Optimizing Images for SEO & Pinterest - tutorial

I want to be up front...

This one is for bloggers.

If you aren't a blogger, I have two fantastic giveaways here & here.  

One will make you a healthier you & the other is my favorite kitchen essential.  

Enter to win & I will see you Friday, ok?  Love you guys & good luck!

Ok, so you are a blogger.  Let me first give you a virtual hug.  I know how hard you work and that there is a lot of confusing information out there about the techy side of what we do.

Today I am going to teach you why, and the right way, to optimize your images for SEO and Pinterest by properly filling out the "attachment details". My tutorial is for Wordpress, but the information will be helpful for other platforms.  

This is not about the image per se, but the details you type in for your images. Getting this right is super important & will improve your site, user experience and increase traffic.

 

Steps for Optimizing Images for Powerful SEO & Pinterest Mojo

• Name Images - name your image using lowercase & hyphens between the words. Use keywords whenever possible. Don't leave the numbers assigned.  

This naming happens when you save your image to your own computer - before loading it to your WP site.  For me this means when selecting an image from my iPhoto, naming it as described and saving to my desktop. Then I edit the images and upload to my site.

This first step in optimizing your images is crucial as the image name is indexed by search engines!

See above how the image name comes up under the thumbnail.  The image name is also the default for the Title, but you will want to change that.

As a person wouldn't know what DSC_0123.jpg was, neither would a search engine spider.  And because they aren't human, put the - in to make it readable for them.  Leave the jpg and you can even leave the image size.

For example I named this image:  cream-roses-in-an-ironstone-pitcher.jpg

Once uploaded to your site you will have fields to fill in ~ Title, Alt Text, Caption & Description.  

The url is there at the top. Do not change this.  It is the url to your image on your site.

• Title - the title should be relevant, catchy & concise. Not much more than 10 words.  

Write for a human with appropriate capitals and spaces between the words. The title must be descriptive of the image not the post.  Draft it as if you were describing what the image depicts for a person without sight.  Use keywords. 

• Alternative Text / Alt Text - mandatory for all images on the web and crucial for Pinterest.  

Alt text is what is displayed when an image does not render.  Most visitors due not see the Alt Text, but search engines do & they index it for images. Hence, you must describe what the image is depicting.  This can be copied & pasted from the title.

As you can see in the above Attachment Details, the title, alt text & description are different than the other images as this image is about Optimizing your images - not just pretty roses.  Describe the image, not the post.  Best situation is when the image supports what the post is about - like this one.

In respect to Pinterest, the Alt text is what is pulled up when someone uses the official Pin It button.  So make it good!  Most pinners do not change the Alt text.  You can use # here, although Pinterest does use them at this time. Using them makes translation to Twitter easy. 

• Caption - the text that will show beneath your image on your site.

Captions are totally optional.  In my opinion they take away from the image so should be used sparingly, if at all.

• Description - the language that will be stored as the post content for the attachment post.  

What??? Just know it is optional and doesn't hurt to fill it in.  Maybe someday Google will index it - so better to have it. Copy & paste in the Alt text. Done! Or get a bit more descriptive!

Adding your blog url to the Alt Text and/or Description….hmmm?

I was doing this.  Then I was advised Google might not like that, as it is not describing the image, but directing people to my home page.  Google wants to show what is described and what people are looking for.  If you show an image of a flower, and a url provided it should go to a post on that flower not your home page. Get it?

On the other hand, if you get a ton of traffic from Pinterest you may want to risk ticking Google off a bit for the live url carried with that pin.  Your call...  

See, optimizing images for SEO & Pinterest just sounds complicated!

Images play a vital role in blogging and not just because they are engaging & beautiful, but because of the opportunity you have to enhance your SEO and presence on Pinterest by filling out the image details. This often ignored and under utilized feature of WP can help make your images stand apart.

I hope this information helps you in your blogging adventures.

And if you aren't a blogger & you read all this way - I think you should automatically win both give aways!!

** Kelly **