When creating a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Content strategy, a lot of time is focused on keyword research and unique content writing, but an often overlooked technique is the naming of images.
This article explores how the filename of images can be used to help boost search engine positioning. We also explore other techniques relating to images on websites to help boost search engine position.
The first thing to address is that image file names can indeed play a role in SEO, the following explains how image file names can help SEO:
Use Descriptive and Relevant File Names:
Make sure you give your images descriptive names that are relevant to the content, this enables search engines to better understand what the image is about.
For example, if you have an image of a red bicycle, naming the image "red-bicycle.png" is more SEO-friendly than something like "IMG_1234.png"
Descriptively naming images helps Google and other search engines understand the context and relevance of the image to the page.
Keyword Optimization:
It is important to Include relevant keywords in your image file names, this can help boost SEO, but it should always be done naturally. For example, if your webpage is about "best mountain bikes," naming the image files something like "best-mountain-bikes.png" or "mountain-bikes-top-2025.png" would help search engines recognize the topic of your page and images.
There is no point in using popular keywords that are unrelated to your content to try and ‘trick’ search engines. If the filename of the image is not related to the content it is displayed in, then your web page could be potentially negatively ranked
Improving Image Search Rankings:
Search engines, particularly Google, index images and can display them in separate search results. By optimising the file names and surrounding content (like alt text, captions, and context), images have a better chance of appearing in image search results, which can increase organic traffic.
Avoiding Generic or Default File Names:
Using default image names like "image1.png" or "photo-001.png" doesn't provide any useful information for SEO. Generic file names don’t help search engines or users understand the content of the image.
Separation of Words with Hyphens:
If your image file name contains multiple words, it’s best to separate them with hyphens (e.g., "red-bicycle-2025.png") rather than underscores (e.g., "red_bicycle_2025.png).
Google treats hyphens as space, but underscores are often treated as part of a word.
Other Image-related SEO Factors:
In addition to the naming of your images, it is important to consider the following other factors to help boost SEO:
Add Alt Text to help SEO:
The alt tag is a small line of coded included in the image tag, adding a description of the image is not only important for SEO but also helps with screen readers for users with visual impairments.
This is an important element of image optimisation, as it describes what’s in the image. It’s crucial for accessibility and can also help with SEO.
How File Size effects SEO:
Image file size impacts site speed, which is a factor in SEO rankings. Make sure your images are optimised to load quickly without sacrificing quality.
You can reduced the size of your images by a different file type, such as a .png, .svg or a .webP file.
Image Sitemaps to improve Search Positioning:
Including images in your XML sitemap or creating a separate image sitemap can help search engines find and index your images more effectively.
Whilst this cannot guarantee better placement, it does show search engines you have ordered your content correctly, which again can help search positioning.
Image file names and SEO: Conclusion
In conclusion, correctly naming image file names can improve SEO, but they are just one piece of the puzzle. You must consider this a part of your SEO content strategy.
Correct image naming is one of the most overlooked element of Search Engine Optimisation and when used correctly, could help you boost your ranking over your competitors.
