How to Name Images for SEO

Here's a post that I sent to a client of mine about how to name images. I thought it would be helpful to post it for those that might have questions about how to name posts.

The entire idea of SEO is to work backwards and to think about what your potential clients would do to find you. With the long tail, there is more an emphasis on specific searches and it will only get more and more specific.

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Below is an email I sent to a Wedding Photographer but the same concept is for every business. Just think about what people would search to find you.

For example a home improvement company might want to show up for siding repair, home repair, basement remodeling, etc. Then you can even think about your local location as specific as towns, cities, communities. All these are relevant to ranking well. Search is not just “home improvement, Northern Virginia” it's “home improvement company, close to me” or “home improvement company, Alexandria, VA (town in Northern Virginia).

Here's the email:

Ok, I will give you a call tomorrow. Here's a few posts that might help as far as keywords again you want to just describe the picture focusing on the following:

Type of wedding – (jewish wedding, african american wedding), etc.
Location – city, state, venue, location in venue (stairs, front, back)
Person – bride, groom, bridesmaid, mother of the bride, flower girl, etc.
Part of the event – first dance, cutting the cake, etc.
Type of photo – black and white, candid, etc.
Action – laughing, smiling, hugging, dancing

You can pick and choose from the above. The key is just to focus on telling a story not so much on the keywords. You will naturally use the keywords that the brides will use. You want to describe what's going on in the photo.

So for example if you have an event you shoot at Independence Hall for a client named Johnson, you might have 5 photos you put on the site:

Image Title: jewish-wedding-philadelphia-pa | Alt tag: “jewish wedding philadelphia pa” | Caption “Jewish Wedding loacated at the Independence Hall”
Image Title: independence-hall-wedding-philadelphia-pa | Alt tag: “independence hall wedding philadelphia pa” | Caption “Johnson wedding at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia Pennsylvania”
Image Title: independence-hall-wedding-stairs-philadelphia-pa | Alt tag: “stairs independence hall wedding philadelphia pa” | Caption “Johnson wedding at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia Pennsylvania”
Image Title: bride-groom-independence-hall-wedding-philadelphia-pa | Alt tag: “bride groom independence hall wedding philadelphia pa” | Caption “Bride and Groom at Johnson wedding located at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”
Image Title: bridesmaids-laughing-independence-hall-wedding-pennsylvania | Alt tag: “bridesmaids laughing independence hall wedding pennsylvania” | Caption “Bridesmaids Laughing Together at Johnson wedding at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia Pennsylvania”

Here's a few articles that might help too what we spoke about if you want to read further. I won't be on the computer tomorrow but will give you a call: