Most businesses pour effort into text SEO and treat images and video as afterthoughts. That's a missed opportunity — image and video search send enormous traffic, and the competition is far softer than for text. Here are the best practices that get your media found and ranked in 2026, without slowing your site down.
In this article
Image SEO best practices
1. Use descriptive file names
Name files for what they show before uploading — local-seo-cameroon-agency.jpg, not IMG_4821.jpg. Search engines read file names as a clue to content.
2. Write helpful alt text
Alt text describes an image for screen readers and search engines. Make it a genuine description of the image, naturally including relevant terms — never a stuffed list of keywords. It helps accessibility and rankings at once.
3. Choose the right format and compress
Use modern formats like WebP or AVIF, which are far smaller than old JPEGs and PNGs at the same quality. Compress every image. Large images are the number-one cause of slow pages.
4. Size images correctly and set dimensions
Don't upload a 4000px image to display at 800px. Serve appropriately sized images, and specify width and height so the page doesn't jump around as it loads (which hurts both experience and rankings).
5. Lazy-load below-the-fold images
Let images load as the user scrolls to them, so the initial page loads fast. Most modern setups do this with a simple attribute.
6. Provide context around the image
Search engines use the surrounding text to understand an image. Place images near relevant content, with descriptive captions where it helps.
Video SEO best practices
1. Host and embed thoughtfully
Decide whether to host on a platform like YouTube (great for reach and its own search) or self-host/embed (more control on your site). Many businesses do both — YouTube for discovery, embeds for on-site engagement.
2. Optimise titles, descriptions and thumbnails
Treat a video like a page: a clear, keyword-relevant title, a genuinely useful description, and a compelling custom thumbnail that earns the click.
3. Add transcripts and captions
Transcripts give search engines text to understand the video, and captions make it accessible and usable without sound. Both widen your reach and help ranking.
4. Use video structured data
VideoObject schema helps search engines understand your video and can earn rich results — a thumbnail and details right in the search listing.
5. Keep the page fast
Don't let a heavy video autoload and slow the page. Use a lightweight preview image that loads the player only when clicked.
Why this matters more in 2026
Search results are increasingly visual, and AI search draws on images and video too. Well-optimised, fast-loading media improves your rankings, your page experience, and your chances of appearing in visual and AI results. See our wider multimodal AI SEO guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does alt text really affect SEO?
Yes — it helps search engines understand images (aiding image search) and is essential for accessibility. Describe the image honestly and naturally; don't stuff keywords.
What's the best image format for the web?
WebP and AVIF offer the best balance of quality and small file size for most images today, loading much faster than older formats.
Should I put videos on my own site or YouTube?
Both has advantages: YouTube for discovery and its own huge search, embeds for engagement and control on your site. Many businesses use both together.
Want your images, video and whole site optimised for fast, findable performance? See our SEO service and web development service, or get in touch.
