Choose an image that represents the page
Connect the main photo to the actual subject and avoid recycling it across a list of different pages. A card should visually anticipate its destination. Check the subject survives mobile and sharing crops.
For a product or case study, show several useful views instead of one generic image. The image preparation guide covers rights, placements and variants.
- Subject matches the page.
- Distinct visuals within a list.
- Mobile and sharing crops checked.
Provide accessible context
Use an HTML image with a stable URL, descriptive filename and alt text explaining what it contributes here. Nearby text, title and a factual caption when needed complete the context. A decorative image may have empty alt text.
Google image guidance gives alt text and page context a central role. Stuffing keywords into alt text makes reading worse and does not explain the photo.
- Image present in HTML.
- Alt text fits its purpose.
- Nearby text describes without artificial repetition.
Serve the right file
Prepare display-sized images, responsive variants and declared dimensions to reduce layout shifts. Compress without removing useful detail. Check that the first visible image actually loads on a slow connection.
Do not lock essential information inside the image: embedded text, photographed tables or unexplained screenshots. Embedded metadata can document a genuine credit or licence, but it cannot replace a clear page.
- Weight and dimensions checked.
- Variants fit different screens.
- Important information available as text.
Check the published result
Open the page and preview at several sizes, then verify image URLs, intended indexing and rights information. When replacing an image, check cards, language versions and sharing.
Review impressions and clicks by page in available search tools without crediting one field for every change. Fix missing, unloaded or context-free images first.
- Sources and variants accessible.
- Rights and credits accurate.
- Result checked after publication.