There have been extensive talks about the power of content in establishing online hierarchies and helping businesses achieve their objectives. Content has been declared the king of the year one too many times. However, content and the way it works have greatly evolved. At this point, there is so much information created every day online, that only creations that really stand out and are promoted thoroughly can bring some kind of added value.

And because content is not just text, we will explore from an SEO perspective the visual forms of content and see how they add up to a website’s ranking and online visibility.

What type of visual content can you use for SEO?

As a key element to any website, all forms of visual presentation can be integrated in the SEO strategy:

  • Product images
  • Videos (product videos, animations, virtual tours, tutorials )
  • Infographics
  • Presentations

There are certain industries where images and videos have a tremendous importance on all levels: ranking, engaging users and selling. In apparel e-stores, hospitality and travel websites, real estate websites, food e-commerce, etc. These industries should use complete strategies for optimising and promoting their visual content.

Optimizing visual content for better website rankings

Images, videos and infographics have many benefits for online businesses. From drawing visitors on site to increasing brand awareness, they can be used in multiple ways with great results. But they can also be leveraged for a better visibility in search engines results. Especially since search results now propose a more diverse type of content, that responds to different users needs.

Optimizing images for SEO

Images have a privileged position on the Internet. On social networks they are among the most searched for, appreciated and shared types of content. On search engines they have a dedicated section.

If you want the images of your website to rank higher, you first have to make sure they are being indexed by search engines. Create a sitemap.xml and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools.

Optimise ALT tags and Title Tags so that they provide valuable information for the search engines and the users.

Optimising videos for SEO

Just as with images, make sure videos are well indexed, by creating a sitemap.xml. Videos can also benefit from optimised tags, titles and descriptions that align to your SEO strategy.

Videos have two main advantages: they are shareable and they can attract backlinks. If you want the backlinks to count, the video must be hosted on your server and you must provide an embedding code for visitors who want to share the video.

There is however another possibility for leveraging the power of videos, even when they are hosted by services like Youtube. In this case, the video has to be accompanied by links (inserted in the description or on the video, for example).

Quality visual content is loved by users and appreciated by search engines if it is identified as useful and relevant. Taking into account the impact visual content has on traffic, user experience and conversions, and having a well structured visual content strategy is a must.

And don’t forget to define your goals first and then create images and videos according to them.