Since the update of Google Images, which redirects Internet users directly to the source website, there has been a renewed interest in optimizing the referencing of images in Google Images. Here is a summary of the basics to properly reference your images but also a focus on what has just changed.
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How much to reference images on Google Images in 2021? Back to the 8 bases.
Referencing an image correctly on Google Images is not that complicated as long as you agree to do some small essential manipulations that will necessarily take more time than the classic integration of an image on a website:
1- Start with the basics, create your own images
This is very important because Google does not like duplicate images in its search results and is increasingly able to recognize images.
2- Optimize the dimensions and weight of your images
Google tends to prefer images that are large enough (> 800px wide) but whose weight remains reasonable. Depending on the dimensions of your images, try to target less than 500 kb max for larger ones and less than 100 kb ideally for smaller ones (the one on the front page of this article is 10 kb for example), your mobile and desktop loading times will be even better.
3- Rename your image
Avoid image names of the type “sdv225832555.jpg”, prefer a short but descriptive name: eg: ” referencement-google-images.jpg“.
4- Systematically add an alt attribute to your images when integrating them on a website
This rule is only valid for the images you want to reference, no need to bother for others.
Here is an example of a correctly filled in alt tag: ” Referencing Images on Google“.
As a reminder, alt attributes are useful for Google but also for the visually impaired, so avoid “referencer-images-google” type alt tags which are useless and will not be properly interpreted by the software dictating the content of a page.
For images with no positioning goals, you can leave the alt tag blank.
5- Optimize the text around your image and add a caption if possible
Adding captions with keywords that are close to the targeted queries is very effective and helps Google understand what the image is about as well as its context.
6- Tag your images using schema.org
Depending on the type of page (product sheet, article, recipe, etc.), prefer markup adapted in JSON format or directly in html with itemprop elements.
7- Optimize the (title tag) of the page where the image is embedded
The more the title of the page on which the image is embedded is linked to the image you want to reference, the better for its positioning.
8- The authority of the page and the domain
The more an image comes from a reliable and authoritative source, the more likely it is to rank easily in Google Images.
The 3 new criteria and factors to properly reference images on Google in 2021
The bases recalled, what are the new criteria and factors introduced by Google for properly reference your images on Google Images in 2021 ?
September 24, 2018 Google has announced that it has updated its algorithm dedicated to Google Images to add 3 important factors impacting the referencing of images on its search engine.
From now on, in addition to the basic factors mentioned above, Google will take more into account:
1- The “freshness” of the content in which an image is published
The more recent the content associated with an image, the better it will be for its SEO (updating old content is therefore always interesting).
2- The placement of the image on the page
In other words, the higher a page is placed in the content, the more it will be valued by Google.
So prefer the placement of your strategic images above the waterline or just below.
3- The authority of the page on which the image is placed
If this criterion was so far already important for Google, the search engine indicates that it will now be more important than before.
So you now know what you have to do to get the best out of Google Images and the organic traffic that can result from it for a little extra effort each time a new image is integrated on your website.
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