As a blogger, you know that creating great content is what keeps people coming back to your site. But did you know that people may also be finding your posts through the images you use? Yep, that’s right! People aren’t just clicking through the general Google search results. Google Image Search can be a huge traffic driver for many blogs as well. Everything is so visually-focused these days, that even Google has to get in on the action. That’s why it’s important to use images on your blog that are optimized for search.
Below are some image optimization tips I’m sharing to help increase visitors to your site and grow Google rankings!
Image Size & Quality
There’s a reason many bloggers are making the move to professional cameras. Better resolution, means better photos and therefore a better chance to engage your visitors visually. Camera phones have made leaps and bounds, but they just won’t cut it. And Google knows this. They favor quality photos in high-resolution when ranking images. Earlier this year, we invested in a professional camera [affiliate] and never looked back. The photo quality has been amazing (although I still am learning how to use all the features!).
But more important than this, is image size. Did you know that site speed is a major SEO factor? Sites with large image files that are slow to download contribute to a poor user experience. Google really doesn’t like that.
So before you hit that upload button, be sure to RESIZE your images to something that best fits your blog with an image editing tool.
Image File Name
This is one of the easiest, yet often overlooked ways to make sure your images are getting ranked highly by Google. The way you name your images when saved plays a role in how they are seen by Google. So if you’re writing a post about cheesecake recipes it’s important to use relevant keywords in the image file name.
If you’re like most bloggers, however, you probably don’t think about this much, and upload images with a numerical string name like 23040a77.jpg. or image1.jpg. Are you guilty of this? Well, now’s the time to change!
Google needs help understanding what your images are about. In that cheesecake recipe post, your image should be saved and uploaded with a naming convention that makes sense: cheesecakerecipe.jpg or cheesecake-recipe.jpg. It’s a small tweak that can be a big boost.
Alt Tag
Whatever in the world is an alt tag, you ask? Nothing too complicated. The alt tag is an attribute of the image HTML that provides more info to a user. It’s an “alternate text” people will see when the image does not display properly for one reason or another. It’s another piece of information that Google uses to understand a piece of content better. It’s also another opportunity to use your keyword in. But try not to keyword-stuff here…because Google hates this. Try a related, but maybe more specific phrase like “pumpkin-swirl cheesecake recipe”.
Image Title, Caption & Description
The image title and description attributes are secondary factors for ranking, but still useful. The title is often used in place of the alt text when a user mouses-over an image, while the description will appear in your media library. It’s also important to note, that the description is pulled as your pin description on Pinterest when pinning directly from the source.
The image caption, on the other hand, is great for providing a little extra info for your readers – a usability plus that Google likes and is often also used as the caption that appears in a Google image search result.
Quick Tip: If you are on WordPress, you can easily change the names of your images to something Google wants to see [image].
That’s it! Good content + simple tweaks to your images = more traffic for you!
Are you taking advantage of images to grow your traffic?

Ana, a mom to three rambunctious little boys, has supported hundreds of thousands of women throughout their pregnancy and motherhood journey since 2012 as a blogger and maternal health advocate at MommysBundle.com.
This is SUCH a useful post, Ana. It’s something I didn’t do in the past but now I do this to every image on my blog. I think it’s an essential tip for bloggers. Stopping by from the #BloggingBetter link-up. Thanks for sharing your post with us!
Lisa Kerr recently posted…Blogging Better #1: Why Your blog needs multiple income streams
I do rename my images… it is very important. I never thought to use keywords in my ALT image tag though.
Great tips.
Thanks for sharing. I found your post through the #BloggingBetter linkup.
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom recently posted…Each Little Step Becomes Bigger
Great tips, thank you for sharing!
Susen @ Dabbling Momma recently posted…Mincecraft Cupcakes
I really need to get back into this. I was using tags on my images for awhile but didn’t think they made any difference in getting traffic to my blog. I still need to invest in a camera, but at least using Canva I can now make better images to help with SEO! Thanks for the tips! #Sitsblogging
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Run With No Regrets Big Announcement!
I am always working on this, so thank you!