Does Google Use EXIF Data from Pictures as a Ranking Factor?
Posted on: November 17, 2014
Not all web contents, may these be blog posts, articles or marketing ads, use the same format. While some may be about skipping on photos and videos, there are a lot of pages that use and embed pictures and recorded videos taken from personal cameras on their sites. However, not all website owners are aware if using the EXIF Data from their photos would really affect their SEO Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ranking. Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Search Spam, now provides an answer as to whether or not your pictures’ EXIF data is really considered as a ranking factor. How would this affect their online marketing campaign?
What is EXIF Data?
This stands for Exchangeable Image File which is a filename that is used to provide enough room for pictures to have relevant details such as exposure, shutter speed, the use of flash, even ISO numbers and GPS coordinates if specified.
Highlighted of this video
- Matt Cutts mentioned that webmasters are given the freedom to include EXIF data in the pictures that they will be using. In fact, Google used to provide this information.
- Google may consider EXIF data in photographs as a factor when it comes to ranking websites or pages.
- Do not worry about adding the EXIF data if it’s not already available. Again, this is based on a Webmaster’s discretion, so you may add this information if you feel that there is a possibility that your readers may soon be asking for details about your photographs.
In order to get higher SEO rankings, you should:
- Embed pictures on your website as it can help you to make your website more interesting. It can also potentially generate more visitors to your website.
- Make sure that your pictures does not slow down your website. Consider resizing your picture if it’s too big.
- Use a relevant picture name. This is similar to using an appropriate title for your post or content. Rename your picture to a name that is relevant to your website.
