Search Engine Optimization for Google Image Search

You may have noticed a recent trend on Google lately. Google seems to be integrating their different vertical engines such as Image and Blog search, into the normal search results. For certain search queries, you even see a few images appear above the webpage results.

With this change in the way Google displays results, website owners must place additional focus on optimizing for image results. By taking a quick look at your log files or analytics software, you might be surprised to see you are already getting decent traffic from image searches.

The following tips will get you started with optimizing the images that appear on your site.

Alt Text: Probably the most significant factor in ranking for an image search is the contents of the image alt property. Basically, the alt text should contain a brief description of the item as if you were explaining it to a blind person. After all, the original intention of this property for the vision impaired.

Surrounding Text: Google will weigh the surrounding text heavily when in determining what the picture is about. Be sure to place relevant keywords above and below the image you are optimizing.

Image File Name: Another important factor is whether or not keywords are in the image file name. For example, if you were trying to optimize for the word "Christian t-shirt", you might name the image christiant-t-shirt.jpg. Of course, it always difficult to optimize this way if you are forced to go back and change the name of existing images. Keep keywords in mind when you are naming them in the first place.

Anchor Text: Although it’s somewhat uncommon to link directly to an image that’s not in a web page, you can greatly increase your ranking by using relevant anchor text in the hyperlink just as if you were optimizing for a webpage.

As people’s search preferences become more sophisticated, the popularity of vertical search engines will grow. In addition, Google and other SE’s will likely continue to mix results from various types of content. If you ensure that you keep on top of these changes, you’ll likely continue to see your site rise above the rest.

Justin Palmer is the owner of Palmer Web Marketing, a web marketing firm specializing in helping businesses learn social media marketing and optimization. His current project is C28.com, a retailer of Christian apparel, Christian necklaces, and Christian music.