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SEO tip #2: Images
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Images often get a bad rap in the SEO world, as SEO experts mostly give a brief explanation of their common hindrance in website ranking. The fact of the matter is that images, when used properly on your website, can actually help your site's ranking. Images, after all, are important, as our human eyes are naturally drawn to images before any text.
Follow these guidelines to increase the proper use of your images on your websites:
Image size: Page load times are an important element in your website ranking. If your website takes a long time to load, chances are that your site visitors won't stick around to wait for your pretty images to appear. And chances are that if your page isn't loading quickly, it has something to do with your site's images. Make your images as small as you can without reducing their quality. The size of the image does not refer to the actual viewing size but the file size. So if you have an image whose file size you can reduce, try opening it in your computer's Paint program and click on the Image tab and then Stretch/Skew. From there change the width and height to the same percentage, such as 33%.
Image type: When you can, always use a jpg or gif. If you need a high quality image with transparency, then use a png, but these files, just so you know, are typically much larger.
Image text: Alternative text is primarily intended for the visually impaired. Its secondary use is to provide search engines with readable text to rank for your site rather than just skipping over the image.
Image registration: Your next best weapon for ranking your site is also submitting your images to Google Images. It comes as no surprise that Google's users love to search through its Image tool, as, like I wrote earlier, people identify quickly and easily with images. We're just wired that way. Most websites do not register their images, so this real estate is much easier to get into. Furthermore, your Google Images ranking positively affects your regular Google search rankings. Create an account with Google to register your site; then select the option to automatically submit your images to Google Images.
Image labeling: Web designers often label their images with common nomenclatures such as bg.gif to identify the website's background image. Specifiy your images' names with your keywords. For example, if you own a pet store in Denver, replace the bg.gif with Denver_pet_store_background.gif.
Image usage: Although I do not believe that images hurt your SEO as much as others do, I still believe that you should limit your usage when possible. This rule may be different for a company whose whole business is based on imagery, such as fashion designers, photographers, artists, etc. But do not make your whole website an image. Put readable text on the pages, especially in areas that are clickable, such as your navigation.
Image captions: Because images attract the most eye balls, place them purposefully on your website and put your most important message in the image caption. This is less of an SEO tip and more of a marketing optimization tip to help you get the right message to your site visitors.
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