When sourcing images, recall that Search Engines are similar to people with vision-impairment in that they also use file names and alternative text to better understand what is being displayed on a webpage. Thinking about the 5 W’s [WHO | WHAT | WHEN | WHERE | WHY] will help to fill in the descriptions needed so that the page ranks better. 

Image File Names should be descriptive 

• • Ex. kids-playing-in-kentucky-bluegrass-grass-front-lawn.jpg vs IMG12345.jpg

Alt Text informs Search Engines and visitors of what the image being viewed is

• • Using information from the image descriptions, provided by the Image Source (i.e. iStock, Shutterstock, Instagram), the Alt Text should be an expansion upon that you choose for the file name itself, including more details. They should contain all of the most important details about the photo, but with attention to keeping them somewhat short and sweet.

Not descriptive enough “2 tires”

Too long | KW stuffing “2 tires side by side, 2 tires on white 

background, 2 tire treads, 2 tread and wheels, tread and wheel on 

white background, 2 tires side by side on white background”

Perfect “Tread and wheel of two tires side by side on a white background”

Image Captions are statements that describe the image and adds context about the image (i.e. 5W’s)

Uncommon High-Definition Photos are more likely to show high in Google image search, potentially drawing traffic to the landing page, instead of using a common image where other pages will likely outrank another iteration of the same image already available on Google Image Search.