Winning Google Image Traffic: A Blog SEO & Alt Text Optimization Strategy
Client: A large “food & recipe” blog with 1,000+ articles.
Challenges We Faced
The client had great content but was getting almost no traffic from Google Image Search, a massive missed opportunity:
No Google Image Traffic
A Comprehensive Image Audit found 90% of their 10,000+ images were missing Image Alt Text & SEO.
Poor UI/UX
The site was slow to load, as 2MB images were being served where 200KB was needed.
Non-Descriptive File Names
Image file names were IMG_8001.jpg or final_recipe.jpg, providing no SEO value.
No Lazy Loading Implementation
Long-form recipe pages were trying to load 15 images at once, causing a high bounce rate.
Missing Internal Links from Images
Many images weren’t linked to relevant posts or categories, reducing click-throughs and user engagement.
Rank in Google Images
“Are you missing out on Google Image traffic? Our Image Alt Text & SEO service will optimize your images to rank and drive visitors.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Image Alt Text & SEO
This was the core. Our image optimization service company audited their top 100 posts and manually wrote descriptive, keyword-rich alt text for every image.
Alt Text & File Name SEO
We created a new “best practice” guide for their team to rename all new images (e.g., chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-step-1.jpg).
Image Compression Service
We used a WordPress plugin (ShortPixel) to bulk-compress all 10,000+ images in their media library.
Lazy Loading Implementation
We enabled native WordPress lazy loading (and iframe lazy loading) to speed up initial page load.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic from Google Image Search | 500/mo | 8,500/mo | +1600% |
| Images Missing Alt Text | 90% | 5% | -94.4% |
| Avg. Page Load Time (Blog Posts) | 7.2s | 2.3s | -68% |
Free Image SEO Audit
“Not sure if your images are optimized? Book a Free Image SEO Audit and let our image optimization service company find your missing alt text!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Image Alt Text & SEO is not optional. It’s critical for accessibility and for ranking in Google Image Search, which is a huge traffic source.
- Use descriptive, keyword-rich file names before you upload them.
- Lazy Loading Implementation is a “must-have” for long-form, image-heavy blog content.
- A Comprehensive Image Audit with Screaming Frog is the fastest way to find all your missing alt text.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The traffic from Google Image Search became a major new user acquisition channel for the blog.
- The Alt Text & File Name SEO was the primary driver for this new traffic.
- The Image Compression Service (via plugin) significantly improved their Page Speed score.
