Recently the Google user interface (UI) for image search results has changed. Many have seen this as a downfall because the search engine itself has greedily hijacked what was once a useful resource for search engine traffic.

Sure when searching for “Lindsay Lohan arrested” the new UI is great to scroll through thousands of entertaining images. However, what does this new UI mean for you?

Keep Implementing Best Practices for SEO with Your Images

Google does not instill these updates without reason, and you should continue with best practices for SEO. You can see in the image above, you have lost the source and description under the image. Now the images are sleeker and the thumbnails look clearer.

According to Google, “This speeds up the experience for users, reduces the load on the source website’s servers, and improves the accuracy of webmaster metrics such as pageviews.”

When you click on an image on the search results page it appears in Google’s viewer rather than on your website. This is one of many reasons why you should be using keywords to name your image, alt tags to describe them, and hosting them yourself rather than on Flickr. In Google’s new view you can see your web address is located underneath your webpage’s title, and you still have the option to “visit page,” “View original image,” and get “More info.”

Follow the best practices for SEO on your website and the title that is showing in Google’s new view will work better for converting viewers into traffic to your site. Those who just want to view pictures of a car will click on many of these photos and probably not visit the websites. Traffic from these people would be nice, but they aren’t necessarily quality leads.

For better traffic for conversion, you want your photo showing up on the first page of the “web results.” Those who are seeking information will see the attractive car photo and follow the links to your site.

Remember the important key factors I mentioned: name your image with your keywords, use alt tags on your images, title your web pages with best practices for SEO, and host the images yourself. Even though Google has taken some traffic away, image optimization still works very well for conversion.

About the Author

PCG Digital Marketing is an award winning digital agency headquartered in Eatontown, NJ. We help our clients get found online through innovative search, social and online advertising campaigns.