Clickable Images Question
-
This may seem like a minor issue but it is something that has been bothering me. When I write a blog post and place images within the text, is it better to have the image linking to nothing or link to the image url.
I am guessing that unless I wish the image to rank for a certain keyword then it is not worth it linking to the image url. But would just like clarification if there is a more deep seated reason.
Thanks
Mark
-
Hi Mark!
When writing blogs for our clients I make the photo link to "none" UNLESS it is a brand logo or something of the like that can link to the brand/manufacturer's website. I find that this could negatively impact the user experience if they click the photo only to realize it brings them to a webpage that only shows the image.
The most important information when adding a photo is the ALT tag. This lets the crawlers know what the image is of.
If I were you, I would ensure all the photos being added have an image ALT tag but do not link to just the image file to ensure positive user experience.
Hope this helps!
-
Agree with both Tim and Tymen. Another point I would like to call out is making sure the image has a relevant name as well. bird1.jpg isn't as valuable as blue-macaw-bird.jpg
-
Hi Mark,
To have the image there withe the right ALT tag also contributes to the overall value of the page for that specific keyword. As Tim mentions I would not link to the image at all unless you want it to be seen larger. In several mobile versions this image linking goed wrong and it will harm the experience people have on your site. I only use linking when I write blogs about specific products I let the images link directly to the product page.
Good luck!
Tymen
-
Personally unless you are linking to some other content or maybe offering a larger image to view I would not bother adding a link to the image. To ensure the images is optimised make sure you add a relevant Alt tag that is related to the contents of the image. That's my opinion on it anyway. Others may see it differently.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Responsive images srcset
Is delivering scaled images using srcset a good idea? Thinking of delivering one image size to Mobile and another to Desktop. How can I do this for all browsers? Thanks Mike
On-Page Optimization | | henandstag2 -
How many images should be optimised for 1 keyword?
Hello Moz, I have a product category page and I have optimised 4 images around 1 keyword - is this bad practice? I worry Google will penalise me. Should I instead optimise them for other keywords? Cheers
On-Page Optimization | | crocman0 -
Google Index/Cashe questions
I have 15k+ pages. I have 4.5k pages indexed. What relation is the google cashe to indexing pages? My site gets cashed every two days. The competition in my SERP goes 2-3weeks to get cashed. What does this indicate? Is your cashe date your last google crawl? How can I get google to crawl my site? Is there a way I can get google to crawl my site starting from an internal page. This way I could set up a better linking structure that would benefit from doing activities that get that page indexed to help get my site indexed more thoroughly...
On-Page Optimization | | JML11790 -
On page/site - Images & bold text
As I understand it on a page where you are going for the keywords 'Metal gates', you have an image titled 'Metal gates' (Lets say MG for Metal gates to save on my typing!) with the alt tag being 'MG' Now as I also understand it, if an image is also used as a link the Alt tag is also the anchor text? So, I have a page on Metal gates using the above methods, from this page I have image links to a metal driveway gates page (as well as text links), would I be best using an image titled 'Metal driveway gates' with the alt text as ' Metal driveway gates' to link to my metal driveway gates page (if you follow me)? Also on the image question, what if you have say six images (that are all links) on the metal gates page, how would you title the images and alt tags? Variations on Metal gates? Or using the keyword on the page that the link points to? (I'm not looking to keyword stuff but want to get it right! ) Also is it important to have your on page keywords in bold still? i ask because I've bolded text on my pages but not the main keywords - I've bolded text that I want people to see, but do not want to take away any power from my keywords if you follow me?
On-Page Optimization | | Jon-C0 -
What should I put in the image ALT and title text for blogger?
Hello, I wanted to know what should I put in the image ALT and title text for blogger. I've read so many damn articles about ALT text and Title text for blogger; nothing explained what I put in it though. What am I supposed to put in it that will help me with my on page optimization? (Stuff like do I use spaces or dashes, do I put my keyword in there, how many characters should I not exceed, do I put one word or two words?) If I have a picture of a backpack, what should the alt text be? What if I have 10 different pictures of backpacks on 1 page? How about if I had a backpack next to a tv in an image? A specific answer or a detailed one is nice!
On-Page Optimization | | 6786486312640 -
What's the maximum length (number of spaces) for the Alt Image Text?
I'm setting up alt image text for the images on our website and I'm wondering if there is a maximum number of spaces that should be used that field.
On-Page Optimization | | JillCS0 -
New website launch - Dupilicate content question
Hi, We are going to be launching a US version of our UK E-commerce web store. The US version will be a standalone site, separate URL/hosting etc. My question is that the US website will carry the same products as the UK site - will the product copy have to be written differently for the US website in order to avoid any SEO duplicate copy? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | WalesDragon0 -
How would you optimize thousands of images?
The majority of our images are not optimized for search. Specifically, the alt text and image title are blank. The image filenames are also not using descriptive keywords. We publish content quite frequently and this issue will be addressed within the production work flow for all images moving forward. As for the images currently existing on our site, what are some ways to scale the optimization for thousands of images that need to be optimized for alt text, title and filename? We're thinking about mechanical turk, but the problem is that we are a business magazine and have a lot of head shots of entrepreneurs that the mainstream might not recognize. Any insights would be appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | inc.com0