Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a crucial aspect of website development and digital marketing. It is the process of optimising a website to rank higher in search engine results and attract organic traffic. One of the many aspects of SEO is optimising the image naming on your website. One of the ways to optimise your SEO ranking is to name your images correctly. In this article, we’ll explain why naming images correctly is essential for SEO and how you can do it.

Why is it important to name images correctly for SEO?

When you upload an image to your website, it is stored on the server with its original name. This name is often a string of numbers and letters that don’t make much sense to humans or search engines. When search engines crawl your website, they need to understand what the image is about to rank it. If the image has a descriptive and meaningful name, search engines will have a better idea of what the image is about and how it relates to the content on your page.

Furthermore, the file name of an image is one of the first pieces of information that search engines see. It is also used as the anchor text when the image is used as a link. Therefore, naming your images correctly can positively impact your SEO efforts.

Here are a few reasons why image naming is important for SEO

Image naming is important for SEO because search engines rely on image file names and alt text to understand the content of the image. By using relevant and descriptive file names for your images, you can help search engines and users better understand the context and subject matter of your content.

1. Helps search engines understand your content: Search engines use image file names to understand the context of your content. If your file names are descriptive and relevant to the content of the page, search engines are more likely to display your images in relevant search results.
2. Improves accessibility: By using descriptive file names and alt text, you can also improve the accessibility of your content for users with visual impairments who rely on screen readers to navigate the web.
3. Enhances user experience: Using descriptive and relevant image names can also help improve the user experience on your website. Users are more likely to engage with content that is easy to understand and navigate.
4. Helps with image search optimisation: Image search is an important source of traffic for many websites. By optimising your image file names and alt text, you can improve your visibility in image search results and drive more traffic to your website.

How to name images correctly for SEO?

Here are some best practices for naming your images correctly:

1. Use descriptive and meaningful names: The name of the image should accurately describe what is in the image. For example, if you have an image of a red sports car, name the file “red-sports-car.jpg” instead of “IMG123456.jpg”.
2. Keep the names short and concise: Avoid using long and complex names for your images. Use concise and descriptive names that are easy for both search engines and humans to understand.
3. Use hyphens instead of underscores: Hyphens are more search engine friendly than underscores. When you use hyphens, search engines can more easily understand the individual words in the name, which can positively impact your SEO.
4. Use relevant keywords: Including relevant keywords in the image name can help search engines understand what the image is about and how it relates to your content. However, be careful not to stuff your image names with too many keywords as this can negatively impact your SEO.
5. Use lowercase letters: Use lowercase letters in your image names as search engines treat uppercase and lowercase letters differently. Using lowercase letters helps to ensure that search engines understand your image names correctly.

In conclusion, naming your images correctly is an essential aspect of SEO. By following the best practices outlined in this article, you can help search engines understand what your images are about, which can positively impact your SEO efforts. So, be sure to take the time to name your images correctly and improve your website’s visibility in search engines. Read our checklist on how to improve your On-Page SEO.

Wondering what else you can do to improve your google search results?