Story Based Question
You’re launching a new business website for your eco-friendly clothing brand. You want your site to look polished and professional, but you don’t have the budget for custom photoshoots just yet. So, you decide to use stock images. As you start implementing them across your site, you wonder: What are the best practices for using stock images in SEO to make sure they don’t hurt my rankings or user experience?
Exact Answer
To use stock images effectively in SEO, choose high-quality, relevant images, optimize file names and alt text, and ensure images are properly sized for faster loading. Also, avoid overusing generic images and consider adding unique elements to make them more aligned with your brand.
Explanation
Stock images are an affordable way to enhance your website’s visual appeal, but if they’re not used properly, they can hurt your SEO and user experience. Here’s how to get the most out of them:
- Choose High-Quality, Relevant Images
Stock images can be tempting because they’re easy to find, but it’s important to choose high-quality images that fit your brand’s voice and message. Avoid generic or overly used images that don’t resonate with your audience. For example, if you’re selling eco-friendly clothing, a generic image of a person smiling in a park might not convey your brand’s focus on sustainability. Instead, find stock images that align with your business values or product themes, or consider editing them to add a unique touch. - Optimize Image File Names
Image file names are an often overlooked aspect of SEO. When you upload a stock image, rename the file to reflect what’s in the image and include relevant keywords. Instead of a default name like IMG_12345.jpg, rename it to something like eco-friendly-clothing-women-jacket.jpg. This helps search engines understand the content of the image and associate it with relevant searches. - Use Descriptive Alt Text
Alt text serves as both an accessibility feature and an SEO tool. Always include descriptive alt text for each image, especially stock images, to help search engines understand what the image is about. For example, instead of leaving the alt text blank or using something generic like “image1,” describe what’s in the image and include your target keyword. For a stock image of a woman wearing an eco-friendly jacket, alt text could be “Woman wearing eco-friendly jacket in a natural setting”. - Properly Size Images for Faster Load Times
Large, unoptimized images can slow down your page, negatively affecting page speed and SEO. Before uploading a stock image, make sure it’s resized to fit your page design. Tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim can help you compress images without sacrificing quality. Images that load quickly improve user experience, lower bounce rates, and contribute to better rankings, especially with Core Web Vitals. - Avoid Overusing Stock Images
While stock images are useful, overusing them can make your website feel inauthentic and generic. Stock images can be a great starting point, but try to supplement them with original content like custom photos, graphics, or illustrations that better reflect your brand’s identity. If you do use stock images, make sure they aren’t identical to images on multiple other websites (which can happen with popular stock photos). - Consider Customizing Stock Images
To make stock images feel more personal and unique to your brand, consider editing them. You can add overlays, text, or adjust the colors to fit your branding. Customizing stock images can help differentiate your website from others using the same photos, giving you a more authentic look that resonates with your audience.
Example
Imagine you’re building a website for an eco-friendly clothing line and you need images for your product pages and blog posts. Here’s how you can apply the best practices for using stock images:
- Choosing the Right Images:
You find a stock image of a person wearing a leather jacket outdoors, but the image doesn’t fit your brand’s eco-friendly message. Instead, you search for images showing people wearing sustainable clothing in nature, ensuring they reflect your values. This resonates better with your target audience. - Optimizing the File Name:
The stock image comes with a generic name like “model123.jpg”. You rename the file to “eco-friendly-clothing-wool-jacket-women.jpg” to make it more relevant to your audience and to help Google index it with the right keywords. - Adding Alt Text:
You use alt text like “Woman wearing eco-friendly wool jacket in a forest setting” to improve SEO and provide a clear description of the image for both search engines and users who rely on screen readers. - Resizing and Compressing:
The original stock image is quite large (around 5MB), so you resize it to 1MB and compress it using an image optimization tool. This ensures that your site loads faster without sacrificing image quality. - Avoiding Overuse:
You use a mix of original photography, stock images, and illustrations on your product pages. This gives your website a fresh, authentic feel while still keeping it visually appealing. - Customizing the Stock Image:
You overlay a subtle brand logo on the stock image of the wool jacket and adjust the color tone to match your website’s color scheme. This customization makes the image look unique and aligns it with your brand identity.
Stock images can enhance the visual appeal of your website, but only if you use them strategically. By choosing relevant, high-quality images, optimizing them with descriptive file names and alt text, and ensuring they’re properly sized, you can make stock images work for both SEO and user experience. Don’t forget to mix in original content to create a unique, engaging website that stands out in search results.