Fazley RabbiImage SEO is the work of preparing the pictures on your website so they load quickly, make sense to people who can't see them, and can be understood by Google. For most business sites it comes down to four habits: give each file a descriptive name, write honest alt text, resize and compress before uploading, and use a sensible format. None of it is difficult, and all of it also makes the site better for ordinary visitors.
Why images matter for search
Images help in three ways. They can appear in Google Images and in the image-rich parts of normal results, which matters for things people want to see before buying: furniture, clothing, handicrafts, food. They affect page speed, because heavy photos are often the main reason a page crawls along on mobile data. And the text around an image helps Google understand the page as a whole.
The flip side is that a page full of large, unnamed photos is slow, gives Google little to work with, and leaves some visitors out.
1. File names: say what is in the picture
Before uploading, rename the file from whatever the phone or camera called it to a short description.
- Weak:
IMG_4821.jpg,photo-final-new.jpg - Better:
jute-tote-bag-natural.jpg,rooftop-solar-panel-installation.jpg
Use lowercase words separated by hyphens. Describe the image, not your keyword list. Even on a Bangla site, plain English letters in file names are the safest choice, because Bangla characters in a web address often turn into long, unreadable codes when the link is copied or shared.
2. Alt text: describe the image for someone who can't see it
Alt text is a short description attached to an image in the page's code. Screen readers read it aloud to people with visual impairments. Browsers show it when an image fails to load, which happens on slow connections. And Google uses it to understand the image.
Good alt text says what is in the image, in a short phrase or sentence:
| Image | Weak alt text | Better alt text |
|---|---|---|
| Product photo | "bag" | "Natural jute tote bag with leather handles" |
| Work photo | "image1" | "Technician checking a split AC indoor unit" |
| Before and after | "best AC repair Dhaka cheap AC repair Dhaka" | "AC filter before and after cleaning" |
A few rules of thumb:
- Don't stuff keywords. The last example in the table helps nobody.
- Purely decorative images, such as background patterns or dividers, can have empty alt text so screen readers skip them.
- On a Bangla page, write the alt text in Bangla, matching the language of the page.
- If an image contains important words, such as an offer or opening hours, put those words on the page as well. Search engines and screen readers can't be relied on to read text inside a picture.
For more on making your site usable for everyone, see website accessibility basics.
3. Size: resize, then compress
A photo straight from a modern phone is far larger than any website needs. Upload it as it is, and every visitor downloads all of it, often on mobile data.
- Resize to roughly the largest size it will ever be shown. A product photo displayed in a narrow column doesn't need to be several thousand pixels wide.
- Compress it with an image compressor or your platform's built-in optimisation. Check the result by eye; you want it smaller, not blurry.
- Serve smaller versions to phones. Most modern platforms, including WordPress, create several sizes of each upload and let the browser pick a suitable one.
- Lazy-load images further down the page so they load only as the visitor scrolls. Don't lazy-load the main image at the top; it should appear straight away.
If your pages already feel slow, images are the first thing to check, along with the other causes in fixing a slow website on mobile data.
4. Formats: which one when
| Format | Good for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | Photos | Supported everywhere; a good balance of quality and size |
| PNG | Logos, screenshots, images that need transparency | Often too heavy for photos |
| WebP | Photos and graphics | Usually smaller than JPEG or PNG at similar quality; supported by modern browsers |
| AVIF | Photos | Often smaller still; check that your platform handles it well |
| SVG | Logos, icons, simple drawings | Stays sharp at any size; not for photos |
If your platform can convert uploads to WebP automatically, that is usually the simplest improvement you can make.
Common questions
Do I need an image sitemap? For most small sites, no. If your images sit in normal page code, Google can find them. A large shop with many product images may find one useful.
Should every image have a caption? No, but a caption is a good place for information a reader needs, such as what a product photo shows or where a picture was taken.
Does an image need to be near related text? Ideally, yes. Place images next to the text they illustrate, so the page makes sense as a whole.
A quick checklist before uploading
- Rename the file to describe the picture.
- Resize it to the size it will be shown.
- Compress it and check it still looks good.
- Write alt text in the page's language.
- Put any important words from the image on the page too.
For online shops, these habits sit alongside titles, descriptions and structured data, covered in product and category pages that rank. If you'd like a hand with any of it, see my SEO, AEO and GEO service.