SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of improving your website’s content in order to be discoverable within a search engine’s organic search results. Using factors such as word counts, keywords, title tags, URLs, naming conventions, and backlinks, search algorithms determine the order in which a piece of content will appear on the search engine results page, or SERP. The exact algorithms used are unknown, but adjusting content based on a variety of factors will impact where the content appears on the results page and for which searches.

The role of images and videos in SEO¶

While SEO is often thought of in regard to written content like blogs and webpages, images and videos also receive huge benefits from being optimized for search engines. Not only is it vital to use an image or video that's relevant to the surrounding content on a page, but adding details viewed by readers as well as search engine bots will help boost your relevancy in search results.

When it comes to images and videos, it’s important to consider the filename, file size, captions, alt text, title tags, metadata descriptions, and more. Determining the link format and how it will be placed on the page can also impact your site's ranking.

While many of the SEO ranking factors will be found in a content management system, embedding assets or using share links from the Acquia DAM can also impact SEO. Taking this into consideration when creating your filename, choosing your file format, or selecting a file size can build SEO into your DAM process before your image or video even hits a webpage.

Note that, by default, pages within your DAM site will not be indexed by search engines. If you'd like to learn more or enable search engine crawling on your site, please contact the DAM Customer Support team or your customer success manager.

SEO best practices for DAM images and videos¶

Images and videos account for 20 to 30% of the Google search results returned for a query. Because of this, it’s important to ensure that the assets used in your web content are optimized for SEO.

In the DAM, a key benefit is the ability to link assets directly to webpages while managing updates from a single source — the DAM system. And just as there are SEO best practices when it comes to uploading images and videos to a webpage, there are ways to optimize the assets in your DAM site to aid in your SEO efforts and streamline your content processes.

Optimize share links and embed codes for SEO¶

Share links and embed codes for images and videos from the DAM can be optimized for SEO. While the exact algorithms are unknown, it’s clear that Google has started to devalue generic naming conventions within search results. To improve your ranking in Google search results:

• Ensure asset filenames are an accurate description of the images or videos when you upload them to the DAM and before placing URLs on your webpage. Since alt text and source URLs are derived from filenames, you’ll want to consider the order in which you name your assets as part of your workflow and before share links or embed codes are generated to avoid unclear filenames that aren’t optimized for SEO.

Alt text appears to search engines, so using descriptive terms and keywords for filenames will improve SEO. Avoid filenames like IMG_6745 or the original stock site naming convention and instead use something like “Bliss Bike in the mountains.” Accurate filenames help ensure that the alt text and the source URL for the share link or embed code from the DAM are the most relevant for SEO.

Note: If you add a new version of an asset, the original naming is retained in the linked/embedded alt text and source URL even if filenames change.

• By default, the DAM includes an asset’s filename in the alt text and source URL. While it can be changed, it’s recommended that the filename for the asset remain in the share link or embed code.

For example, in this embed code, the bolded text is the filename of the asset: <img alt="Bliss environment.jpg" src="https://eudaimonia.widen.net/content/ig5uijtr0y/jpeg/Bliss_environment.jpg?keep=c&crop=yes&color=cccccc&quality=80&u=vln12h&use=zoppz">.

Secure share links and embed codes (HTTPS) are generated in the DAM when you select the Share button. To ensure that images and videos are delivered over a secure network, which is an SEO best practice, we recommend that you keep share links and embed codes intact instead of moving them to an unsecured link (HTTP).

Need to create custom share links or embed codes? That can be done, and those can also be used for SEO purposes. Read more about customizing share links and embed codes.