Image Search Engines: How to Get Your Blog Ready?

Oh, now what are image search engines?

We have talked about abut keyword research and basic SEO tips. But in our discussion, one thing that did not get the highlight is the images on our blogs.

Images are such an integral part of blogging. As they are essential in expressing the mood and thoughts of our blog posts, there is much need for the search engine optimization of our blog images also.

The most prominent image search engines are Pinterest and Google Images.

Images not only help the blog posts to look attractive, enhance the reader’s experience but also help to maintain SEO for the blog.

Image search engines like Pinterest is a major traffic booster in recent times and there is the only way to get huge traffic from Pinterest. It is to optimize our blogs and its images for image search engines.

What is an image search engine?

Images search engines help to gather information with the help of images. They are like a huge database that can be searched by using the right keywords.

In terms of Google or Bing, it is easy to rank higher in image search engines. The algorithm of image search engines emphasizes only in images making it easier for the blogger to optimize them accordingly.

What is the best image search engine?

Right now, Pinterest is ruling the arena of visual search engines. Although started as a visual bookmarking site, Pinterest quickly rebuilt itself as a powerful search engine and right now, it ranks third just after Google and YouTube.

Why is optimizing images for image search engines important?

Optimisation of images helps to load the site better and fast. As we know that site page is also an important key in Google rankings, image optimisation helps to improve the site speed.

Image optimisation also means more traffic from Pinterest without much effort.

Personally, I love Pinterest and it drives lots of traffic to my blog. Want to know how to set up Pinterest and use it? Read my Pinterest Tutorials for Beginners here.

How to Optimize our Blogs for Image Search Engines?

I found optimizing for Pinterest easier than Google. Like Google, Pinterest also likes long term keywords but simple steps can help in optimizing our blogs for it.

Here are the few steps I follow to optimize my blogs for image search engines.

• Choosing a relevant image
• Right sizes of the images
• The right filename
• Adding alt text
• Adding image descriptions and image captions

Choosing relevant images

Choosing the right image which goes with the context of the blog post is crucial for image SEO. The image in the post must reflect what you intend to express. This trick works better for food, lifestyle, and travel bloggers.

The right size of the images

One of the major reasons for low site speed is the loading time of the images. The more the images, lower the site speed is. And as bloggers, we use lots of images risking slower load times.

The solution here is to upload low-resolution pictures or compress the images.

I usually use JPG format for my images unless I upload an infographic. My Infographics are in PNG format so that they provide better quality.

It is better to compress the images without compromising the quality. I use WP Smush to compress my images and optimize them for search engines.

The right filename

Many of us are guilty of saving pictures in the default manner. But visual search engines like Pinterest or Google Images also take account of the file name of an image.

To better optimize an image, we must save or rename our image files with the keywords. For example, if you are writing about pumpkin recipes and have a picture of pumpkin yard, it is better to save the picture as pumpkin-recipes.jpg or easy-pumpkin-recipes.jpg

We must tell the search engines that our files are better named and can be found with a given keyword.

Adding Alt text

Adding Alt text to images is crucial in optimization for image SEO. Alt text helps search engines understand what the image is about since search engines can’t see it. I use the blog title as my Alt text.

Please note that too much keyword in Alt text can result in keyword staffing leading to SEO error.

Adding image descriptions and captions

I am seriously guilty of not paying much attention to image captions. Although I add descriptions of the images alongside Alt text, I often forget to put the image captions.

But image captions help in image SEO. It can be only 3-5 words on the image or just a line showing the context with the text.

Image descriptions also help in the optimisation. I generally write two lines on what the image and blog post is all about including the long term keyword. In most cases, I copy my Meta description and paste it in the image description box!

So, are you ready to get lots of traffic from visual/image search engines? Start images search optimisation, now!

check my SEO book: Profitable SEO

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