Understanding about the latest image optimization techniques has become the need of the hour as it helps to save the limited available space by appropriately reducing the size of the image without losing the quality of the content. It would also help to improve the loading speed of your website, which in turn appears in the search results on Google servers as well with quicker searches. So let us understand these techniques and benefit from them.
- Save the image file in appropriate format
Some types of image files occupy a larger space than others, so before uploading the image, ensure that the image file you are uploading should be in the correct format. Your purpose for uploading the image in your content and the availability of space should define which format of image file you should upload. For instance, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is the type of image file with the high resolution lossless format which is generally preferred by photographers and artists due to its high quality photos. However, when files are uploaded in an online content, TIFF & BMP images are mostly not supported by web browsers and managing space takes precedence as compared to the quality. So, most of the content developers choose JPEG, GIF, or PNG file formats. Even in that, you would choose GIF file format if your purpose is to upload an animation and JPEG if your purpose is to upload just a simple image and save space since JPEG files occupy the least space while maintaining the optimum quality of the images.
- Resize the image
Resizing and refitting the images is like a tailor fitting your unstitched cloth to perfection. You should know how much to reduce the image so that the visual appeal of that image is not lost. In most browsers, you can easily drag and reduce the image by keeping the mouse button pressed and dragging the cursor (which shows at the corner of the image with a double headed arrow). This reduces the dimensions of an image and which means that the resolution of that image is also reduced.
- Choose the right software tool
Appropriate software tools will help you immensely to optimize your image file. We have found the image optimization tools provided on the website very useful and absolutely safe as all the uploaded files get deleted immediately from the server after getting downloaded on the user's browser. Best thing is that these tools are absolutely free and you can even optimize the bulk of image files with the help of tools provided on this website.
- Appropriate descriptions of the image
Search engines like Google give a higher ranking and it is well liked by the readers as well if the description of an image is appropriate and it greatly enhances what is mentioned in the image. Also ensure that your content complements the images in an appropriate way.
- Use Site Maps on your webpage or Table of Contents in your blog
It would make sense if you list every content on your website or list the topics as it is done in the book in a structured way. This will give the search engines a better insight about your content along with its location. Not only that, it will also give readers a clear view of your contents before readers actually start reading your content in detail.
- Use Alt text wherever possible
Though this would be slightly technical for you, ensure to learn about how to use ALt text tags in the meta description of the content. This immensely helps to get a higher ranking on search engines like Google. When the image is not uploaded due to any reason, search engines put the alternate text in place of that image so that the reader can still relate to what that image was all about. Though it is important to use tags, ensure that these are not overused, so don't use more than three tags for a web content.
- Put only relevant images in your content
Avoid uploading an inappropriate image in your web content because if an image doesn’t add value to your content, it is occupying a precious space making the speed of your blog or web page slower. Not only that, the reader may also lose interest in reading your content if an image is irrelevant which in turn affects the ranking of your web page/blog by the search engines.
- Keep your images compatible to mobile phones
These days people are increasingly using mobile phones to read the web contents online, so it would make a lot of sense to ensure that the image uploaded by you opens easily on the mobile phones as well. One pro-tip here is to test your uploaded images by checking them from different types of mobiles like Android, iphone, etc. and ensure that the image in your web content is getting opened smoothly in all of them.
- Use structured data to make it easier to understand for search engines
You can use Schema markup which is also called Structured data. This is a type of code which helps search engines to understand the images in your web content. You can view the list of codings on the website Schema.org and add structured data to your images accordingly.
- Optimize the thumbnails of your web content image
Last but not the least, a proper thumbnail of the image used in your web page will attract many readers. It’s like showcasing your content with a visual appeal to a casual web surfer. There are high chances that the thumbnail image of your web content attracts the attention of a casual web surfer and rouses his curiosity to click open your blog/web content.
These are the tips which we had compiled for you with major factors which would help you to do better Image Optimization, so that you can benefit from better uploading speed of your web page and better ranking of your web page by search engines like Google, as a result, providing you a better traffic on your web page or website.
