Make sure to follow these best practices to get the most return out of your posting efforts.
Google has the potential to use any data associated with the image. The most obvious is the file name, but any metadata you add can also help the algorithm understand the file, including Geotagging. This metadata may only play a minor factor in the overall ranking, so it isn't easy to measure as a separate factor. If you had to input geo metadata manually, then it would not be worth the time. However, since our system does this without effort, it can only add value.
We know that Google also scans the image and can 'see' what it is to a certain degree. Google uses all data at its disposal, and the more you provide, the better.
Regarding the Vision API tool from Google that analyzes images, we do not believe the Vision tool uses any data from within the image or file name to determine the result. It has been trained by AI to recognize certain shapes and patterns as well checking the associated content that an image was found in if the image has been used elsewhere on the web.
The file name is important as that is retained even after you upload the photo to Google. The metadata gets stripped out and can not be seen when viewing the image publicly, but whether Google uses that information is unknown. If it is a ranking factor, it is most likely very small and extremely difficult to measure.
The full optimization of an image that is being used on a site or on a Google listing should include:
- Filename with keywords
- Metadata and GPS coordinates
- Previewing the image data in the Vision API