The latest search engine updates have recently made it very clear that the more images you have on your website, the more Google will ignore you. Seems pretty tough, doesn’t it? Before you get too discouraged, or take your feelings to the other extreme, and start overloading your web pages with irrelevant images, you better take a hard look at which steps will positively affect your SEO and which steps will hurt your SEO. Google’s most recent bottom line has made it pretty clear that unless your website has at least one high-quality, relevant image on every page, your SEO will bleed out, and fast.
For all of you website owners out there who find it easier to put pen to paper than finger to flash, here’s the scoop on why Google loves images and why we’d better do the same. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, the bottom line is that the images look good. The world is a much different place than it once was, and that journal is no longer filled with column-to-column black-and-white text. Today, images feed our society. Capturing a different moment in time, these small frames captivate our minds, draw our eyes and mesmerize our senses. Most of today’s online society relies on a delicate juxtaposition of text and images to truly engage with what they see on the screen.
To add to the ever-growing list of societal dependencies, “sharing” is a trend that has recently taken on new life. Sharing posts online has become so popular that a website without a sharing tools option is considered as outdated as parachute pants. The key to allowing website users to share your posts effectively is to accompany each post with a relevant image. Ultimately, by leaving a well-written post without images, you are doing a great injustice. All the time and effort you put into researching, writing, and editing will go to waste if no one can successfully share your post with others. Also, Google Almighty will discard that very post you worked so hard to write if the post lacks a high-quality image to perfectly complement it.
Since images have become the not-so-secret ingredient to a website’s success, it makes sense that one of the biggest trends taking the internet by storm today is “free images”. This more recent popular trend earned its fame from its more direct counterpart; image copyrighted. It has simply become too risky for website owners to fill their pages with copyrighted images, so the internet world now follows a very simple rule: “take your own photos or spend your time searching for free images.” In Internet”. “. Unfortunately for those who don’t know their way around with a Nikon, option “B” is easier said than done. Getting proper copyright-free images on the Internet is now more difficult than ever, however, the demand for these images continues to grow. On the other hand, website owners with a knack for photography have certainly cracked down on anyone wishing to hitchhike. So when Google closed the door and made it almost impossible for someone to steal and repost copyrighted images, new services and developments appeared that opened a window.
Remember all those times your mom used to remind you that nothing good in life comes for free? With copyright-free images in such high demand, it was only a matter of time before startups started popping up left and right to fill the void. Website owners were excited to sign up and gain access to a free library full of images that they could use anytime, anywhere. The sad truth is that most of these image websites that advertise that they offer “Free Images” actually offer false dreams. Most of the time, after signing up, a website owner will be hit with subscription fees and image costs. Some website owners will ultimately pay the 99 cent per image fee, but for the handful of website owners hoping to capitalize on their website before investing more cents in it, the 99 cent fee becomes the deciding factor. .
The outlaw looking for free images usually takes the next step is to fill his web pages with whatever images he can find, but keep your horses there too, cowboy. Google is too smart for that. These days, filling that well-written technical journal with a photo of your fluffy cat, Pebbles, isn’t enough. Google is getting smarter by the megabytes and can now recognize the images you are using to fill your pages. The images you place next to your posts need to be correlated in order for your Pages to get the recognition they deserve.
The good news is that there are a select number of service providers that can be considered “the good guys” in free image search. Among them is Foter.com. This free stock photo website offers completely free images and is also available as a WordPress plugin. Unsurprisingly though, with the good comes the not-so-good, and in that regard, Foter.com has a limited library of photos, some of which aren’t the best quality. Website owners considering starting to browse Foter.com’s photo database should also keep in mind that any image they decide to use for their website requires attribution information in order to publish it on their website.
PhotoDropper is another website that teeters between good and bad. PhotoDropper is also offered as a WordPress plugin and has an extensive library of photos. However, before you set your sights on that all-important image, be sure to read the fine print. PhotoDropper has quite a large library of photos, the problem is that most of the good ones are only available in their “premium package”. You’re sure to find some useful images from their free photo collection, but in the end, going to the candy store only to find out that it can only be filled with gummy worms will leave you walking out of the store with nothing but a toothache.
Stock.EXCHNG and Stock Vault also managed to place themselves firmly in the race to become key players in providing free images. Unfortunately, as with their rivals Foter.com and PhotoDropper, these free image services are not without their downfalls either. Stock.EXCHNG requires that each image be accompanied by attribution information, and the service is not available as a WordPress plugin. However, on the other hand, Stock.EXCHNG offers a huge selection of high-quality images, and you can use any of the images on your website, if you have the patience to scroll through its database, the search options of which do not fail. allows you to narrow down your selection very easily. Stock Vault also prides itself on its high-quality image library, and this service is available to all WordPress users. However, there is a catch here, and it is one that may force many interested parties to continue their search for the next best thing. Stock Vault is available for non-commercial use only, so if your game plan is to start selling homemade soap online, don’t bother wasting your time searching for bubble bath images in Stock Vault.
So what does it all come down to? You have great ideas, your content is well written and witty, but without images everything is adrift. Fortunately for many stuck in an SEO rut, there are two new kids on the block who could be the light at the end of the tunnel. Zemanta and imonomy are two relatively new services, which have been taking the web by storm one site at a time. Both Zemanta and imonomy are the first to provide an automated service that allows you to instantly add royalty-free images to your pages. Both services have the ability to scan the written text of your web pages and instantly find suitable related images. Before you rush off and click through to the catchiest sound service, here’s a little breakdown of the do’s and don’ts of each of these free, automated image-feeding services.
Zemanta scans the written text of a website as it is published and offers website owners to choose from a smaller selection of images, which Zemanta’s automated system extracts from the database. The automated system, for the most part, offers highly relevant images and a large enough selection to please most website owners. There are a few drawbacks to be aware of before entering Zemanta’s library of copyright-free images. Zemanta does not work retroactively, this means that when you start using Zemanta, all subsequent posts will have access to Zemanta’s automated imaging service. However, if you are the owner of a mature website, your older posts and archives will not be pampered with the same makeover as your newer posts. On the subject of image changes, it’s important to note that Zemanta requires attribution information for each image. Furthermore, these attributions sometimes reach up to three or four lines in length. In addition to providing free images, Zemanta’s secondary function is to insert related external links to your posts. Hyperlinks, depending on location and quantity, will work to either hurt or help your SEO. Ultimately, the links lead to other websites, so with Zemanta’s free images there is a risk that users will be redirected.
Zemanta’s pairing, imonomy, offers similar services with a twist. Unlike Zemanta, imonomy’s technology automatically scans the content of the entire website and instantly matches the most suitable image for each post. imonomy works retroactively and can refresh web pages with just a few clicks. Furthermore, because imonomy is capable of scanning the entirety of a website, it offers a secondary service that allows users to reconnect with other related posts on the same website. Requiring no attribution credits, imonomy’s royalty-free images become interactive components of your website and boost SEO by providing smart internal linking. Free images have a downside, regardless of the service you’re using, and in that regard, imonomy inserts little ads alongside the free images. Ads are content related and the website owner takes most of the profit once all is said and done.
Having high-quality, relevant images to accompany your website posts is a must, and finding free images seems to be the new name of the game. There are certainly a few booby traps along the way, but finding that treasure chest isn’t impossible. For those of you still struggling with denial, it’s time to move on to that glorious stage called “acceptance.” Google has set some really high standards when it comes to how a website should look. Call it superficial all you want, but the new image laws are here to stay, and not to waste time, it’s time you start doing your homework on how you’re going to revamp your pages.