Learning the correct and proper way of Optimizing images in blogger or wordpress is a must. Google Image search is used widely for finding quality reference images, icons and photos. From web designers to normal surfers everyone looks for images that could be added to their profiles, desktop, blog posts, projects and etc. A great percentage of our [a href="http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2011/11/20-guru-tips-to-increase-blog-traffic.html" target="_blank"]blog traffic[/a] depends on Image search. We add plenty of high quality images to each of our posts in order to catch readers attention but we don’t just add them we TAG them! Search robots can not read multimedia may it be graphic images or flash. An image is meaningless for search spiders if it is not defined(TAGGED). Lets discuss this important SEO lesson in detail.
What is image Tag?
A Tag is simple HTML code that tells search robots what the image is all about. It is the description of image. This Tag is different from the tags that you add to [a href="http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2011/12/facebook-timeline-cover-create-hot.html" target="_blank"]photos in Facebook[/a]. Here you must be selective with your choice of rich keywords. Following is an example of a simple image HTML Code:
<img src="IMAGE LINK" />
Adding this code any where in your templates will display an image. When robots scan your content they look for every detail and when they come across you image HTML code they do not recognize what the image is all about. It can't judge if it is an image on SEO Tips or Pizza Recipe. To let robots index each of your images you must add an alt Tag This alt Tag was introduced by Google so that images could be well described, categorized and indexed. This Tag tells the robot about the purpose of the image. For Example:
<img src="IMAGE LINK" alt="SEO Tips" />
You can see in the above code that the yellow highlighted part tells Search engine spiders that the image being displayed is about "SEO Tips" You just need to add two-three short words to describe your image. Thus alt tag is basically a short HTML code i.e. alt="" and you add the description of image between the inverted commas.
What are Optimized Image Tags?
Just by adding a alt tag to your image code wont turn your image into an optimized one. You should keep the following tips in mind while writing description for your pictures, photos or any image:
- Keep Description limited to 4 words. Less is best
- Don't write full sentences to describe images. Instead of writing "Best SEO Tips to Optimize Images in Blogspot" Simply Tag it as "Image SEO Tips" or "Optimized Images" or "How To Optimize Images"
- Just like not every keyword should be added to [a href="http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2011/01/how-to-write-search-engine-friendly.html" target="_blank"]Post titles[/a], similarly not every keyword should be added to Image Tags. Brief, Precise and relevant tagged images always score high. Keep it simple as much as possible. Google is smart enough to attach related keywords to your image from your post content.
- Always Add an intro image to your posts. I always add an intro image at the start of every post and I tag it sensibly so that the image Tag may clearly synchronize with the [a href="http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2011/06/optimize-blog-post-titles-using-h2-tag.html" target="_blank"]post title[/a]. Use your best keywords in your intro images
- Do not tag images with senseless words. If the image is a screenshot of an installation process step for instance Photoshop. Then instead of writing as "Click settings" or "Click Next" give it a rich tag like "Photoshop Settings" or "Best Photoshop settings"
- Tag the image with normal English words and avoid use of special characters like %, $, #, @,&, -, _ etc.
How to add alt Tags To Blogger Images?
Whenever you add a photo to your post editor, always switch to "Edit HTML" mode and find the HTML code for the image which will look like this:
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s4duV3rFdNU/TraScxE5PoI/AAAAAAAAFVo/ZkfRcPAVpkI/image%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" ><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s4duV3rFdNU/TraScxE5PoI/AAAAAAAAFVo/ZkfRcPAVpkI/image%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" /></a>
I know it looks weird but you just need to identify the HTML code of the image which is the highlighted portion. Add the alt tag just after <img as shown below,
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s4duV3rFdNU/TraScxE5PoI/AAAAAAAAFVo/ZkfRcPAVpkI/image%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" ><img alt="IMAGE DESCRIPTION" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s4duV3rFdNU/TraScxE5PoI/AAAAAAAAFVo/ZkfRcPAVpkI/image%25255B30%25255D.png?imgmax=800" /></a>
This way you will turn your images into a traffic driving source and can expect fair amount of increase in daily visitors just by adopting the habit of Image Tagging.
Need Help?
If you have any questions in mind related to image optimization then feel free to post your comments. I hope this small tutorial may help you in improving your blogging skills. Peace and blessings pals! :)
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