How to Optimize Images for SEO in Shopify

There are four different meta tags for the images that need to be optimized. The first is the title of the image. This is what the image is referred to. The second is the alternative (alt) text, this was an old meta tag that was used when internet speeds were slow and some browsers displayed these instead of the image itself to prevent customers from abandoning the site. Website designers would use this space to tell search engines and users what the image is about.

The third is the description of the image. This is used as a second way to describe the image. And the final meta tag is the caption, this is the text that appears alongside an image on the website.

In general, not all of these aspects can be optimized within Shopify. There is little value placed on the description of an image. While some apps allow you to change this, this isn’t a criterion that’s often catered for. In addition, it is the lowest-ranked element of search engines, mainly because the alt text does the same job.

In contrast, you should be using the title, alt text and caption to add some value to the SEO of your page.

All three of these elements should have your page’s keyword inserted. But you can’t just use the same metadata on a page. For instance, you can’t just have fishing gear on each of your meta tags across two or three images. You should add variance to each one. For instance: shop fishing gear, or used gear for fishing. These need to be inserted on different keywords.

When it comes to the SEO of your images, you should be looking at using an app to help. Many apps, like SEO Booster, are great at helping you identify images that haven’t been optimized for SEO and then adjusting them with ease. Some apps will also assess the most likely keywords and then insert these automatically for you.