Or: In search of the white horse...
Congratulations! You already know how to research suitable search terms and write good website texts. Now let's take a closer look at the topic of website images. Let's venture a little further into the magical forest of search engine optimization. After the industrious goblins, we will now encounter fairytale horses. You can find out why these beautiful animals are a great example of image SEO here...
Google attaches more and more importance to the images on websites
You may have already noticed: Google is increasingly integrating images into search queries. The "Lens" function has been available on the homepage since November. You will find a camera symbol in the search bar. If you click on it, you can upload an image directly or enter an image URL (web address of an image) and then start various search queries. For example, if you upload the photo of our white horses, Google will show you similar images or search for the original photo source.
The fact that Google is giving images more space is in line with a general trend. The image search function has also been greatly expanded. Image SEO therefore plays an important role! If you optimize the images for your website, you will get better results in the image search. And you improve the general visibility of your site in search engines.
Gain more clicks with suitable images, photos and graphics
Longer continuous texts are easier to read if you decorate them with photos or graphics, for example. And if the reader experience is particularly good, search engines will notice this and reward your site. Always choose website images that match the content. Place them high up and add a caption. Ensure good quality with a small file size to avoid long loading times. Test the quality in advance on your computer and cell phone. Incidentally, the view on the cell phone has priority in the Google rating! It is therefore important that the images are displayed well and load quickly.
IMG_XYZ2222: Secret code or file name? Tips for image descriptions
All images that you use on your website should have a suitable file name. This helps search engines to better understand your content. The image name is also the image URL. As is usual with web addresses, use hyphens instead of underscores to connect individual words, for example "horses-in-the-magical-forest". Your Alternative texts you can use for image SEO. You can use specific keywords in them, like here: "Two white horses in an enchanted forest as an example of good website images." It's quite simple, isn't it?
To be continued ... part 4 is about the influence of links
You can find more articles on search engine optimization of images here:
https://de.semrush.com/blog/bilder-seo
You can find a large selection of images in free photo databases: