Are Graphics Google Friendly?

We all know that Google pretty much rules when it comes to search engines.  Second runner up would be Bing, Yahoo pulls from Bing.  So when it comes to SEO(Search Engine Optimization) You really need to make sure your content is found by Google Crawl! 


So, What is Google Crawl?  You may have seen references to "Google Spider" or of that nature.  Google crawl is when Google finds your site from another site via a hyper-link. The more incoming links from other sites, the better indexing you get from Google.  It's like another site "votes" for you to be pushed up in rank in the Search engine.  Google is picky when it comes down to what is allowed and not allowed.  We did a blog on that a few weeks before on Google Dis-allowed words.  Break the rules to many times and you get blocked from Google search engine(that would be really bad).


Many of us are wordy folks, and many are quiet, hard to write about it folks.  I tend to write from inspiration from other computer geeks I come across.  Sometimes I write about new ideas, new virtual tech toys(graphics, html, and such).  Sometimes I blog on stuff I know that others may not.  Especially if it's in my field of expertise(like the largest pearl in the world or How to de-tarnish your jewelry safely with a home remedy). Many artisans have a really hard time blogging.  If that's you, I encourage you to "journal" what's going on in your head, your business, who you've met lately in the business, what you learned yesterday or any other interesting info you come across.  Just write your thoughts down on paper or type it.  If you get inspired to "journal" don't pass up the opportunity!  The best blogs are inspired thought.  Just be careful you don't pull to much emotion into it.


Those of you who love graphics and just can't seem to get the words out..you need to know a few things.  You have to know that search engines, weather internal(ArtFire or Etsy) or external(Google or Bing) won't see your pictures or graphics without tags or descriptions(and I don't mean text around the picture.  We have talked about tags before..and many get confused as to what a tag is, when it's used, where and how.  Let's define:


 In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file..location of the item or page stored on a server(computer main brain)). This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. .ie Metadata. 


 Many WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You Get) point click or drag & drop editors in websites like in Blogger, Artfire or Etsy, use the Header for it's Metadata(tags).  You may have experience this info that was grabbed when you used as "share this" tool on a website and it pulled off of the title of the blog or site main info.  It didn't really pull from the content of the blog or info you wanted it to.  The "tag" was in the first or second header(general description of your site).  You may see the tag attached to the url in your browser if you click a title of a blog like this one.  The title of the page or post had a tag.  In html markup language, a tag is often written like this: <a>blahblahblah.... </a> 


So when you add an image, graphic or any other visual content into your website or blog, make sure you have your Alternate text, description or tags in place. Make sure they are of words that are good search terms.  

Example:

Hand Dyed Red Valentine Heart and Bell Bracelet with Swarovksi Crystals, Crystal pearls and Lucite flowers and leaves, all on a hand made silver german wire base heart link bracelet.


In Blogger, the tags for photos are in the captions.  So my keywords for this picture will index it as: handmade, red, valentine, bracelet, bell, heart, dyed, crystal, swarovksi, pearls, lucite, flowers, leaves, silver, german, wire, base, link.
WOW! Lots of keyword(tags) there!

Other editors like in Forums have you add the url with a description or alt text:

Right click the image to Copy your image url(location where the image file is located on a server somewhere)

Add the lengthy, keyword, tag filled description of the photo or image and then the title.

Now that you have done this, make sure your tags, keywords or labels are listed for your blog, post or collection/treasury so that search engines can find it.  

So if I wanted to buy a great Valentine bracelet for my best friend, what would I type into the search?  How about: red valentine swarovski handmade dyed silver heart bracelet.  Click this link to see the results in Artfire's internal search engine.

It really does pay to be diligent and fill in ALL the blanks!