Using Image Keywords in the Page URL

You have already selected a set of keywords to identify and describe an image. Using those same keywords in the filename, and in the paths to that file, will help a Search Engine to better understand the content that the web-page is trying to promote.

www.travel-photos.com/photo.php?n=54472

We have all seen page URLs like the one above. Though easy for a database-driven website to produce, it does not give the user or the Search Engine any clue at all about what the page contains.

www.travel-photos.com/asia/thailand/bangkok/golden-buddha-temple.php

The second page URL is instantly more understandable. A human reading this knows straight away what the page contains, and, surprise surprise, so does a Search Engine. It will use your page URL and paths as the first of many clues that help it better categorize your page and have confidence as to what the content is.

The improved URL will also be used in your site's Site Index or Sitemap page. This is a page with a human-readable list of links to all the pages on your website, used by many visitors to quickly find a page that might be hidden in your site's menu hierarchy. Never make the mistake that just because you know how to find a page within your supposedly logical menu structure, a newbie user will be able to do the same.

The improved URL will also be listed in your site's XML sitemap. This is a machine-readable page that Search Engines use to scan your site and learn about the structure of the website and the content that you want to share with them. A good understanding of your site will increase the coverage of your webpages, so it makes sense to get your XML sitemap right. Visit the www.sitemaps.org page to learn more about XML Sitemaps. When your site is ready, submit your XML Sitemap using the Google Search Console .

Did you know that Google has extended its sitemap capabilities to include support for images? You are now able to provide a caption, title, geo location and license for each image. This is an exciting capability for photographers, and it makes a lot of sense to take advantage of it. Currently, Google does not guarantee that it will include your images in its image-search returns just because you have listed them in your XML sitemap, but it still makes sense to start including them as the extra data is bound to be used somewhere, and may eventually form an important point of reference. Don't list multiple occurences of the same image, such as thumbnails. Just stick to your main images, making sure that the ones you list are of a suitable size and clarity.

Here's an extra tip for you: By organising your file paths into an easily understood sequence, and by including an index page in each of the above folders, this will help a user to quickly navigate to an area of interest: 'www.travel-photos.com/asia/' contains photos of Asia, 'www.travel-photos.com/asia/thailand/' contains photos of Thailand, and so on. These index pages, there primarily to stop unauthorised site browsing, are an ideal place to add links to the pages within that folder that you do want the visitor to see.

Using Image Keywords in the Page URL

Other uses for your keywords