Welcome to SEO Advantage’s Trivia feature Friday, where we discuss, dissect and comment on the internet and marketing, and how the two intertwine.
In order to optimize images for SEO use, which of the following is required?
- A. Image dimensions need to be reduced to the height and width stated in html.
- B. Images should be compressed as small as image quality will allow.
- C. Ensure decorative images are noted with empty quotation marks (alt=“ ”) for alt text
- D. All of the above
(See answer below)
Simply put, image optimization is the process of using the most compressed version of an image that still has visual quality and is in the required format for the role needed. Why is optimization needed in the first place? For the most part, it boils down to load time and the amount of bandwidth the images use.
Both image load time and bandwidth use can affect the amount of time a person will spend on a given webpage, which will, in turn, positively or negatively impact SEO rankings. Users who are made to wait too long for pages to load fully are likely to hit the back button and leave your site with a higher bounce rate.
There are numerous ways to ensure that the images you’re including on your webpages are optimized for best online practices. These include ensuring that your images are both compressed as far as they can be, while still retaining adequate visual quality, and that they have the correct height and width dimensions. Additionally, images that are not intended to work as hyperlinks or have other features (i.e. decorative images) should have alt text empty quotations marks included.
Check out our blog on image optimization for more information about how optimized images can boost online traffic.
Thanks for playing along!
(Answer: D)
