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Former_Member
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SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

SEO Myth or Truth: Photos should be named before uploading to Etsy or a stand alone website.

Naming photos is good if the name remains with the photo when it is uploaded but Naming photos can be a waste of time . . . . .

On Etsy, this is a myth. Etsy changes the name of every photo that is uploaded into a long string of letters and numbers to store in their giant database of over 30 million photos. The name of the photo that the seller asigns does not remain on Etsy.

On a stand alone website, depending on the web hosting service, the photo name might remain the same or it might be changed by the web hosting service. The name of the photo is kept for stand alone self-hosted websites. There are a few web hosting services that are NOT self hosted, such as Volusion, that change the name of the photo when it is uploaded to a string of letters and numbers for their database.

Google and other major search engines use the image ALT tag to identify what the contents of the photo and uses this information for SEO, images searches and for Accessibility reasons.

For SEO, every photo should have an ALT Tag that includes the keywords for that image. The ALT tag is not visible on the web page but can be seen in the source code for web page..
.
On Etsy, the ALT tag is for each image is created by Etsy from the listing title. Sellers do not have to be concerned about the ALT tag, only the keywords that are added to the listing title.

On stand alone websites, the website owner (YOU), has to add the ALT tag keywords to each photo. Web hosting services, such as Shopify and Weebly, provide a way to add the ALT tag. Wordpress websites can add SEO apps, such as Yoest, that can guide the website owner with SEO including ALT tags.

Name the photo for your own website if you know that name will remain with the photo. Do not name photos used on Etsy since the name does not remain with the photo.

**

Join my active Facebook SEO Salon to learn more about SEO for both Etsy and your own websites - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1686821111533696/
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Thank you
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Do you know.... if I embed metadata into my Photos through Photoshop, for instance, if they will remain on a Shopify site? I had a feeling all was lost on Etsy, I have seen those number strings from doing google searches. I faithfully use the Alt tags in Shopify. I have also been embedding metadata in hopes that it helped but wondering if it is a waste of time. And while on topic, does anyone know anything about eBay with this respect? (assuming it is OK to ask since Shopify was mentioned above)
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

I was told that if I had more than one site, platform, Website etc.
That i would have to have my photos (at least the first one) in a different order for each.
Otherwise Google would think that it is the same (duplicate) listing.
I knew that Etsy changed the names of our photos and argued that since this was done that the same photo could be used on at least on other platform.
Is there any truth in this??
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Katts,

All the large online ecommerce venues, including ebay and amazon change the photo name to something different that works in their large databases of photos.

There is no evidence that the various embedded metadata schemas (IPTC, XMP, and Exif) are used by the major search engines (ie Google, Bing, and Yahoo). It is possible that they may be reading this information, but so far there is no reason to assume that it is being used, even if it is part of their algorithm.
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Lynne,

The order of the photos makes no difference to the search engines. You can use the same images or photos in many places on the Internet

Search engines do not "see" or "read photos or other images and rely on the text that is added to each image such "as the ALT tag to see what each image is about.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Mary thank you for that information :-)
Is the Alt tag something that I do or is it done when I use the photo to list on various sites?
I didn't think the photos or order would matter but, this person was very adamant about it.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

I should have said that this person is very adamant about not using the same exact photo to list on more than one site.
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Lynne,

Funny! People can be adamant about things that are not true - like when everyone in the word believed that the world was flat and that ships would fall off the edge if they went too far. Then daring explorers and ships did go much further (like Christopher Columbus) and discovered that the world was not flat. So much for what people adamantly believe!

You will have to add the ALT tag to the photos on your own website. As I wrote above:
"On stand alone websites, the website owner (YOU), has to add the ALT tag keywords to each photo. Web hosting services, such as Shopify and Weebly, provide a way to add the ALT tag. Wordpress websites can add SEO apps, such as Yoest, that can guide the website owner with SEO including ALT tags."
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Thank you so Much Mary.
I really appreciate your help.
Yes you are right about people believing things that are wrong. I think sometimes we just get it in our heads that what we heard was the only way it could be.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Very informative! Thank you.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

sorry for maybe silly question, what is ALT tag ? :)
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Patricia,

An ALT tag is a snippet of information created for Google and other search engines that not visible om the web page. The ALT tag is a that is or should be, part of each image, and describes the content of the image. Etsy creates the ALT tag for each image from the listing title. ALT tags have to be added manually to each image for stand alone web sites. Most web hosting services such as Shopify, Weebly, etc. provide a way to add ALT tags and other important tags.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

This is good to know! A long time ago I had heard differently and spend a lot of time labeling my photos. I guess I can stop now...except for my website. Thanks...
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beckyrosedesigns
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Great information. Thank you, Mary.
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Omgish this is so informative, Ty. I try to now not name my pictures, its hard when you make the item and you get a feeling to name it. Its like your baby. Am i right , by getting to the point with my pictures now- or say they are all grouped under bracelet? Ty any tips appreciated
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Thank you for posting this info. I am a newbie and need all the help I can get. ❤
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Thank you so much for clearing this up. All my products are similar, so I have images that go to each listing. Glad to know that I don't need to keep renaming them anymore.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Such great and useful info! Thank you!
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

I having been reading up on how to get found in Google searches (organic searches, not paid ads) and in the Images tabs. I seem ok for Google searches, I can find many of my items with a simple search. But I keep reading that in order to be seen in Google Images you have to name your photos, using hyphens between each word, and have the appropriate alt tag. I can never find my items under Images, it's why I was reading up on it, trying to optimize other ways to drive customers into my shop, so are you saying the alt tag is already all set because Etsy creates them from our listing titles? and that I don't have to take on the arduous task of naming all of my photos because Google only uses the alt tag?
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Hello? Can anyone answer my above question?
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

To my knowledge, that is correct for Etsy you don't have to name your photos as Etsy creates the name. I do name my photos, so that I can find them and kinda know what they are without opening the file.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

But I am asking about Google. I was asking if I need to name my photos to be found in Google Images searches. Some shoppers start there, looking at the images of the items they are seeking first, so I want to know how to be seen in Google Images to drive traffic back to my shop.
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Former_Member
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

I am not the expert, but I do name my photos for Google, just in case. I am not sure if Etsy strips the names when you upload or not. I save my pictures for my other websites anyway.
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Re: SEO Myth or Truth - Naming Photos

Ok, thank you, that is exactly what I was wondering. Just to be safe I think I will too then. It certainly can't hurt. Thank you so much. I am no expert either, so I appreciate the advice a lot.
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