Quick SEO tips #4: How to convert your images into backlinks

 

Most SEO tip posts either overwhelm you with volume (10 billion killer SEO tips etc) or leave you wondering where exactly you can find the hours it would take to execute each tip.

This is different.

 

In this series of posts, I adopt a wham, bam, thank you ma’am approach.

One tip, and one tip only.

And this tip will take not much longer than popping the kettle on and making a cup of tea.

 

 

There, that’s refreshing.

 

This tip looks at how the custom images you create for your site – such as graphs or diagrams or memes – are a gift horse.

It’s time to stop looking them in the mouth and to start turning them into valuable backlinks.

 

Your images are a gift horse – if only you knew how to ride them!

So, you’ve created some great diagrams, graphs or infographics.

Nice – they will sure help engagement on your site.

But, if they are truly great it won’t be long before other people notice them and think ‘I could do with that on my site’.

 

Most of those who use your image will link back to your site.

But not always.

And some of those who do link back to you will link directly to the image, instead of the page it came from.

Which isn’t great for your SEO.

 

For both of these occasions what you have is some very low-hanging fruit for link building.

Let’s get picking.

 

You are going to need to find where your image has been used and reach out to ask those who haven’t linked to you (or have linked to your image rather than page) to put things right.

 

But how do you find people using your images without a link in the first place?

 

Simples.

Just right-click on the image on your site, then select ‘Search Google for Image.’

(Note this won’t work in all browsers: I use Chrome for it.)

Here’s how it looks.

 

 

Now all you have to do is click on each result and make sure a backlink is correctly in place.

And if it isn’t: you know what to do.

 

Job done.