How Images Affect SEO: Can Adding a Diagram Really Drive Rankings?
Andy Crestodina
Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media | SEO, Analytics, AI, Content Strategy and Website Optimization
SEO is all about text. Search engines read it, then rank it, right? And if the text is in an image, Google can’t read it. So images are a problem and the written word is all that is important. That’s how SEOs thought of images for years.
Not anymore.
Now we know that visuals are an SEO’s best friend. Or a very close friend.
There are at least six ways that images can improve your rankings. And this is not about Google Image Search and “Image SEO.” This is about how images can help your web pages to rank in organic search.
Step one is to create high-value, original images and add them to your search-optimized articles. Examples include:
- Diagrams that explain a concept visually
- Charts within some original research
- Flowcharts that show a process
Each of these is a self-contained piece of visual content that explains a concept. Stock images don’t count. Just as you wouldn’t miss the chance to turn a paragraph of items into a bullet list, never miss the chance to use a visual to explain a concept.
So now that you have high-value images on your keyphrase-focused pages, here are six ways to leverage them to rank like a champ.
Founder, Minimalist Mama
4yGreat piece and insightful points! Similar strategy to “The Blogging Millionaire” who advocates for the development of content targeting [industry] statics keywords.
Chief Growth Officer and Partner @ Native Advertising Institute
4yHi A On this ‘digital inclusion’ mission of mine let me just add that adding Alternative text to your visuals will also add value, as quite a lot of people with consume your content using assistive tools - both on your website, in your mobile app and on social.
Top Global Marketing Influencer
4yAndy Crestodina - No surprise here--People are visual! As a result, the strategic use of quality visuals pulls people into your content & keeps them on your site. Both of these factors contribute to improve search signals and better results. Also mix up the types of visuals you use in each piece of content to add variety. For example, I create a special visual for my roundup posts like this one on social media. Happy marketing, Heidi Cohen - Actionable Marketing Guide #marketing #visualcontent #digitalmarketing https://heidicohen.com/social-media-definition/
Impact marketeer @ Meteoris
4yVery interesting insights, Andy! Keep it up! Love your work!