How to Optimize Images for SEO To Get Better Search Rankings
Often SEO experts focus their attention only on text, which is not surprising with the constant Google updates related to this area. But you should also not forget that images and their quality also play a big role in optimizing your site. At least low-quality images repel your real customers, as a maximum if the image takes a long time to load it negatively affects the ranking of the site.
Review image delivery before looking for hidden ranking signals
Image SEO begins with an accessible, relevant page and an image that can be discovered and displayed efficiently. Treat file delivery, text alternatives and rights information as separate decisions.
For a practical website review, check that the image has a useful source URL, appropriate intrinsic dimensions and a file suitable for the displayed size. Compare compressed versions visually; a quality setting such as 75 is not a guarantee of lossless output. Preserve a suitable fallback when using responsive variants.
Write alternative text for the information or function the image serves. Keep useful context in surrounding page content. Do not use embedded keywords or geolocation as a substitute for explaining the product or subject accurately.
Google’s image SEO guide covers discoverability and responsive images. Its image metadata documentation describes attribution and licensing information, not a promised ranking boost from EXIF. Eligibility for an enhanced appearance does not guarantee that Google will show it.
Use the photographic source handover, the website visual review and the asset provenance checklist to connect the file to a useful page.
Practical guidance revised November 1, 2026. Examples are illustrative.
Do not forget that your images should be properly loaded not only on the desktop version of the site and on the mobile version. In this article we give some simple tips for optimizing images and getting higher positions in Google. In good SEO agencies know that it is necessary to approach the optimization of the site comprehensively, so here are some tips from a MonsterPBN specilist on optimizing your content.
Choose Relevant, Unique, and High-Quality Images
Uniqueness of images is important for several reasons, from copyright compliance to brand presentation in the marketplace. At the very least, this advice can save you a lot of stress and reduce the risks associated with copyright. If you don’t have your own photos or a designer on staff, you can use stock images for purchase. Or at least generate them AI. If you have found a picture that aligns with your requirements, but you are unsure of whether it’s copyright protected, then you can consider using AI image search. This advanced solution will retrieve the actual source where that picture has been uploaded from where you can easily figure out if there is any copyright restriction.
Relevance is important - if the buyer sees a photo on the page does not correspond to the product or service, it will at least cause questions, at most provoke a quick exit from the page, thereby worsening the statistics of your site.
The quality of the image is also important, I think everyone understands that if you sell for example clothes it should be well seen from different angles. This will help the customer to make a choice. Search engines such as Google will be able to better find and understand your images, increasing the chances of appearing in relevant search results. This makes people wonder whether you’re hiding a treasure map or just beans on toast. Optimized images load faster, helping users get information faster. Pages that load quickly and contain useful content are prioritized in Google rankings.
Optimize Image Size and Weight (Compression)
It’s very important that images on your site do not negatively impact page load speed, which is a ranking factor for search engines. The faster a site loads, the easier it is for search engines to crawl and index it. Images that are too large or heavy can worsen PageSpeed scores, affecting both conversions and traffic. You can check page speed and identify “slow” images using online tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
One way to reduce file size is through compression—shrinking the file while maintaining image quality. For WordPress sites, there are automatic image compression tools, such as plugins. You can also batch reduce file sizes in Photoshop or other image editing software.
In Adobe Photoshop, using the “Save for Web” command allows you to compress an image with a quality setting selected by visual comparison; a setting of 75 is not a guarantee of lossless output (c) Oleg Malkov, MonsterPBN.
Pay attention to the DPI value (dots per inch), which affects image weight. For web graphics, it’s recommended to set DPI to 72 or lower.
Also, check if GZIP compression is enabled on your server. It allows for caching images, scripts, styles, and other site resources, making them load faster.
Use Alt Tags and Descriptive File Names
Humans understand images easily, but search engines need more information. Without alt text, search engines won’t be able to properly index an image. A good alt tag provides context and helps users with slow internet. If the image doesn’t load, search engines can still read the alt text to understand the content and help rank the page. Write alt tags with more detailed information than the file name, aiming for 10-15 words.
ALT (short for “alternative”) is a required attribute for images, indicating alternative text that will be displayed if the image fails to load or is deleted. Alternative text is indexed by search engines and affects image ranking in search results.
Set a File Name
Website owners often give files random names. However, a file’s name is where Image SEO begins. When indexing an image, the search engine pays attention to the file name, so it should contain a keyword and reflect the essence of the image to help the search engine index the information without “looking.” This is especially important if you don’t have an ALT specified for the image.
Choose the Optimal Image Format
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – Created in 1992, JPEG is one of the most popular image formats, used mainly for panoramic, landscape, and portrait photos. It has good quality and clarity parameters and conveys color well. Most smartphones and cameras save images in this format. Choose a format supported by the receiving system. Google’s current image guidance includes JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, SVG, BMP and AVIF; it does not establish this old JPEG 2000/JPEG XR recommendation.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – Created in 1996, PNG is suitable for complex graphic elements, drawings, infographics, and any images requiring transparency and shadows. It comes in two versions: PNG-8 (8-bit color) and PNG-24 (24-bit color).
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) – One of the oldest formats, created in 1987, suitable for animated images and small graphic elements—icons, buttons, borders. It uses only 256 colors.
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) – Scalable vector graphics used for logos and icons. CSS or JavaScript can be used to control image parameters without loss of quality, as well as to scale, enlarge, or shrink them.
BMP (Bitmap Picture) – The oldest format for raster images, developed by Microsoft in 1985. This format generates “heavy” files and is not recommended for use.
WebP – A very popular image format recently, often used for various images. It has excellent compression while maintaining high quality with a smaller file size.
Image metadata: attribution and licensing information
With supported image metadata, Google Images can show additional information, such as the author of the image, the rights to the image, and how you can use the content. For example, let’s say you’ve provided license information for an image and added a “License” icon. As a result, users will be able to immediately follow a link to information about it, as well as about the terms and conditions of working with such content.(с) Google for Developers
EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) is a standard for storing metadata in digital photos. During shooting, the camera automatically saves information about the shooting parameters, such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, camera model, and lens, as well as the date and time of the shoot. This data helps photographers analyze their shots and improve their skills.
EXIF metadata can be viewed and edited with various programs, including Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP). In addition, photographers can add additional information to images, such as copyrights, keywords, and captions, which simplifies the organization and search of photos.
Keep in mind that when publishing images online, EXIF metadata may contain personal information, such as geolocation data. These can be removed if necessary, using appropriate programs or camera settings.
EXIF can support photography and file-management workflows. The following uses are not evidence that EXIF provides a direct ranking boost:
Photographic context: capture date and camera settings can support file management. This article does not establish that those EXIF fields improve page relevance in search.
Credits and rights: provide accurate supported attribution and licensing information when appropriate. Its presence is not a guarantee that a search engine will treat the image as higher quality.
Location information: retain it when it serves the image’s purpose and review what it reveals. This article supplies no evidence that adding EXIF geolocation improves local search rankings.
Increasing load speed: Unnecessary metadata can increase file size, slowing down image and page loading. This negatively impacts SEO, as load speed is an important ranking factor. Removing unnecessary data from EXIF can help reduce file size and speed up loading.
Image context: provide meaningful alternative text and relevant surrounding page content. Do not treat EXIF keywords as a substitute or a promised engagement improvement.
Insert images using HTML elements
Standard HTML elements help search engine robots find and process images. Google can find images in the src attribute of the <img> element, even if it is a child of other elements such as <picture>. Google does not index images used in CSS.
Recommended option:
html
<img src=“cat.jpg” alt=“Kitten on the grass” />
Unwanted option:
html
<div style=“background-image:url(cat.jpg)”>Kitten on the grass</div>
Structured Data
Structured data allows you to pass image metadata to Google by adding it to your website. It’s a standardized format that helps describe page information and classify its content.
Below is a brief description of how to create, verify, and add structured data to your website:
Add required properties and place the structured data in the appropriate parts of the page. If you use a content management system, consider using a built-in plugin for working with structured data. For JavaScript, refer to recommendations for creating structured data using it. Follow general guidelines for using structured data. Test the code using the Rich Results Test tool. Publish the page and check it in Google search results using the URL inspection tool. Make sure Google can access the page and that it isn’t blocked by robots.txt or noindex meta tags, and doesn’t require authentication. If all is well, request a re-crawl of the URL. Page indexing takes some time, usually several days. To speed up the process, submit a Sitemap file via the Search Console Sitemap API, automating its update when changes are made to the site. Add Captions to Images
Research shows that, besides file names and attributes, search engines also pay attention to the text around the image. If it’s relevant, that’s a plus. Especially if there are many images on the page—add captions, make them high-quality thematic captions. This will improve the relevance of the material and appeal to both users and search engine bots.
Here’s what the official article from Google says:
To pass your image metadata to Google, add structured data or IPTC metadata specific to photos for each image file. If the same image is published on multiple pages, provide structured data or IPTC metadata for each of its instances on each page.
To have advanced Google search results available to you, such as the “License” icon, send us your image metadata. You can do this in any of the ways below.
In conclusion, I would like to say that there are probably more ways to optimize your images for SEO, but these checks establish a baseline rather than a guaranteed ranking increase. Monitor the actual indexed pages, queries and traffic instead of assuming that the changes will outrank competitors.