Image Optimization
Images When we think of search optimization, we tend to think of words and coding, not pictures or images. Truth is, images are a large part of the users experience and seo can influence that experience, so we have to deal with images as part of the overall process. Luckily, it’s pretty simple and the rules are easy to remember: Don’t spam! That’s pretty much it. Well, there IS more to it, so let’s get into some details. Optimizing your images Please be sure to edit each of your images to ensure the file size is as small as possible. Large images (both in terms of physical size and file size) can dramatically slow down page loading times, which will leave a negative impression with users, and may cause requests for the page to time out. This means a spider might think the page is dead, after it requested the page and it timed out while loading. Ideally you’d like images to be under 20K. Maybe 15K if you can manage it. Actually, try for under 10K per image. Better yet, shoot for 5K or less – see a theme here? Smaller is faster, faster is better. You’ll have to determine the balance between how large the image needs to be and how high the quality should be versus how the image affects page-loading speeds and user experience. User experience with a website plays a role in whether it gets shared with others, thus increasing links to the website. Since image sizes can have a dramatic effect on page load times, you want faster load time. Programs like Adobe Photoshop and MacroMedia Fireworks are ideal for this type of image editing, but use what you’re comfortable with or can afford. In the end it does basically the same thing for you. Alt attribute tags The Alt Tag is a very simple creature. It exists as a way to describe the picture. Spiders cannot “see” the picture and understand it’s an image of a tree like humans can, so they rely on alt information to describe it to them. You must enter this information. When you hover over an image with your mouse, and a small block of text appears, you’re viewing the alt text for the image. If you’re in Firefox, the default setting doesn’t show this, so you’ll need to right-click and view “Properties” to see the alt text for the image. It’s useful not just for our purposes, but also for those using “readers” to describe the website – such as users who may be visually-impaired. Alt attributes allow the accessibility software to describe the image to the user, enhancing their experience. Be careful here, as it’s an opportunity to slip in a keyword to help bolster the “understanding” of what the content of the page is talking about. Like many SEO opportunities, it’s can be, and has been, easily abused. Lets extend our example of the image of a tree. The page this image resides in is a page about making maple syrup. Thus an appropriate alt tag might be “Birch tree with maple syrup tap”. Short, simple, accurate and has the keyword phrase we want included. Spamming here would resemble this: “maple syrup, maple syrup products, maple syrup production, maple sugar, maple tree, birch tree, maple syrup for sale” – you get the idea. This is keyword stuffing and it’s bad. When to use Alt attributes You should use alt attributes on any image you place with content on the page. Using this attribute on your logo is also fine. If you start using this attribute on every image that makes up the look & feel of your website, it could be a concern for you. Since those images are used across all the pages of your website, the alt tags will be identical on each image, on every page. This is an obvious trick, which the engines see and discount quickly. Do this enough and you could get a penalty for spamming. And don’t go thinking you’re going to place a bunch of 1 pixel by 1-pixel images on the page and fill the alt tags with keywords. It’s been done, and since the spiders actually read the code of the page, they easily see the 1 x 1 image as garbage. They know a human cannot see a 1 x 1 pixel image. If used properly, alt attribute tags can help get your images ranked well in the “Image” searches, which are now popular. This can be an easy way to boost search engine traffic to your website and it’s an item many sites still overlook today.
