Why are Images Important to Google?

There is no denying that images play a crucial role in SEO. Not only do they help to make your content more engaging for users, but they also provide important clues for Google’s algorithm when it comes to ranking your website. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at why images are so important to Google and how you can ensure that your images are optimised for search engines. How Images Can Benefit Your Website Images are an important part of a website’s content, and they can be used to help draw attention and engage visitors. Imagine that you are a visitor to a new website, would you rather look at a block of text or an image? An image can speak a thousand words while being more visually interesting to the audience. They also play one of the many roles in how Google ranks your website. Having high-quality images on your website can make it stand out from the crowd and create a memorable user experience that encourages people to stay on your page longer. 90% of the information sent to our brains is visual. We process visual content 60,000x faster than text-based information which means a picture is worth 60,000 words. For example, images posted on Facebook collect 37% more engagement than a post with text alone. Google uses image search to provide users with relevant visual results based on their query terms. Images often appear at the top of the SERPs when searching for specific keywords, so adding relevant images to your content gives you a better chance of ranking higher in search engine results. Optimising the file size, format, and alt text of images can also improve page loading speed and SEO performance. In addition, images are used in paid ads. People are more likely to engage with an ad if it has a visually appealing image, which can lead to increased click-through rates and conversions. Google Ads further offer features like responsive display ads, where you upload one master image that is automatically reformatted for different device sizes. In conclusion, images are critical for creating engaging content and optimising visibility on search engine results pages. When used strategically, images can provide a great boost to the performance of your website and online marketing campaigns. The Purpose of Alternative Text Alt text known as alternative text or “alt attributes,” is a way of describing an image in HTML code. It’s especially important for people who use screen readers to access the web, as the technology reads aloud the contents of the alt text. The purpose of alt text is to provide a textual description of an image and its context within a website. Using descriptive and relevant alt text makes it easier for search engines like Google Images to understand what an image is about.

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