June 12, 2007 20:24
Category: Optimizing
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For a long time visitors are flocking to some of the pages in this website through Google's image search. To give an example, if you type the phrase 'how to write business letter' in image search of Google, the 4th top result is that of the webpage, 'how-to-write-a-business-letter.html' of this site.
The organic search for the same phrase in Google however doesn't list my webpage in the top results. So, why is image search so benevolent to my webpage whereas the organic search is not?
It's because I've an image of a structured business letter in that page named 'buslet.gif'. The key-phrase of the content of that page is 'how to write a business letter', and though the image-name is not the key-phrase, the page still ranks quite high in Google image search results.
This means 2 things. First, surfers are increasingly taking recourse to image search with their chosen search term. Second, if the image name too is after the key-phrase, chance is the webpage will continue to enjoy top ranks over a long term.
But wait before you run to include images in all your web pages. The page that Google displays when an image is clicked is not your webpage. It's rather a Google page in 2-part frames in which the lower half is the actual webpage to which the image belongs.
Google allows the upper frame to be removed so that your webpage is displayed, but that depends on the visitor's wish. In other words, in order that your actual page is displayed the visitor will have to click a second time to remove Google's frame. And we all know how hard it is for a second click to come by.
The question is will the visitor click a second time so as to actually come to your webpage? Let me answer it from my point of view. If I do an image search and from the search results come upon a similar frame-page that Google presents, I'll scan the lower half to find if the webpage has something of interest for me.
Only when I know the page does have material to invoke my interest would I click to remove the frame to read more in that page and in the process be counted as a visitor to that page. In fact if I really find the page content to my liking, I would like to have more of it unhindered, and so I'd remove the Google frame as if to sweep aside an irritant.
Clearly then only an image or 2 is barely sufficient to retain visitors' interest in a particular webpage of your site. Yes, image does enhance the possibility of it being found in Google image search results, but beyond that it is purely the strength of the page's other content that will lure the visitors to lend it more time.
Keeping that in perspective, here are a few suggestions regarding image search that I feel will augment optimization effort for a webpage:
Include Image Wherever Feasible
Yes, it's a surely a good approach to include at least one, if not more, image in a webpage. Agreed, not all pages can possibly have images. For example, the page on how to write a business letter can hardly be a candidate for having an image (if not for need such as mine to display a format of business letter).
A travel-related page on the other hand is a sure destination for including as many images as possible, limited perhaps only by necessity.
The other point worth remembering is if possible the image file may be named after the main key-phrase of the page. The following image is named 'image-search.jpg' where the phrase 'image search' is the main key-phrase of this page.
Google image search for 'how to write a business letter'
shows this site at 4th top rank
Put In Good Content
As observed above, after a visitor checks in to your page through Google's image search, he still needs to click a second time to have actually visited your page. The stage is then set for him to spend further time and explore your site.
This your visitor will do only if he finds good page content worth dwelling on. Since he has already seen the image, albeit a thumbshot, in search results, he more or less knows what to expect from the image itself.
But when he finds the page has rich content, it fuels his eagerness to know more. Which is why good, relevant and targeted content is a must accompanying the image.
Here a point is important. As Google sees it, an image - and for that matter even videos too - is content for a webpage. Therefore, targeted content may as well be a series of images or videos, if felt suitable, instead of texts.
Optimize For Keyword
This may need no iteration. Search engine optimization of text content of the webpage with reference to the keyword for the page is a necessity not to be wasted even while making the content attractive for human reading. Refer my article on seo tips for more on this aspect.
Conclusion
Savvy webmasters are since long laying stress on how to reap the benefit of Google's image search facility to increase visibility. There is though a school of thought that overusing key-phrase in a webpage may not after all be a healthy doing, for it may be taken as keyword-stuffing by search engines.
However, as long as you've great contents to show off, my experience is you stand to win over the long term even if there are certain things in your site, that border on non-acceptance.
