In this installment of Ask Google Webmasters, John Mueller goes over a series of tips on optimizing images for search results.
Mueller, before talking about the technical details of image optimization, asks site owners to take a step back and take a look at the larger picture. Basically, don’t optimize images just for the sake of doing it.
He recommend that you begin with a plan. Think about how you want to be found in image search results and the types of queries people may use in order to find you that way.
After nailing that down, think about how your site can be useful to those who find it after search for your images. After planning that much, you can move onto optimizing for the search engine itself.
When it comes to technical optimization of images, Mueller lists these as the most important details:
- High quality images (See: 11 Important Image SEO Tips You Need to Know)
- Relevant and visible placement (See: Google Publishes Image Search SEO Tips)
- Captions (See: Google Overhauls Image Search Results on Desktop)
- Descriptive page titles and alt text (See: How Important Are Tags for SEO?)
- Descriptive file names (See: Image Alt Text vs. Title Text vs. File Names: What’s the Difference?)
- Loading speed (See: 3 Image Optimization Tips for Faster Speeds & Higher Rankings)
See the full video with Google’s John Mueller down below: