The SEO landscape is seeing a constant change. And it won’t be an overstatement to say that images are a major contributing factor. In case you were unaware, visual search is when an individual utilizes an image to search for specific info on search engines. This image can be anything ranging from a photograph to an illustration. Opting for proper visual search optimization can be beneficial for a business, as it can improve its website’s SEO. Let’s see how.
How Does Visual Search Optimization Improve UX?
Look around yourself; all you will see are images, images, and more images, especially if you are a social media user. As a consequence, like most other people, you may have also gotten accustomed to interacting and learning about new things via images instead of text only. Below are some ways Visual Search Optimization can enhance the user experience on a website/e-commerce platform:
- Product Discovery
By utilizing visual search, individuals can uncover items that closely match their interests. Imagine this: you’re just scrolling through Facebook and suddenly come across an ad featuring a really awesome pair of sneakers. Just save that picture or take a screenshot of it and run a visual search. That’s it! Within seconds, you will see lots of similar products from various retailers.
- New Trend Discovery
Visual search doesn’t only help users discover similar products but also what’s trendy. This becomes possible via the analysis of photos from fashion shows, influencers, and more. Visual search algorithms effectively analyze common visual patterns and recommend products that go well with the current trends.
- Search Process Streamlining
When it comes to simplifying the search process, visual search is unparalleled. It gets rid of the need for users to type particular keywords or names of products. Rather, it encourages users to only upload a picture to perform a search. Besides saving time and effort, this paves the way for a more fun and convenient shopping experience.
- Better Personalization
Visual search empowers retailers to tailor the shopping experience for each potential customer, keeping their visual preferences and browsing behavior in mind. It does so by assessing the visual characteristics of the images each user interacts with. Then, it suggests products based on their individual preferences.
- Time On Site (TOS) Boost
Visual search enables users to discover a huge variety of products and relevant content online. This contributes to better engagement and TOS. It lets users find new or related products hassle-free without leaving the page they are currently on.
Visual Search Optimization Best Practices
A reliable digital marketing agency can help you optimize your website images for visual search. Take a look at these best practices to follow to ensure a successful visual search optimization:
| Practice | Description |
| High-Quality Images | High-quality, clearly visible images are easy to recognize for your customers. Not only that, search engines can recognize various elements in a high-quality image as opposed to a poor-quality one. This lets search engines show your website/content to people to whom it may be relevant and leads to a better user experience. |
| Structured Data Markup Inclusion | User intent is pretty vital to search engines today. That’s why visual search engines are going through a rapid transformation every day to offer users intent-specific results. Including structured data/schema markup makes it easier for search engines to comprehend a webpage as well as its various elements, boosting the chances of your images ranking higher in visual search results. |
| Alt Text | Perhaps the best SEO strategy as regards visual search optimization is nothing other than utilizing apt alt texts. For the unaware, alt text refers to an image description that allows search engines to figure out that image’s meaning/context. Alt text enables search engine bots to display an image in the relevant search results by better understanding what it stands for. |
| Appropriate Image File Type | Choose appropriate image file types for your images. Photos look good in JPEG format, but illustrations and graphics shine in PNG. Selecting the appropriate file format for your images can boost their quality and efficiency. |
| Image Sitemaps | Sitemaps are the best way to define the priority level of webpages to search engines. They make it crystal-clear what pages are vital and what aren’t. This way, search engines index pages included in sitemaps before indexing the ones that aren’t included. The same goes for image sitemaps, too. They are an awesome way of making your images easily discoverable to search engines and increasing their visibility. |
| Descriptive and Apt Image File Names | What most people do is pick some generic name like ‘image1.jpeg’ or ‘graphic1.png’ for their website images. But such names don’t really serve any purpose. Instead, go for a descriptive image file name that suits the purpose of the image. This is helpful in defining the context of your image to the search engines and boosting its ranking. |
| Image Compression | The larger the size of images, the slower the loading speed of a website. Slow loading speeds can hamper your SEO. Thus, it would be a wise move to compress your images without compromising their quality to optimize them for visual search. |
Final Words
As is clear from the above discussion, visual search optimization is a crucial aspect of SEO that is useful in boosting the visibility of a website and enriching the user experience. So, it would be smart to consult a reputed digital marketing service and leverage visual search optimization for your business.
