Optimize Your Images

Image information can be using the "alt" attribute

Images may seem like a straightforward component of your site, but

you can optimize your use of them. All images can have a distinct

filename and "alt" attribute, both of which you should take

advantage of. The "alt" attribute allows you to specify alternative

text for the image if it cannot be displayed for some reason (1).

Why use this attribute? If a user is viewing your site on a browser that

doesn't support images, or is using alternative technologies, such as

a screen reader, the contents of the alt attribute provide

information about the picture.

Another reason is that if you're using an image as a link, the alt text

for that image will be treated similarly to the anchor text of a text link.

However, we don't recommend using too many images for links in

your site's navigation when text links could serve the same purpose.

Lastly, optimizing your image filenames and alt text makes it easier

for image search projects like Google Image Search to better

understand your images.

Store files in specialized directories and

manage them using common file formats

Instead of having image files spread out in numerous directories and

subdirectories across your domain, consider consolidating your

images into a single directory (e.g. brandonsbaseballcards.com/

images/). This simplifies the path to your images.

Use commonly supported filetypes - Most browsers support JPEG,

GIF, PNG, and BMP image formats. It's also a good idea to have the

extension of your filename match with the filetype.

Use brief, but descriptive filenames and alt text

Like many of the other parts of the page targeted for optimization, filenames and alt text (for ASCII

languages) are best when they're short, but descriptive.

[Avoid : 1.using generic filenames like "image1.jpg", "pic.gif", "1.jpg" when possible—some sites with thousands

of images might consider automating the naming of images

2.writing extremely lengthy filenames

3.stuffing keywords into alt text or copying and pasting entire sentences]

Supply alt text when using images as links 

If you do decide to use an image as a link, filling out its alt text helps Google understand more about

the page you're linking to. Imagine that you're writing anchor text for a text link.

[Avoid : 1.writing excessively long alt text that would be considered spammy

2.using only image links for your site's navigation]

Supply an Image Sitemap file

An Image Sitemap file can provide Googlebot with more information about the images found on your

site. Its structure is similar to the XML Sitemap file for your web pages.