Images are essential to digital storytelling. They bring emotion to blog posts, clarity to documentation, and conversion power to E-commerce. But if poorly handled, images can sabotage your efforts—slowing down pages, confusing search engines, blocking accessibility tools, and damaging mobile experiences. In an era where Google rewards performance and users abandon slow or clunky interfaces, optimizing your images is both a technical necessity and a competitive advantage.
Here’s the latest video from Google on Image SEO:
This guide covers everything from performance techniques like lazy loading and compression to SEO-focused practices like keyword-rich filenames and descriptive alt text. The goal is to ensure that every image you use strengthens your visibility, performance, and user engagement.
Table of ContentsLazy LoadingImage DimensionsResponsive Images with Srcset and SizesFile Size and CompressionChoose The Correct File TypeDescriptive File NamesAlternative Text (Alt Text)Title AttributesCaptions and Surrounding ContentAttribution and LicensingURL Structure and Robots.txt ConsiderationsStructured Data and Enhanced PreviewsExample structured data (JSON-LD):HTML Markup for Social Media PreviewsImage Sizing Guidelines for Previews:Mobile-Friendliness and SpeedTakeaways
Lazy Loading
Lazy loading defers image loading until the image enters the viewport. Instead of forcing every image to load on initial page render, the browser waits until the user scrolls near it. Lazy loading benefits page speed, mobile data usage, server load, Core Web Vitals (CWV), especially Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Use the native HTML attribute: