SEO Working With Images

There is a lot of good SEO advice out there related to using keyword tags as part of your page URL, but not much is said about optimizing your website images for search engines as well. When it comes to pictures most people think of just adding an alt tag to the picture image, which basically describes what the image is about. Yes, this is useful, but there is something else you can do as well.

When saving an image file, you should always choose a name with direct search engine friendly keywords. Make sure the keywords are separated with something like an underscore character. For example, if you have an electronics store with images of each product you sell, then you should call your Sony DVD Player website image "sony_dvd_player.jpg". When a surfer wants to take a look at what DVD player models are out there to buy, your image will come up in the image search results and lead the visitor to your store!

This seems simple and obvious, but many people overlook it, especially when taking pics with their own digital camera, where the images are automatically saved on the camera memory card in numerical order (ie. img_001, img_002, etc). Simply rename the image files when using them on your website to a more search engine friendly name.

If your images have the proper SEO work applied to them, they can be a better search magnet to your site than your optimized text! This, of course, is especially true if you're selling anything visual or graphic in nature. It wouldn't be very helpful for a "work at home" site like this one, but can be very useful for many other types of sites.

Many surfers now are just as likely to do an image search as a web search, so the next time they do an image search for something they want to see first, make sure your optimized images draw them to your site ahead of the competition! You'll be glad you did that extra bit of effort before uploading your pictures.

Are Meta Tags Keywords Useful Anymore?

I posted before about the importance of keywords in general for good SEO work, so I guess this could be considered as part 2 of that post. Here I'll discuss the importance of Meta Tags. Are they still useful?

There is some debate recently among SEO specialists as to whether or not you even need meta tags anymore. Apparently, some of the biggest search engines no longer consider them important and will either dismiss them or index them only as a general reference for your site category. I know of at least one person with a site on the the first Google SERP for their keywords of choice without ANY meta tags at all or even a site title!

Gone are the days when keyword stuffing would get you top results. Now, it's all about content, and that's how it should be, really. A site without useful content isn't of much value to anyone, so why should they read it? Search engine results are becoming more about presenting useful content to the searchers and surfers on the internet, and with the implementation of "web 2.0", this can be seen as a step in the right direction. Just make sure your site content is useful and relevant to the keyword results you wish to be found in and you'll be ready for the latest Internet revolution.

Until the search engine algorithms change yet again...