Improving SEO for your Squarespace website images
The goal of good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to have your website be the one that people find when they type a few search words on sites like Google to find the information they need. Very few people scroll to the second page of search results, so having your website show up on the first page of search results is your aim.
Read the Weebly version of this blog post here.
Image settings specific to SEO
I've researched a variety of SEO techniques to help my website (and my clients’ websites) appear earlier in Google search results. I learned that images play a role in improving your website's search rankings.
Settings that improve SEO
It isn't the image itself, but the words associated with an image, that can make a difference. There are three places where words are connected with an image:
The file name
Alt text (alternate text) that appears when the image can't be viewed or is being read by a screen reader for visually impaired visitors
An optional caption that describes what the image is about
Using keywords that people might search for in these three places will give your website a boost in search results.
After you place the image on your web page, edit the image properties. to add Alt Text. Also add a caption if you want one.
Setting image properties
File names promote the business and keywords
I recommend choosing the file name when you save the image on your computer so you can find it again if needed, but you can also change the file name in Squarespace through the image properties.
I usually start the file name with the business name first and then add some keywords. Hyphens (rather than an underline) between keywords help both readability and Google’s interpretation of the keywords.
Use a hyphenated file name with the business name and keywords
Alt text and captions add searchable text
After you place the image on your Squarespace page, open the image properties.
Add an optional caption to draw the reader’s eye to the image. The caption also gives you the opportunity to bring in more keywords.
Add Alt Text to describe the image so screen readers for visually impaired visitors and search engines both understand what the image is about.
Write a caption and Alt Text for an image in Squarespace for better SEO
It takes a little longer to employ these SEO techniques for images on a Squarespace website, but they’re helpful for organizing your files and keeping Google, Bing, and all the other search engines happy.
