload unique images whenever possible.

STEP 7 | Include Image Structured Data

By including structured data on your pages, search engines can display your images as rich results.

Rich results are Google Search experiences that go beyond the standard blue link. They are driven by structured data and can contain carousels, images, or other non-textual elements.

Structured data is supported by Google Images for product images, videos, and recipes.

For example, if you have recipes on your site and add structured data to your images, Google can add a badge to your image indicating that it is associated with a recipe.

The following snip of a SERP for the search words apple pie recipe shows rich results.

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To ensure your content is displayed as rich results, follow Google’s General Structured Data Guidelines.

STEP 8 | Include Images in Your Site Map

A site map, according to Google, is “a file where you can list the web pages of your site to tell Google and other search engines about the organisation of your site content.” In other words, it’s a file that contains a map of the content of your site.

Site maps are an important part of SEO because they inform search engines about all of your site’s pages

Include every image like infographics, memes, photos or video thumbnails, in your sitemap to ensure that search engine crawlers notice them.

Include the title, description, URL location, caption, and licence information for these image map entries. Include the title, description, URL location, thumbnail URL, and raw video file URL for video entries.

If your website is hosted on WordPress, you can use Yoast SEO, which will add your visual content to a site map automatically.

Optimising your images can contribute significantly to your rankings and traffic.

Images are part of your overall content, and if Google and other search engines are to show your pages to searchers, they have to be appropriately indexed.

The key here is to make it as simple and quick as possible for search engines to find and understand your website and its pages. Done right, your SEO can increase how many people come to your website and give you more prospects to convert and profit from.

Champ Biala

Champ Biala

Author

CHAMP BIALA is the Head of Content for KAMG and a seasoned writer. Past experiences in education, video production and music allows him to create varied content for multiple business types. He provides content for firms across Asia, the US, the UK and Canada when he is not organising beach festivals in the Philippines.

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Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 08, 2022

This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.

  • Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to Kas Andz Marketing Group, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN.

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

  • Country refers to: United Kingdom

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

  • Website refers to Kas Andz Marketing Group, accessible from kasandz.

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address

  • First name and last name

  • Phone number

  • Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City

  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service. The technologies We use may include:

  • Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Service may use Cookies.
  • Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on our Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read “Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?” available at flash player.
  • Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).

Cookies can be “Persistent” or “Session” Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser. Learn more about cookies on the Free Privacy Policy website article.

We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies

    Type: Session Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.

  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.

  • Functionality Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy or the Cookies section of our Privacy Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.

  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.

  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.

  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application’s push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.

  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.

  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

  • For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets transferred.

  • For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

We may share Your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to contact You.
  • For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to another company.
  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.
  • With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.
  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.
  • With Your consent: We may disclose Your personal information for any other purpose with Your consent.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company
  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public
  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Children’s Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent’s consent before We collect and use that information.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: team@kasandz.com