Situation-Based Question
You’re working with Alex, a professional photographer who recently launched a portfolio website to showcase his work. He’s noticed that his site is getting a lot of visitors, but his images aren’t appearing in Google’s image search results. Frustrated, he asks, “I’ve got high-quality images, great content, but my images aren’t showing up in search. Someone mentioned that image filenames play a role in SEO. What’s that all about?”
Exact Answer
Optimizing image filenames helps search engines understand what the image is about, improving the chances of the image appearing in search results and boosting SEO.
Explanation
Alex’s frustration is understandable. Even though his images are high-quality, search engines need clear, descriptive filenames to properly index those images. Here’s why optimizing filenames matters:
- Image Search Indexing:
- Search engines, like Google, rely on filenames to understand what an image depicts. If your filenames are vague or contain random numbers or letters, Google can’t properly index them. Descriptive filenames give context to the image, helping Google categorize and display it in relevant search results.
- Example: Instead of naming an image “IMG_1245.jpg,” Alex should rename it to something like “landscape-photography-beach-sunset.jpg.” This helps Google understand the content of the image and makes it more likely to show up in search results when users search for “landscape photography beach sunset.”
- Improved Relevance in Search Results:
- Descriptive filenames are especially important when it comes to image search. If a potential client searches for “sunset beach photography,” Alex’s image with the filename “landscape-photography-beach-sunset.jpg” is more likely to show up compared to an image with a generic filename like “photo1.jpg.”
- Example: Let’s say Alex specializes in sunset photography. If his filenames are descriptive, like “sunset-photo-ocean-view.jpg,” his work has a better chance of being found by people searching specifically for “sunset ocean photography.”
- SEO Boost:
- While filenames alone won’t drive massive SEO improvements, they still play a small but essential role in helping search engines understand the context of images. By including relevant keywords in filenames, you increase the likelihood of your images appearing in both image search and regular search results.
- Example: If Alex’s images are named after keywords that potential clients might search, such as “best-sunset-photographer.jpg” or “NYC-street-photography.jpg,” his images could rank better in image search, increasing his visibility.
- User-Friendly and Easy to Read:
- Filenames should be easy to read and avoid keyword stuffing. Use hyphens to separate words rather than underscores or spaces. This not only helps Google understand the image, but it also makes the filename more readable for users who might see the URL.
- Example: Instead of using “sunsetphotoonbeach.jpg” or “sunset_photo_on_beach.jpg,” Alex should use “sunset-photo-beach.jpg.” This makes the filename easy to read and understand for both search engines and users.
Example
For Alex’s photography portfolio, here’s how filenames would work:
- Image: A stunning shot of a sunset over the ocean.
- Old Filename: “IMG_1234.jpg”
- Optimized Filename: “sunset-photography-ocean-view.jpg”
This small change in naming helps search engines understand the image’s content, which can make it more likely to show up in image searches for terms like “sunset photography” or “beach sunset photo.”