Search engine optimisation is not scientific and for many of the rules which pertain to the various techniques there are exceptions. The constant change which affects the ‘search world’ means that SEO services have to keep learning continuously. It is crucial that techniques are adjusted in line with the specificities of the site concerned. However, there is some general advice which is featured on SEO blogs that is of relevance in a significant number of diverse circumstances. One of the common pieces of advice which can be discovered via a swift trawl of the net is that Google appreciates text-based content and does not rate images highly. In addition, it is typically suggested that links constructed out of images are poor practice in terms of SEO technique.
At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we combine SEO theory and practice. This permits us to have a deeper knowledge of SEO than could ever by attained by studying the discipline without putting the information gathered to practical use.
It is basically the case that the major search engines do not process image-based content in the way that we might desire. It is possible to have images on a site to interest the user without sacrificing too much in terms of site performance, but in general the search engines prefer text seeded with keywords in a natural manner. This means that images are best utilised in moderation. Just as video can catch the attention of users in a valuable way, so images can serve a similar purpose. The point is that neither video nor images are ideal from the point of view of the search engines, although steps can be taken to improve things.
It is important to look at the site’s needs on an individual basis and to keep these in mind when deciding what content mix should be featured on the site. For some sites, the priority will be to have a very small number of images to maximise performance in terms of prospering on the search engine results pages. For other sites, it may be that a few images are required to help them stand out from the competition.
Another area of some controversy is in relation to whether or not images should be used when it comes to the forging of internal links on a site. Once upon a time, it was thought to be a great idea to use images for links because users enjoyed using them to navigate around sites. However, it then became clear that lots of SEO experts were not in favour of the technique because they maintained that the search engines could not read them properly. Other commentators suggested that the search engines could pick up on image-based links without excessive difficulty.
Experience has taught that both sets of experts were right after a fashion. The search engines do not seem to appreciate links without keywords in the text, so images fall short of ideal on this score. Nevertheless, the search engines can detect links made through images so the truth is a little more complex than some commentators have suggested.
About the author:
Posted by Jon.
Link to us
If you want to link to this blog, copy and paste the following HTML code to your website.