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Image optimization is a relatively “new” phase of Search Engine Optimization.  Until the last year or so, images were just something you wrapped your content around, hoping those who read it were enticed to click or explore further via images.

Universal Search

Then along came Universal Search - and having images and photos on your website took on a whole new meaning.  Not only are you attempting to entice the user to click through and book rentals, you’re using those images in the search engines to choose your website in the first place.  A great way to market the “vacation rental” experience.

I haven’t been seeing a lot of image results integrated with regular Google SERPS lately - but they do pop up once in awhile.  It’s also likely that a web search COULD lead to an image search - just look where Google places the image button on their results pages:

 So along with integrating images into their search results - Google encourages visitors to move into the image results by featuring the possibility close to the query box.

Yahoo and MSN do the same. 

So what does this mean for you?

Well, it means a couple things.  Images are more than just eye candy.  Images are an opportunity to gain market share and move competitors “down the list.”  Maybe not in regular SERPS, but definitely in image results.  Optimizing your images isn’t “hard” per se - just time consuming.  There are some rules to follow:

1. Name the photo something keyword rich - make “image2.jpg” read “outerbanksvacationhomebedroom.jpg”
2. Make sure the image has an alt. tag that supports the content on the page and the name of the image - don’t name the photo “outerbanksrental.jpg,” make the alt tag “outer banks boat” and optimize the on-page text for “obx sunset.”  THEME the page and the image optimization along the same lines - but don’t use the SAME KEYWORD PHRASE in everything - mix it up, use some LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) and chose synonyms of the keyword you’re looking for in an effort to support and reinforce the idea.
3. Wrap relevant, optimized, text around the photo.  A page w/ a photo and no text is pretty pointless for search engines - it might work okay for the user, but our goal is to please BOTH.
4. Share the photos you OWN on photo-sharing sites like Flickr.com.  It’s important to have permission to do this if you’ve used a professional photographer.  If you’ve purchased stock photography, this probably isn’t an option.

This isn’t EVERYTHING you need to know to optimize images on your site, but it’s a good start.  Consider taking that next step.  If you’re interested in learning more about optimizing images, check out the white paper by our very own Mary Bowling - SEO: Images and Videos White Paper.

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Categories: SEM, Travel Marketing.
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