Why Images Are More Important in SEO Than You Ever Imagined

Koobr is a Marketing, Graphic Design and Branding agency based in Derby that provides Marketing Services to clients from all over the UK. See what we did there? That’s four volume-heavy keywords in the opening paragraph. So, that’s SEO done and the page optimised, correct?

No, this is definitely not the case. There is so much more to SEO than simply writing articles that are stuffed with keywords at every opportunity. Whether you are a Content Writer, a Link Builder, or a Graphic Designer, there are so many elements to consider when ensuring you get noticed.

So, whilst we will touch on content writing and link building. This article is more about the design aspect of SEO. Is it really right that images in a blog can have such a big effect on being noticed? Lots of people think they are there for show, rather than dough. Due to recent updates, however, images have become even more important than ever before.

The Importance of Images in SEO

Images are important in optimising your website because they provide consistency. That is a key word (pardon the pun) in ensuring you have the most accessible and most visually pleasing website going – consistency. The images need to be consistent with the copy you are writing. Also, they need to be consistent with your social media and other aspects of your branding.

Alternative Text in Images Supplied By A Graphic Design Agency

In terms of alternative texts, using alternative text in images is something that can be easily missed by Web Developers, SEOs and Content Writers. Put simply, the alternative text describes an image to Google because it won’t be able to read or view the image when crawling the page. But what about if you trying to implement alternative text for images supplied by a graphic design agency? Is there context behind the images or simply just decorative banners?

Let’s talk about an example. If you are writing a blog on interior design, you might include a cute image of a puppy sitting on a cream carpet to show and highlight how nice and cute it looks. However, Google and other search engines may not realise what you are showing as its bots won’t be able to read it. The idea of alt text is that it is an explainer. Behind the text, you should write something like ‘puppy sitting on the cream carpet’. This means if you are targeting a cream carpet as your keyword, this is where the benefit comes in. Of course, your target market will also find a puppy sitting on a cream carpet adorable and it may be that this is what swings it this way. Of course, though, you need to get them on the page to see it!

Whilst the image is to please the customer and can be considered a Call to Action, the alternative text is for the Search Engines benefit.

Images from a Graphic Design Agency

Link building is becoming increasingly popular. With algorithm changes all over the shop, particularly notable ones from Google, Search Engine Moderators are keen to clamp down on black-hat link builders. White-hat link builders do still exist though, and it’s never been more important to ensure your images are optimised when placing a link on a site.

Due to the clampdown on SEO’s building links, the moderators and bots are looking for any excuse that a link may not be natural. They’ll look for subtle differences on a website to see if the post may have originated from somewhere else. It could be as small as one post having bullet points surrounding an external do-follow link, whilst none of the other articles on the site possesses this layout. This would be a red flag to the moderators.

Another thing that might be flagged by bots is the size, resolution or type of images used in an article. Now, search engines won’t be able to see the images as different, but a manual moderator might. Search engines can spot if the images on that article are a different size to others on other articles. That’s why if a link builder is ghost posting or guest posting on a site, they need to take into consideration all the aspects of imagery etc.

Why do Copywriters need to think carefully about images?

Having briefly touched on this earlier, we wanted to revisit the importance of your images in your own copy. As any branding agency, marketer or graphic designer will tell you, the key is consistency. A customer will be able to spot when you are all over the place with no plan. They may take it as having a lack of structure. A search engine moderator or bot will probably be of the same opinion. No one likes inconsistency, even if you are trying to be funky.

Essentially, the lesson to be learnt when writing content for your own website is to try and not be too jazzy (deliberate term, so have a laugh here). This can be off-putting to a client and search engines. Different doesn’t always mean better. On some websites you go on, the outer shell is all consistent and looks very pleasing to the eye. However, once you make it into the sections of the article and are spending time reading them, the images are all over the place and the articles lose all credibility.

Additionally, with different sized images, they could also slow down the loading speed of your website. This is something everybody wants to avoid. If your role is a Content Writer and you have been tasked with improving keyword rankings, you won’t want to ruin your excellent content writing with poorly sized images that affect user experience as well as how your site is ranked by a search engine. If an image is too big, the page will load slowly. It is like a domino effect. A poor image leads to poor loading speed which leads to a high bounce rate and low SEO score.

Conclusion – Images are important to SEO

In summary, an image can not only be a visible asset that helps you convert a customer. It can also help with general metrics and other aspects of SEO, such as keyword rankings. Don’t miss out on the vital quick wins (but often missed) like alternative texts for your images. The pictures can also leave you high and dry though if you get it wrong. Check the sizes, resolutions are all similar and consistent.

When optimising your website and working with SEO’s, make sure there is some creativity and branding experience behind the project. With Koobr, there is always a plan in place when tackling any project, particularly in terms of Graphic Design. Imagery is too powerful a tool to not be used so why not make the most of it.