- 1. Do Your Keyword Research
- 2. Incorporate the Keywords in Your Site's Content
- 3. Use Specific HTML Tags for On-Page Optimization
- 4. Choose Title Tags Carefully
- 5. Use Meta Descriptions
- 6. Use Meta Keywords
- 7. Pick Meaningful URL Names for Pages
- 8. Incorporate & Optimize Images
- 9. Use Flash with Caution
- 10. Be Aware of JavaScript's Limitations
- Wrap-Up
8. Incorporate & Optimize Images
Images are important to web optimization for two reasons: what to do and what not to do. A lot of businesses on the web make the mistake of embedding their keywords into images. The problem here is that, although the searcher can see the word, the search engines have no clue that the word even exists on the web page. If "Camel Rides" were embedded into all the pictures on the page, but the actual text "Camel Rides" never appeared on the page, there'd be no indication to the search engines that this page was about camel rides.
If you're displaying images that are separate from the actual look and feel of your web site, such as pictures of products, events, services in action, etc., make sure these are optimized properly as well. The search engines take a lot of cues from what is on the page around a picture to determine what the image is about. Along with the name of the image file, other factors help to determine the purpose of the image, much like the web page filename discussed previously. Utilizing the alt attribute of the image and giving it a relevant description does help the search engines, along with any type of short description that falls in the immediate area of the image.
Search engines are increasingly trying to give searchers more and more relevant content results. You can now see images and videos appearing alongside regular web page results. If your images are optimized just as your web pages are, it's possible you'll start to see traffic coming in from the various image search engines as well as from regular searches.