With so much of the Internet’s content now focused on imagery, what are some SEO strategies for ensuring your website will be noticed by your target audience?
First off, remember that behind every image is a snipped of HTML code. You may not see it unless you click on the source code, but Google, Bing and other search engines crawl that code continually as they index websites. That’s why you should always use alt tags, encoding these in every single image on your site. Even though these tags are typically short, make them count. Really focus in on those keywords you see as most relevant to your site.
What kind of images should you use to increase traffic? A search engine cannot ‘see’ like the human eye. Even so, avoid boring, blurred or copyrighted imagery because your hope is to do more than just boost SEO. You also want to have real, live human beings looking at those images and sharing them with others.
Introductions matter a lot, and that first use of a link sets the stage for engagement. Make sure the link is meaningful and pertinent to the topic.
Web search algorithms simply detect code and rank its importance. So it’s up to you to ensure the images you post are sufficiently engaging to others who will hopefully share them through social media. Imagery including humor, surprise and stunningly beautiful photos are more likely to be circulated on social media channels. Nothing could be better for upping traffic to your website, thus increasing your SEO ranking.
Many photographers use WordPress as their website engine, and this proves immensely beneficial for photographers in garnering more look-sees. Improve your analytics by placing your blog and main portfolio on the same domain. For example, this fictitious website address — http://www.greatpicsforeveryoccasion.com/blog — illustrates the most SEO-friendly way to format a URL and draw more traffic to an image-focused website. Just make sure you’re not overly aggressive in cramming internal links with too many keywords.
Here’s one more tip: Post images on a schedule. So many merchants simply lose track of the time, and as a result, months may go by without uploading a single photo. Aim to upload a new image every two weeks, and when you do, make sure you share it on your social media accounts.
