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patrickprecisione
11-08-2013, 10:10 AM
If I host an image on my website (so for instance, the URL would be "www.mywebsite.com/images/image_name.jpg") and someone shares this link on their site, how does it compare with a text link. Meaning, if all other factors are the same, does the image link or a text link offer more SEO benefit? Or is it roughly the same benefit?

And just to be clear (and excuse me if this is a dumb question), images that on the "/images/" sub-directory of my site will benefit me SEO-wise, right?

Harold Mansfield
11-08-2013, 11:01 AM
If I host an image on my website (so for instance, the URL would be "www.mywebsite.com/images/image_name.jpg") and someone shares this link on their site, how does it compare with a text link. Meaning, if all other factors are the same, does the image link or a text link offer more SEO benefit? Or is it roughly the same benefit?

And just to be clear (and excuse me if this is a dumb question), images that on the "/images/" sub-directory of my site will benefit me SEO-wise, right?

Image links may be a source of traffic, but not so much as a source of "SEO Juice". Assuming the images are titled correctly you may see some traffic from Google or Bing images, but with so much stealing and reposting online, I wouldn't count on images alone as any beneficial SEO strategy.

patrickprecisione
11-08-2013, 11:23 AM
Image links may be a source of traffic, but not so much as a source of "SEO Juice". Assuming the images are titled correctly you may see some traffic from Google or Bing images, but with so much stealing and reposting online, I wouldn't count on images alone as any beneficial SEO strategy.

I see. But with that being said- If someone shares my image by using the link on my website, rather than just saving it to their computer and uploading it, that does benefit me SEO-wise, right?

Obviously images alone shouldn't be your total SEO strategy, but if someone used the image and properly linked back to me, we're talking some link juice, correct?

Harold Mansfield
11-08-2013, 11:34 AM
I see. But with that being said- If someone shares my image by using the link on my website, rather than just saving it to their computer and uploading it, that does benefit me SEO-wise, right?

Obviously images alone shouldn't be your total SEO strategy, but if someone used the image and properly linked back to me, we're talking some link juice, correct?
Technically yes. It's a link back to your site. I guess if you are giving people your own HTML code to use to share the link on their site and you have it structured and titled the way you want it, it could be of some SEO help.

However, in the grand scheme of all of the other things that you could be doing for SEO, that would be at the bottom of my list. It's an old trick that people used to use a few years back. I personally think it's a better strategy to have the kind of content that people what to share, and provide a link for them to share it in a way that links back to you.

Google is about content. Yes, images are content, but words are more important. Images are only helpful if you attach words to them. So knowing that words are the key, I'd focus more on that. Images are decoration for the reader. Google could care less. You can have an image of a billy goat and title it "New Kitchen" and Google will place it in "New Kitchens".

In other words, Google can't see. It reads with X's and O's.

nealrm
11-08-2013, 11:51 AM
They would need to include the proper alt tag information to be much use. If the image linked to your site and the alt tag stated something link "business envelopes" it could provide some SEO help. Otherwise, it would just be a link without any keywords.

cbscreative
11-08-2013, 11:57 AM
I'd recommend just structuring your images correctly and not worry about the rest. Images have SEO value with a few basic rules.

The first is the alt attribute in your img tag. Technically this is for accessibility so screen readers for the sight impaired get a description of the image. Back in the early days of slow modems, some users turned off images to speed up page loading. The original purpose of serving the sight impaired still stands. However, properly labeled, the alt attribute will have SEO value. Using keywords in the alt attribute is recommended, just don't stuff them like some SEO people. If it doesn't serve a useful purpose to human beings, the SEO value won't be there either. The title attribute, if used, should be treated the same way.

Another important guideline with images is naming the file. When you see images with names like image34.jpg or DSC0936.jpg the SEO value is being squandered. Using Harold's example if it's a new kitchen, calling it newkitchen.jpg will help search engines index your image and your page accurately.

Looks like neal slipped in a post while I was typing.

Broland
11-15-2013, 06:34 AM
What you are referring to is commonly known as hotlinking to images. Other people hotlinking images from your site is going to provide very very little SEO value, if any at all. The URL for the image location is an orphaned page, meaning it links to nowhere else on your site. What you can do with this, if they are original images that belong to you, is use Google reverse image search to find where your images are being used and then contact the site owner and ask them for a link telling them you are okay with them using your image if they would just add a link next to it crediting the original source.