As I was reading through a blog piece from Hub Spot, I clicked on one of the pictures to see if it would take me to the image that I could download (I usually just right-click). Instead of an image, I got redirected to another Hubspot piece where the image had been used. Interesting. I read that piece too. So, I decided to click on the rest of the images and see what they produced. Here is a sample of Hubspot pieces linked to images in one blog post:
-Download 160 Free Business-Themed Stock Photos
-10 Free Design Tools for Creating Stunning Visual Content
-16 Marketing Pick-up Lines to Snag Your Next Hot Date (Ryan Gosling meme picture)
-What the Best Business Bloggers Do (And You Should Too)
-Google to Encrypt All Keyword Searches: Say Goodbye to Keyword Data
This exercise reminded me that search engines like URLs that link back to your own website. My web guy always told me to make sure that I use links in my blog posts, but often I forget about picture links.
Here are three quick tips to use when adding URLs to pictures:
1. Link the picture back to the product/service page on your website described in the blog piece.
2. Link the picture back to a piece that is related to the blog piece. If you use more than one image, you could use the images like a "related articles" section.
3. Link the picture to your "About" or "Services" page.
Remember we're talking about URLs here, not alt text, which is what screen readers use to read aloud what's on a page. My web guy tells me that search engines will penalize you if you consistently use Alt text for blatant promotion-I believe him so I don't. Here's an example of what I do with images:
I use picture titles to categorize my images for easy search in my media library. I try to put a short descriptive title in the alt text box for screen readers. Because this particular blog piece came from my new book, Practice Safe Social, I linked the picture back to my Practice Safe Social workshops page on my website.
How are using image information? Why not share your thoughts in the comments below?