How to Create Your Own Custom Images with Software You Probably Already Have and Know How to Use

Lesson 4

Video transcript:

In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to name your image files.

Before you start building your image library, develop a file-naming protocol that works for you, your audience and the search engines. You need to be able to find your images quickly, so name them in a way that’s easy for you to search on key terms and locate what you need. Remember, too, that a descriptive file name helps the search engines know what your image is about so that they can include your image in search results. Search engines don’t look at your pictures, they look at your file names. That’s why, even if you have some sort of numeric coding you use for internal identification, include a description of the image and keywords in the file name.

Your file names should include:

1. An external file identifier (typically a keyword or keyword phrase, or part of the text in the image) so search engines and humans can quickly identify the content of the image without seeing it.

2. Your organization name (or an individual’s name) so search engines and your human readers can connect the image to you.

3. Your internal file identifier (alpha and/or numeric).

Separate your words with hyphens, not spaces or underscores.

Here’s an example of what an image file name related to this course might be:

create-your-own-custom-images-jacquelyn-lynn-1.jpg

It has the course name, my name and the number one as an internal file identifier.

Something related to file names that you should keep in mind is alt text.

When you upload your files to your site, the alt text is a valuable SEO tool. The alt text specifies the alternate text that will appear if the image can’t be displayed for any reason. Not only is this useful for your human visitors, especially those who are visually-impaired, it’s another way to tell search engines what the image is about—essentially, it’s a way for the search engines to “see” your image.

Your alt text should be simple, contain at least some of the text in your image and use keywords when possible. You can also include your company name in the alt text.

For the best SEO results, keep your file names and alt text natural. Write them for human readers; don’t try to write them for the search engines.

It’s a good idea to keep your alt text between 5 and 15 words. Each image should have its own unique alt text; when you use the same alt text for multiple pictures, it loses its SEO value. Platforms such as WordPress allow you to enter alt text when you upload the image, so it’s easy to do.

If you’re going to spend the time creating an attractive image that will appeal to humans, invest a little more time to make sure it will also appeal to search engines.