Ever uploaded a beautiful photo to your website and thought, “This’ll turn heads” only to realise it’s nowhere to be found on Google? You’re not alone.
Whether you’re a Brisbane-based café owner showing off your brunch menu, a Ballarat tradie sharing before-and-after reno shots, or a boutique store updating product pages, images are a powerful way to get noticed online. But if Google can’t “see” your images properly, you’re missing out on traffic and leads.
The good news? With a few tweaks, you can boost your image visibility and help them appear in Google search and image results.
Why Aren’t My Website Images Showing Up on Google?
Google doesn’t see images the way we do. It relies on clues, file names, image size, page content, and behind-the-scenes data, to understand what an image is and when to show it.
So, if your images are named “IMG_1234.jpg” and don’t have alt text or are buried in a slow-loading page, they’re flying under Google’s radar.
How Google Finds and Displays Images
Google “crawls” your website with bots that read your text, code, and image data. When it finds an image, it checks:
- The file name
- Alt text (used for accessibility and SEO)
- The surrounding page content
- Page speed and mobile-friendliness
- Image size and format
If all of that lines up and your site is indexed, the image can appear in Google Search or Google Images.
Simple Image SEO Basics You Can Do Today
These are the low-hanging fruit of image optimisation:
1. Rename Your Image Files
Instead of “IMG_20230501.jpg”, use “ballarat-bathroom-renovation.jpg”. This helps Google understand what the image is about.
If you didn’t rename the file before you uploaded it you have two options. Either download the image, change the file name and reupload it or use a tool like Phoenix Media Rename to rename the image
2. Add Descriptive Alt Text
Alt text serves both accessibility and SEO. It should describe what’s in the image while naturally including keywords (but no keyword stuffing).
Example:
Alt text for a Ballarat café latte shot:
“Flat white coffee served in blue ceramic cup at Paddington café”
WordPress Plugins with AI Alt Text Generation
Here’s some alt text tools (free, freemium/paid) that use AI to automatically generate alt text for images, either using file names, surrounding content, or direct image analysis (some with OpenAI or similar models):
- SEOPress Pro + OpenAI
Uses your OpenAI API key to generate alt text based on image content - Image SEO Optimizer
AI-driven alt text and filename suggestions, Uses EXIF data, image recognition, and NLP, There is a Free plan available (limited images), paid plans for more
3. Compress Images for Speed
Large image files slow down your site, which Google frowns upon. Use tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim to shrink file sizes without losing quality.
4. Use Modern File Formats
WebP images load faster and are often smaller than JPEGs or PNGs. Most modern websites and CMS platforms support WebP now. LiteSpeed Cache when connected with Quic.Cloud will automatically handle this for you.
5. Resize your image
While this tip is mostly about page speed, it also helps with SEO, because a faster site means a better user experience, which Google values. We recommend resizing your images to the maximum size they’ll be displayed at on your website.
General guidelines:
- If your image displays at 800px wide, resize it to 800px before uploading
- For small images (e.g. icons or thumbnails under 450px), resize them to just above the size needed
For example: if it displays at 200px, upload it at around 220px, this helps preserve clarity when compression and WebP conversion are applied
Option 1: Resize Before Uploading
- Free tool: Pixlr X – a browser-based editor
- Paid tool: Adobe Photoshop – industry standard for professional image editing
Option 2: Resize Inside Breakdance
- Use the “Resize” setting under the image settings panel in Breakdance
- Set the exact width and/or height for the image to control output size (if you set the width only, breakdance will calculate the height automatically)
- Breakdance + LiteSpeed Cache will handle compression and WebP conversion automatically
Add Meta & Structured Data for Extra Clarity
If you want to level up, add meta data like Geo Data to your image Meta and schema markup (structured data) to your image-rich pages. This helps Google know the image’s purpose, especially for product pages, recipes, events, and portfolios.
Tools like Google’s Rich Results Test can help you check if you’ve implemented schema correctly and we love Media Library Assistant to for editing and updated Image GEO Data in bulk, its a little tricky but possible to tag all your images from Ballarat to Brisbane.
Local SEO Tips for Image Visibility
Want to show up in local search and maps? These extra steps help:
- Use location keywords in alt text: Mention city or suburb names where relevant (e.g. “custom timber deck in Ballarat backyard”).
- Geotag your images (optional): For photographers or tradies, adding location metadata can help, especially in visual searches.
- Use images on your Google Business Profile: Post fresh, keyword-rich image content regularly – Google loves it.
Common Mistakes That Can Hurt Image Visibility
Here are some things to avoid:
- Using stock images only: Google knows when images appear across multiple sites, it’s better to use original, localised visuals.
- No alt text at all: This is a missed opportunity for both SEO and accessibility.
- Slow-loading images: Compress files and test on mobile.
- Uploading one massive image and shrinking it with code: Resize it before uploading to avoid unnecessary loading time.
Tools to Help You Optimise Images
A few handy helpers:
- TinyPNG / Litespeed Cache – Compress images
- Screaming Frog – Scan your site to find missing alt text or oversized images
- Google Search Console – Check which images Google has indexed from your site
- SEOPress (for WordPress users) – AI image Alt and Advanced Image SEO optimisations
Final Thoughts: Don’t Let Great Photos Go to Waste
If your business relies on visuals – whether it’s showcasing your work, your space, or your products image SEO should be part of your digital toolkit. It’s not complicated, just often overlooked.
Want help making sure your images (and your site) are set up to get found? Whether you’re in Brisbane, Ballarat, or beyond, we’d love to help.
Need your website images pulling their weight in search?
Did you know we can customise your website to automatically
- Resize any image you upload to the optimum size and
- Automatically make the file size smaller
- Convert to WebP,
- Add Alt Text using AI
Plus we can clean up, optimise and compress all your current images fast! Let’s chat about how better SEO and web design can boost your visibility without a full website rebuild.
