Google image search now offers a ‘show options’ panel with search results.
This allows you to filter your search results by things like image size, colour and the type of image you want (photographs, drawings, faces etc).
This options panel follows on from a similar panel that Google added to the main search engine ranking page a few months back.
Sort your results on the image results page
The panel essentially provides similar options that were already available as part of the ’advanced image search’ in Google images.
But it’s useful as it allows you to sort your image results on the same page. (Incidentally, the advanced image search on Google images has a ‘usage rights’ option which would have also been useful to have in the panel options on the main search page.)
How to optimise images for search
By simply following search engine optimisation practices, you’ll automatically optimise your images for Google images and image searches on other search engines like Bing.
For example:
- Make sure you use descriptive alt text for your image – think ‘Wayne Rooney scoring a goal against Croatia’ rather than ‘England footballer scoring’, or worse still, nothing at all.
- Give your images descriptive filenames before you load them to your website or CMS – ‘waynerooney.jpg’ rather than ‘image6.jpg’.
- Use good descriptive text around your image in the main page text and in captions. But don’t make it unnatural – remember that you’re writing for humans with search engines in mind, not the other way around.
Image searches in the main search results
The main search engines also sometimes display relevant image search results in the main SERPs (search engine results pages).
This can increase the visibility of your site and give your customers another link into your site.
Tom Hallett
Campaign Delivery Manager
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