The importance of an aesthetically pleasing web is becoming increasingly clear. Last summer, Google unveiled a new Images search design that helped users identify the photos most relevant to them more easily. Now, the company is taking its image features a step further with updates to Similar Images search, and marketers should be thinking about optimizing image content accordingly.
In a recent post, the company announced it is revamping Similar Images search to make it easy for users to find related pictures. The changes will make the features much more comprehensive so consumers can search within a single site. Plus, the features let them not only find pics related to the images they've searched for, but also images that match content they're reading on the web.
“Want to find similar images for a result you found for a recent news event? Now this is possible,” says Google.
For internet marketers, this should indicate that it is now more important than ever to accompany web content with well-optimized images. By including SEO-tagged images related to evergreen articles or industry news content, brands might keep consumers on their sites longer or attract new visitors looking for images related to content they are reading elsewhere on the web.
Prioritizing images might also pay off for Bing SEO because of recent developments from Microsoft. As Brafton has reported, Microsoft wants to revamp the search experience placing more emphasis on visual results, so pictures may soon become a mark of relevant content for Bing searchers.
