Do photo websites even need SEO (a.k.a. Search Engine Optimization)?
You bet! In fact, if you are serious about your website, it's
crucial to know all the specifics about image SEO.
Good news - in this guide, you will discover 11 fool-proof ways to bring more eyeballs on your stunning visuals. All of them are so simple, you can implement them today!
Ready to turn your own photo website into the next Getty? Let's dive right in.
Tip 1. Add Alt tags & Image Title
Simply put, alternative tags are the picture descriptions for search engines. Thanks to image title and alt tags Google understands better what the picture is about. Hence, users can easily locate your picture through image search in Google.
This tactics is pretty simple and you can put in alt tags in your CMS in just 1 minute. Make sure to include keywords inside.
As a result, you can be discovered by a ton of people!
Tip 2. Add background copy!
You don't have to be a pro copywriter to write engrossing and helpful articles.
Many photo websites simply list images, but you gotta include text - otherwise this is a missed opportunity. First thing first, Google pays attention to the text and scans it for keywords. More than that, manual reviewers always analyze how valuable the information is.
Let's say, you wanted to upload photos from your latest photoshoot. But instead of just pictures, try to add some background info - a couple of paragraphs where you describe where/how/when the photo was taken.
Tip 3. Research keywords
That's right - keyword research is extra lucrative and important for photo enthusiasts. It can give you tons of ideas for new posts and photosets. You will know exactly what your audience is interested in.
It's pretty simple to do. There are tons of tools that help research keywords, many of them are freebies too. Of course, the most accurate is Google Keyword Planner but it's only a viable option if you spend $$$ on Google Ads.
Tip 4. Optimize images' size
I get it, you prefer to have gorgeous, Retina pictures on your site. But like it or not - you need to reduce their size.
Look, professional, crystal-clear images are too heavy! Because they slow the page loading time, they result in high bounce rate. As a result, you are not likely to rank high.
Many photographers are absolutely against optimizing the images and reducing their weight, since the quality can suffer. But people often look at your websites from small screens (like mobile phones) - they will not notice any loss of quality. Anyways, you can try software like
ImageOptim or
Adapter for this.
Tip 5. Build relationship in your niche
This is important for any business, photo websites aren't an exception. Common promos, contests, giveaways and features are great from SEO perspective.
Not only you acquire new customers, but also the cumulative amount of your brand & site mentions skyrockets. What's more important, you can receive tons of backlinks from different collaborations with your partners.
Tip 6. Experiment with different image formats
Png and jpg are the most mainstream photos online. But png is rather heftier.
For your information, there's also a new format in town -
WebP. It has superior image quality, having both loss and lossy compression. Google says, that WebP lossy images are 25-34% smaller than comparable JPEG images. This image format might be the solution to help you maintain supreme image quality and smaller size.
Tip 7. Ask readers to share your pictures
Images are much more sharable than any articles. Social signals like tweets and FB shares are also great to level up your SEO game.
So make sure you have brilliant open graph images for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
Tip 8. Use responsive images
Responsive images are great for any website, especially for photography blogs. Your visitors are using all kinds of devices: desktop computers, laptops and mobile phones. Each of them can have different screen resolutions, which is why responsive images are amazing. They automatically fit for every display.
Tip 9. Use Captions
Captions are brilliant for SEO. Long before Internet times, legendary copywriter David Ogilvy stated that captions are read 4 times more than body copy. It seems very natural to use captions if you have a photo website. Conclusively, people stay on your site longer, which makes Google rate your website higher.
Tip 10. Add Structured data for your website
Ever seen featured snippets when searching in Google? Well - these are rich results that also depend on whether or not you implemented structured data. Highlight the most important information using Structured Data Markup Helper and add it to your website code. You also can add structured data for images too, so that they will also appear on SERP.
Tip 11. Build backlinks
Nowadays, backlinks are Internet gold. No matter if you have photography website - or any other kind of blog you still need inbound links.
Link building is a very tiring, ho-hum process for anyone. First things first, you will need to research the websites and find the ones, that fit you the best. The next step is to negotiate the terms and prepare the actual guest article.
There are certain tools to help you automate the entire link building process. For instance, you can use
TheAdsy to instantly find the websites in your niche that are 100% ready to publish your post. You also can use a free service
ubersuggest.com to check on your competitors or
moz.com to find out the ‘trustworthiness' of the blogs you want to post on.
Final thoughts
There are certain SEO rules that specifically apply to photo websites. For instance, using alt tags or structured data for your images is an absolute must for any photography blogs out there. Small things like these are guaranteed to bring you more exposure (potential customers too).
The truth is - these are exceptionally simple life hacks. Nevertheless, many bloggers skip it for good. Hopefully, after reading this guide you will see for yourself how valuable these tips can be and steal them for your own blog!
All about Marie BarnesMarie Barnes is a Marketing Communication Manager and an enthusiastic blogger interested in writing about technology, social media, work, travel, lifestyle, and current affairs. She shares her insights through blogging. Follow her on
Medium.
