The W3Techs survey indicates that the most used image file formats are PNG (82.0%), JPEG (77.8%), SVG (53.8%), GIF (21.6%), and WebP (9.8%).
But why are images so much popular?
You see… users spend an average of 5.94 seconds looking at the website’s main image & 5.59 seconds looking at written content [Source: FounderJar]. Clearly, the image on the website matters.
If you upload a high-quality image on your roofing website, your load time will increase, eventually decreasing the ranking, and beating the original proposal.
So, what are you supposed to do?
Well…we need to find a Goldilocks zone where you have quality and relevant image on your website that aids the ranking. “And how can I do that?” you might ask. Let’s find it out.
Where To Get Image For Your Roofing Business?
You may be tempted to use a high-resolution stock image available for free & use it on your website. But wait…not so fast. The thing with free images is – anyone can use them. This beats the purpose of showcasing your business from a unique perspective.
The best thing you can do is take your own picture via phone and use it. You can pick the best images of projects that you completed for your clients. Now, you may say you don’t have good photography skills.
Don’t worry. You can take the help of a roofing marketing agency, where they have a team of photo editors and graphics designers who can enhance the quality of roofing project photographs so that they can be used across your website and social media to showcase your work.
Moreover, you will own your image & it will be one of a kind. When users visiting your website will see original & authentic photos, they will develop trust in your company. This will boost your brand value. That being said about the image source – let’s see its optimization.
Types of Images and When & How To Use Them for Your Roofing Business
As mentioned above, there are the following formats in which images are generally shown on the website.
- For plain images – JPEG
- For images with text like infographics – PNG
- For vector images like lines & text – SVG
- For animation – GIF
Now, which one to use depends upon the specific need. For example:
- To show details about types of roofing material & their properties – use PNG.
- To show your workers in action at the installation site or happy customers – use JPEG.
- To give information about the roof’s dimensions & other stats – use SVG.
- To show a quick preview of a detailed video or make a funny pun – use GIF.
You can upload a full-size video on YouTube and link it to your website. Now that the use is clear, let’s move on to the optimization part.
SEO And Image Optimization Goes Hand In Hand
1. Resizing
Keep your thumbnail image & main image as a separate file. Your thumbnail will likely be browsed by users first. A thumbnail image file is a smaller version of your original image. An advantage of using a small-resized image is that it loads faster on your website. This will help load your website fast.
2. Compression
The holy grail of uploading any high-quality image file is to compress it. There are free and paid software that you can use to compress files. However, be aware of the fact that sometimes compressing image files may cause it to blur or lose quality. Ensure you choose the appropriate file type for each image to get a small-size file without compromising the quality.
3. Relevant File Name
All your optimization will go in vain if you don’t use the relevant name for your image file. Let’s understand this with the help of an example. Suppose you have an image of a person installing a solar roof. You can write your title as ‘solar-roof-installation-guide.jpg’ instead of some text like ‘hgfjh432.jpg’.
The former name is clear and describes the content of your image. In contrast, the latter is just some random letter and number that do not make any sense. A descriptive image title will also help Google crawler to identify your image easily.
4. Descriptive Image Title
When you write HTML code for your image title, be extra careful. This is where you can add your keyword. However, we strongly advise you to refrain from doing keyword stuffing as it may hurt your website’s overall ranking.
5. Fill In ‘Alt’ Tab
The ‘Alt’ tab is an attribute that you can insert in your image link on an HTML page. The simplest one would look something like the following:
<img src=http://sample_image.jpg alt=” This is where you will describe your image.”>
So, what to write here? Let’s take the same example as above. You can write:
alt=” energy saving solar roof installation by roofing business name.”
Now, this describes your image & advertises your company as well. Try not to overdo this. Keep it simple and informative. You can remove using articles like ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ from the sentence.
6. Image Sitemap
It will help Google’s crawling ability and help it understand the content of your website in a better way. Here, you can insert the URL from the domain in the <image: loc> attribute of the image sitemap. It helps to index your image.
7. Responsive Image
For a desktop, you would need a larger size image. However, people these days use their mobile devices more often. So, make sure that you have included a mobile-optimized image on your server. Since mobile devices have a smaller screen, you can reduce the size of your picture so that it gets loaded faster.
8. Metadata
It gives the summary of the page. When you are writing metadata, try inserting your keyword and relevant information in it. However, you must bear in mind that not all search engine takes metadata in a positive way. For example, Microsoft Bing does not use metadata and often sees it as spam.
9. Image Placement
You can’t just place your image anywhere on your website. Image placement needs to be done strategically. For this, you can have a look at your competitor’s website. Then, you can use it as a guide to place your own image.
It would be helpful if you place your image in relation to content. The best place for displaying high-quality images reflecting your roofing brand would be at the beginning of your webpage. It will engage users to stay on your page for a longer period of time. You can place contextual images in the middle of the page.
Does Image Optimization Increase Roofing Website’s Ranking?
Yes, it does. First of all, a website with one image is more likely to rank up than the one with no image. So, do include pictures on your website & social media posts.
It improves conversion rates.
Authentic images & original infographics will automatically be unique to your website. This will bring you more backlinks and improve your ranking. You will get more clicks and views when you start to rank up on Google search. Some of these clicks will get converted into your customers.
It improves image ranking.
Businesses often forget that a generic user can reach them via Google images, too. So, a user can find you via image search as well. Social media thrive on visual photos and short videos. You can use it too to levitate your roofing business.
It improves overall organic traffic.
You can improve your overall performance with a good image and a properly designed website. If you want to know how, contact the Genuinely Digital team, which is available at your service to guide you. So don’t forget to call.
A well-designed and optimized image has better site speed.
Properly named, sized, and formatted images will help your website load fast. Ensure your website loading speed is good on every platform, whether a desktop or a mobile device. Also, you need to understand that the more ad placement you have on your website, the slower your site will load. So, while choosing ads (if any), beware of their effect on your website.
Dos & Don’ts With Image Editing For Website
Here, we have compiled some essential points for you that you must incorporate on your website.
| No. | DOs | DON’Ts |
| 1. | Original images | Stock images, Free images, Open source images |
| 2. | Good quality pictures | Burr or poor lighting pictures |
| 3. | Small size image | Large image files |
| 4. | Relevant image file name | Random words or numbers |
| 5. | Describe the image in the ‘Alt’ tag | Keyword stuffing |
| 6. | SEO in the image title | Random words |
| 7. | Correct image placement | Randomly inserting images on the website |
| 8. | Responsive image | Static image across all platforms |
| 9. | Software to edit pictures | Raw, poorly taken pictures |
And in Conclusion, We Can Say…
At times, it can be overwhelming to do it all on your own. You need time for planning your business & communicating with your customers. Additionally, integrating SEO on your website images, optimizing content, and being on trend on social media platforms requires immense time and expertise.
That’s why Genuinely Digital is your digital partner for your roofing business. From modifying your website to updating your social media on a regular basis, we effectively manage all your online work. Contact us today, and we will handle all your online pain points effectively.