Image optimization can be a time-honored way to a successful link-building strategy throughout your website when used judiciously . You may have twenty or fifty images which each reside on their own page of your website and have a separate page ranking from one another. If your entire purpose is to give these images away to anyone who wants them in exchange for a valuable link, you will probably use a type of contact form or else put the linking code on the page itself with accompanying simple instructions. By setting your photos up in this manner you have effectively created a relatively low maintenance link building method.
How to Implement This Method of Link Building
Some website owners hire a professional photographer, however this can be incredibly expensive plus adds copyright issues to the mix. A much better idea is to hire an aspiring photographer who is just looking to get his or her photographs out there, seen by others, or, as an alternative you can take the photographs yourself. Today’s easy-to-use, high resolution digital cameras lend themselves to amateur photographer use so long as your photos are high quality. If you simply don’t have any sort of talent in the photography realm, or don’t have a moment of spare time in your already-busy life, then you may have a friend who takes photos as a hobby or a relative who aspires to be a professional photographer.
Why Use Images?
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In fact, photos tell stories and trigger emotions—both worthy goals for your website. Adding high quality images to your website makes it more successful, then when you swap some of your photos in return for a high-quality link, not only are people looking at your photo, you are helping your website climb up in rankings and garner more traffic in the process. While many websites attempt to halt theft of their photos by others, the advent of copy and paste has made this practically impossible. So, rather than spending your precious time attempting to stop photo theft, how about altering the way you are thinking about your images, and using them to your advantage?
Finding the Lifted Images
If you choose not to simply offer the photos free of charge in exchange for a link, then consider this method for finding photos others have “lifted” form your site. You will need to use a reverse search engine to do this which will search for a similar image within the web database. Tineye is a good one to try when you are looking for your photographs among billions on the web. Once you find your photographs on other people’s websites, simply contact the webmaster and ask that they link back to your original photo since they obviously liked your image.
Make Your Images Free—in Exchange for a Link
While some dedicated image thieves will not bother to respond, you will gain a certain amount of valuable links using this method, not to mention a potentially new relationship. Once you’ve gained links from those who were already using your image, you might as well get rid of any anti-copy protection on your site, and make the photos free to anyone who will link back to your site. Anyone who is bound and determined to use your images will find a way, so it’s much better to approach the process with the idea of giving the photos away rather than having to track down image-thieves. The more quality links you gain to your site, the better for your rankings, so don’t be shy about allowing others to “steal” your photographs.
