Do images affect traffic & ranking?

1. 91

   Chriswillman90posted 6 years ago

   I'd like to know if the main image you use on your hubs affects either ranking or traffic.
   
   I know the thumbnail plays a huge role in YouTube videos but what about our hubs? Does it matter?

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   1. 86

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yes.  Images are considered to be content.  Furthermore, they must reflect what your article discusses, be the right size, be clear and be properly placed.  Also, the captions and credits you place on them should be accurate.

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   2. 95

      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I would have thought that they were very important.  I just have to look for google images in my niche and I always find my photos there without fail.  Correct Titles as TT2 says must be extremely important too.

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      1. 97

         Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Be careful with Google images. They may be protected by copyright. You need to follow the link to the actual source to see if they allow commercial use on other sites. Then you also need to credit the actual source that Google indicates. Crediting "Google images" does not help.

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         1. 95

            sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I never use a Goole Image, I take all my own photos.  I just see that Google has all my images on felting.

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            1. 97

               Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, I misunderstood you Sally. Sorry for that. I didn't realize you meant your own photos are on Google images.
               
               That's actually my point though. Those images may be taken by other people who think they can use them and just credit Google Images. But you own the copyright and people might be stealing from you. Did you ever do a search for your own images? You can use tineye to find copies and then issue a DMCA takedown notice.

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               1. 95

                  sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  No problem Glen, I think about doing it sometimes but have not physically done so.  I  will check out the tineye, I have never heard of that previously, thank you.

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2. 97

   Glenn Stokposted 6 years ago

   There are two things to consider:
   
   1. The main image should be square for best results because the thumbnail that's created for listing of your hubs on your profile page will be cropped to be a square image. This is even more important if you have text on the main image, whereby some of the text will be cut off. I see this so often on other people's hubs and they never seem to care about the negative effect.
   
   2. The size of any image can indirectly have an effect on ranking by Google if it slows down pageload time. I suggest that all images you use in your hubs should be no larger than 100 KB and 700 pixels width. This is not a steadfast rule, just my suggestion. Page load time becomes even more critical if you have many images in a single hub.
   
   I discuss this in more detail in my 20-Step Checklist of Hub Writing Success Strategies that you can find in my profile listing.

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   1. 86

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I always make sure the smallest pixel is 1000 for any photo.  They don't come out "square" but I think they do pretty well.  Not sure how to "square them".  Advice welcome.

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      1. 97

         Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         1000 pixels is fine. Like I said, it was only a suggestion. The size is more important. I've taken some HD pictures with my camera that ended up being in the range of several magabytes. That slows down page load time. I saw that in my Google Analytics reports.
         
         As for your question about squaring, if you look at the thumbnail on your profile to confirm that it looks okay even when the actual image is not square, then you've done your due diligence. But if you see important parts cut off, then you'll want to crop it into a square yourself so you can control what is cut off and what is kept. Most image editors have simple cropping tools. Both Windows and Macs include simple image tools as I mentioned in my hub on this topic.

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         1. 86

            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Glen.

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         2. 87

            Terrielynn1posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            this is great advice Glen. I have been working on improving my hubs. Now I am going to check images and see what I can improve there, Thank you.

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         3. 84

            Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I mostly kept all my images at 1600 (width) X 1200 (height) pixels and they appear great too. Nowadays, I am taking photos with a smart phone which turns out to be of high definition. So, I need to resize them as per your advice. Thanks, Glen, for this advice.

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3. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 6 years ago

   Original high quality photos are great for your pages. While we haven't implemented AMP, an image is a requirement I believe.

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   1. 91

      Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I don't doubt the importance of high quality images, my question was more or less related to how much the thumbnail itself may impact Google rankings.
      
      I was wondering if Hubpages would implement AMP pages in the near future at least on the niche sites.

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4. 57

   hiya-writerposted 6 years ago

   Images make the hub interesting. We like reading articles which have associated images - always use high quality and relevant images.

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5. 83

   psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

   Some images can draw traffic via Google image search.  I know that when I am research topics in areas such as such as art, crafts, or some areas of science, it is easier to find relevant pages using image search than text search.

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   1. 96

      Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      This is particularly true for me when I am looking for recipes or an old RV.  When I want to know what the final product will look like, I search images instead of text.

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