Use Photos to Make Your Blog Show Up On Search Engines

Photo courtesy of Stock.chng
After the discussion of blog photos and how to keep from getting sued, I thought I'd mention one additional thing that can help bloggers who use photos. This tip has nothing to do with copyright, but helps the search engines to "see" the photos you upload. 

I learned this tip from Alexa, the site where you can have your blog analyzed for optimization. Just using a photo with the typical "DSCN66007.jpg" does not allow search engines like Google to "see" them. If you want your photos to help bring readers to your site, there are three things to do.

Rename. It's easy to rename a photo. Just like a file name, click on it to highlight the file name, and give it the name you want. But don't just describe the picture, give it a name that will mean something to the search engine. Think keywords. If it's a picture of a beach ball for your post on reading on the beach, you could call it "great beach reads"

Separate. Next, you'll separate the words of your photo label. Use either a dash or an underscore. For the beach ball example, you'd use "great-beach-reads" or "great_beach_reads".

Add. Lastly, you'll add the magic ingredient. I don't know why this works so well, but Alexa said to do it, and it has magical results. Add the letters "alt" to the end of your photo tag. So our examples above would end up looking like these: "great-beach-reads-alt.jpg" or "great_beach_reads-alt.jpg".

Somehow, doing these three simple things makes the photos you use visible to the search engines. Using Sitemeter, I've noticed that a huge amount of my blog traffic comes from Google images. That was not the case before I began renaming my photos. Some photos I've used appear in the first position on Google images. That increases the likelihood of someone ending up on my blog. Give it a try--it might work well for you, too.

Has anyone else tried this technique? I'd love to hear your experiences, and if you have other tips to share.


11 comments:

  1. Great tips, Debbie! I've heard this before but haven't been good about applying the advice. You've inspired me!

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  2. Whoa, what great info'! Thanks, Debbie :-) I'm out of town at the moment, but when I get back (and catch up) I'm going to want to come back and reconnect here...

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  3. This is a great tip. I was told a couple of years ago to do this, but I wasn't told "how" to do it. I'm glad you took the time to explain it. Thanks!

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  4. Thanks for the photo tips! I've been slow to get into using photos, because of the copyright issue, but it's good to know how to make them work to my advantage.

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  5. Huh. I don't often use images on my blog. Perhaps I'll start...

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  6. Wow...thanks for this, Debbie! Such a simple tip will make a big difference. I will try this on my next post. Does the photo need to be at the top, or, anywhere in the post?

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  7. When I started doing this, I wasn't sure if it would make any difference. But then I checked my analytics, and saw so much traffic coming from Google and Bing images.

    Jarm, it doesn't matter where the photo appears, or how many photos you use. Hope you all have success with this!

    ~Debbie

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  8. Savvy tip! I especially like the example of naming a beach ball image "great beach reads" because it's embedded in a post about great beach reads. (As opposed to just naming the pic "beach ball," which is too generic, as you said.) Makes perfect sense!

    Heading over to the Alexa site now...

    Smooches to you!
    Janette

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  9. I know, Janette. It's not something I'd have ever figured out on my own, but it definitely has an impact. Hope it works for you!

    ~Debbie

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  10. Thanks for the reminder, Debbie, to use these techniques. I have in the past, but must do it consistently!

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