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Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

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image link building how to use visual content to earn more links via juliaemccoy

A captivating headline will draw you in.

A good opening line – a hook – will entice you to keep reading.

And a well-placed, eye-catching visual will keep you focused and will be remembered long after the words you read have been forgotten.

Not only will images captivate your audience, but using visual content is also a practical approach to link building.

A Skyword study showed that “Content containing related images performed better across all content categories.”

And Google is continually “working to include more imagery and videos in Search,” changing the way information is presented on a results page.

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This means that you need to change the way you present your website’s information to Google and other search engines.

So, you know that visual content is a valid link building strategy, but how can you make it work?

7 Types of Visual Content Used to Build Links

First, it’s important to understand the different kinds of visual content out there.

Here’s a quick run-down of some of the key types of visual content you can use to build links to your site:

1. Infographics

Some people think infographics are overused; some people swear by them.

Using eye-catching infographics with useful information that readers can understand is still a great way to earn some links though, whether you love ’em or hate ’em.

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Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

2. Good Usage of Logos

Yes, your brand’s logo is visual content!

It’s already in multiple places on your site, and it may show up on other websites if you’ve ever written a guest post, been featured, or contributed to a community page.

Keep track of the places your logo shows up on the web, and make sure it’s linked back to your site.

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

3. Product Photos or a Brand Photoshoot

If you’re an ecommerce site or you have an online shop, use your product images for link building.

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Always use high-quality, original photos, and ensure that all steps have been taken to optimize each image for SEO (more on that later).

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Don’t have products to take photos of?

Try a brand photoshoot from a professional photographer, where it’s you working at your computer.

If you’re an author, show off your books in the photo shoot, too.

You can use your brand photos in so many ways.

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For example, I’ve even used one of mine in my own Search Engine Journal author header.

sej header julia mccoy

sej header julia mccoy

4. Company or Employee Photos

Yep! Even the photos from your last company retreat or the employee photos on your team page can be used for link building.

Again, make sure these images are high-quality, and please – spell your employees’ names right!

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

5. Statistical Charts, Graphs & Maps

Also known as data visualization, charts, graphs, and maps are a great way to generate links.

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You can even pull these from leading statistics or research.

Make sure the information displayed is useful and easy for readers to understand.

Even without creating an original chart, graph, or map, you can run a report from a third-party site, take a screenshot of the results, and share it as an image in your content.

Remember to share the source of the report if you go this route, but the image itself – the screenshot – can be attributed to you.

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

6. Memes & GIFs

Memes and GIFs aren’t going anywhere.

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If you aren’t using them in your content already, it might be time to try.

Use them tastefully and use them well, because people love to share a good meme, which will mean plenty of inbound links for you.

To make things really fun and original, you can generate your own memes for free at Meme Generator.

7. Creative Stock Photos

Another type of visual content that is often overused (and sometimes wrongly used), stock photos can still be useful for link building when done right.

Just don’t use any stock photo.

Choose a high-quality, tasteful photo that’s relevant to your message and adds to the content.

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Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

3 Ways to Optimize Your Images for SEO

OK. You’ve got some ideas for images.

Now, let’s talk about optimizing those images for SEO so that you can get the full benefits of your visual content.

1. Add Captions

Adding descriptive captions to your images is often overlooked, but surprisingly, “captions get 16 percent more readership than text,” according to the PRSA.

An image caption differs from the image’s file name or alt text. It is the text that appears below the image, briefly explaining the picture.

Many relevant images are understood without captions, but that isn’t always the case.

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Captions add additional context to an image, helping both readers and search engines process the information on your page.

2. Optimize Image File Names

Creating keyword-rich file names for images is vital to SEO optimization.

Your image’s file name helps describe the image to search engines.

File names should be short, relevant descriptions of the image, and should include primary and secondary keywords.

3. Include Alt Text

Alt text is the text that appears in place of an image when an image can’t be rendered, for whatever reason.

Image alt text should be similar to your image’s file name: a short, relevant description of the image, including keywords.

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Adding alt text to your images can boost your site’s rankings by associating your images – and therefore, your site – with the keywords and descriptions used.

Reverse Image Search

Sometimes your image will be shared on another site without a link back to your site, or with the wrong link.

There are a couple of tools to help you locate these images, like Google Images and TinEye.

Use these tools, and when you discover your images, contact the publication or blogger that’s using them and request that they link back to your site as the source.

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Image Link Building: How to Use Visual Content to Earn More Links

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Links?

Visual content gives your readers a clearer picture (pun intended) of what your message is all about.

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As you put your content together, think of which visuals to include to clarify and enhance your message.

Try using different types of visual content as a part of your overall content marketing strategy and watch your link profile grow.

Summary

Timeframe: Include images in your content right away

Results detected: 3-6 months

Average links per month: 5

Tools:

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  • Creatives (images, visual content)

Benefits:

  • Improve site rankings and SEO
  • Earn links
  • Enhance text content for readers.

Image Credits

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita
All screenshots taken by author

Searchenginejournal.com

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MARKETING

Trends in Content Localization – Moz

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Trends in Content Localization - Moz

Multinational fast food chains are one of the best-known examples of recognizing that product menus may sometimes have to change significantly to serve distinct audiences. The above video is just a short run-through of the same business selling smokehouse burgers, kofta, paneer, and rice bowls in an effort to appeal to people in a variety of places. I can’t personally judge the validity of these representations, but what I can see is that, in such cases, you don’t merely localize your content but the products on which your content is founded.

Sometimes, even the branding of businesses is different around the world; what we call Burger King in America is Hungry Jack’s in Australia, Lays potato chips here are Sabritas in Mexico, and DiGiorno frozen pizza is familiar in the US, but Canada knows it as Delissio.

Tales of product tailoring failures often become famous, likely because some of them may seem humorous from a distance, but cultural sensitivity should always be taken seriously. If a brand you are marketing is on its way to becoming a large global seller, the best insurance against reputation damage and revenue loss as a result of cultural insensitivity is to employ regional and cultural experts whose first-hand and lived experiences can steward the organization in acting with awareness and respect.

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MARKETING

How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

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How AI Is Redefining Startup GTM Strategy

AI and startups? It just makes sense.

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MARKETING

More promotions and more layoffs

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More promotions and more layoffs

For martech professionals salaries are good and promotions are coming faster, unfortunately, layoffs are coming faster, too. That’s according to the just-released 2024 Martech Salary and Career Survey. Another very unfortunate finding: The median salary of women below the C-suite level is 35% less than what men earn.

The last year saw many different economic trends, some at odds with each other. Although unemployment remained very low overall and the economy grew, some businesses — especially those in technology and media — cut both jobs and spending. Reasons cited for the cuts include during the early years of the pandemic, higher interest rates and corporate greed.

Dig deeper: How to overcome marketing budget cuts and hiring freezes

Be that as it may, for the employed it remains a good time to be a martech professional. Salaries remain lucrative compared to many other professions, with an overall median salary of $128,643. 

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Here are the median salaries by role:

  • Senior management $199,653
  • Director $157,776
  • Manager $99,510
  • Staff $89,126

Senior managers make more than twice what staff make. Directors and up had a $163,395 median salary compared to manager/staff roles, where the median was $94,818.

One-third of those surveyed said they were promoted in the last 12 months, a finding that was nearly equal among director+ (32%) and managers and staff (30%). 

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Extend the time frame to two years, and nearly three-quarters of director+ respondents say they received a promotion, while the same can be said for two-thirds of manager and staff respondents.

Dig deeper: Skills-based hiring for modern marketing teams

Employee turnover 

In 2023, we asked survey respondents if they noticed an increase in employee churn and whether they would classify that churn as a “moderate” or “significant” increase. For 2024, given the attention on cost reductions and layoffs, we asked if the churn they witnessed was “voluntary” (e.g., people leaving for another role) or “involuntary” (e.g., a layoff or dismissal). More than half of the marketing technology professionals said churn increased in the last year. Nearly one-third classified most of the churn as “involuntary.”

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Men and Women

Screenshot 2024 03 21 124540Screenshot 2024 03 21 124540

This year, instead of using average salary figures, we used the median figures to lessen the impact of outliers in the salary data. As a result, the gap between salaries for men and women is even more glaring than it was previously.

In last year’s report, men earned an average of 24% more than women. This year the median salary of men is 35% more than the median salary of women. That is until you get to the upper echelons. Women at director and up earned 5% more than men.

Methodology

The 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey is a joint project of MarTech.org and chiefmartec.com. We surveyed 305 marketers between December 2023 and February 2024; 297 of those provided salary information. Nearly 63% (191) of respondents live in North America; 16% (50) live in Western Europe. The conclusions in this report are limited to responses from those individuals only. Other regions were excluded due to the limited number of respondents. 

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Download your copy of the 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey here. No registration is required.

Get MarTech! Daily. Free. In your inbox.

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