1. Descriptive file names
Rename IMG_4821.jpg to something like red-leather-handbag-front.jpg. Use lowercase words separated by hyphens and describe what is visible. Avoid keyword stuffing.
2. Alt text that describes the image
- Write what someone would need to know if they could not see the image: “Red leather handbag with gold zip, front view”.
- Keep it concise — roughly one sentence.
- Decorative images can have an empty alt attribute (
alt=""). - Alt text also helps screen-reader users, so it is good for accessibility.
3. Context matters
Place images near relevant text and headings. Google understands images partly from the page around them: captions, nearby paragraphs and the page title.
4. Technical basics
- Use a supported format: JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF or SVG — convert anything else.
- Make images fast: resize to display size and compress (see optimizing images for websites).
- Use standard
<img>elements rather than CSS backgrounds for important images, so they can be indexed. - Add product images to product structured data, and include images in your sitemap if they are loaded in unusual ways.
5. Unique images win
Stock photos appear on thousands of sites. Original photos of your own products or work have a much better chance to rank and to be chosen by visual search. Clean, consistent product photos — for example from the product photo studio — also stand out in image results.
Frequently asked questions
Does the image file size affect ranking?
Indirectly: heavy images slow down the page, which affects user experience and Core Web Vitals.