How to Make Your Images Searchable

by Mj Ces on August 24, 2009

You probably already know that search engines cannot tell what an image posted on your site is all about. For example, if you post an image like this one:

john-stockton

…how can a search engine know that the picture is about John Stockton? Even if you put a text saying ‘John Stockton’ within that image, it still can’t be read by the search spiders.

There are a couple of effective ways to make this image searchable.

1. Use the Alt-Text Tag
This is an html tag that you assign to an image. It basically tells the search engines what the picture is about. So for our example, we can use an Alt-text tag like: “John Stockton: NBA All-Time Leader in Assists and Steals”.

The whole html tag will then look like this:

<img src=”johnstockton.jpg” alt=”John Stockton: NBA All-Time Leader in Assists and Steals”>

Another purpose of using the Alt-Text tag is that you will make it easy for text-based web browsers to identify the image on your site, even if the actual image will not be shown.

2. Write a Descriptive Caption
Don’t just write any caption, make sure that it is descriptive. Instead of saying, “A basketball player dribbling a ball”, say:

John Stockton: NBA All-Time Leader in Assists and Steals

John Stockton: NBA All-Time Leader in Assists and Steals

Why should you do it this way? If a visitor is not familiar who John Stockton is, he would just see a basketball player dribbling a ball. By writing a descriptive caption, not only does he find out the name of the player, he also learns that John Stockton is not just any common player. That he is an NBA legend who is renowned for his assisting and stealing abilities.

And also, the text surrounding an image will help the search spiders know what the picture contains.

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Giving Good Loving To My Top Follow Friday People
September 26, 2009 at 5:21 am

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

jan geronimo September 9, 2009 at 2:50 am

Hmmm, another lesson learned. Who says an old dog like me is past learning new tricks huh? Thanks for the valuable info.

I’ve discovered you in Jena Isle’s sidebar. It’s one of my pleasures – investigating my friends’ reading list.

I’m glad curiosity got the better of me. Your blog will in all likelihood make a better writer online. :)

Thanks.

callcentergal September 12, 2009 at 10:28 pm

This reminds me to do this on my posts whenever I include some pictures in it. :)

And speaking of images, I like the look of your logo on the sidebar. :) Have a great day! :)

admin September 12, 2009 at 10:52 pm

Hi callcentergal! Thanks! That logo’s still not final, though.

admin September 12, 2009 at 10:52 pm

Jan, thanks for the visit. See you over on Twitter. :)

Chris September 20, 2009 at 8:46 pm

I don’t Have many Pictures,I normaly use Zemanta for them,But there are some Pictures I was thinking of uploading and this will be very Helpful Getting my Images found by Search engines.

Mj Ces September 25, 2009 at 4:59 pm

I’m not into Zemanta, maybe because I prefer to look for my own images, even if it takes longer to do that. I’m glad my post helped you even if just a bit. :)

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