Image link-building is one of the most underused white-hat strategies in SEO.
As SEMrush pointed out in their report, visual-heavy content receives 555% more backlinks than content without them.
However, a simple photo won’t build high-quality backlinks. You need to create unique and valuable visual representations that don’t already exist on other websites.
This blog is your ultimate guide to image link building. You’ll learn:
The best visual types for obtaining backlinks
The steps for creating link-worthy assets and optimizing them
Common mistakes to avoid
Remember, image links should be one facet of your link-building strategies. To maximize impact, consider combining it with contextual backlinks, guest posts, and digital PR.
With a decade of extensive knowledge and experience, our team at Profit Engine can handle your outreach and link placement. Every site we partner with is manually vetted to ensure the backlinks are from authoritative sites.
Image link-building involves creating and distributing high-quality images to earn backlinks.
Here's how it works:
Sometimes, websites don’t want to build quality visuals from scratch. So when they find your images, they can embed them and link back to your site.
But what makes an image link worthy? It has to follow the TRUST formula:
Trending: Images must be tied to emerging industry topics or search results that have spiked interest.
Research Backed: Cite real data from original case studies, survey results, industry benchmarks, or existing public data from websites like Pew, Hubspot, and Statista.
Unique: Forget generic images that you can create on Canva in 5 minutes. Instead, your images should be hand-drawn diagrams, custom charts, branded visuals, and product screenshots with overlays.
Simple: Design images that are easy to understand at a glance. Use simple visual elements, add clear messages, and remove distractions.
Tactfully Promoted: Share your images with target websites through targeted email outreach, link roundups, niche communities, forums, and guest posts.
Types of Images for Effective Link Building
So, what type of images secure high-authority backlinks?
Check them out below:
Product Photos: If you're selling physical products, create unique and exclusive photos related to your business to build many high-quality backlinks from ecommerce websites.
Logos and Banners: When you use your brand logo repeatedly, people can associate it with your brand and link it to your site. Additionally, you can create banner ads to get people's attention and get links to your website.
Maps: A well-crafted map can help you acquire many backlinks from high-authority websites, including educational, travel, environmental, and real estate websites.
Data Visualizations: You can create data visuals like graphs and charts to add credibility to your content and to allow other sites to link to your website. Incorporate valuable stats and data on relevant topics in your industry.
Interactive Content: Create content like quizzes, calculators, image sliders, and polls that are often embedded as links because they're fun and engaging.
How to Create Images That Are Link-Worthy
Creating link-worthy images is more than designing aesthetically pleasing photos.
For your visual images to earn backlinks, brand mentions, and organic embeds, you have to take these two steps to get it right:
1. Identify Image Opportunities
Head to Google Search Console or GA4 and identify the top-performing blog posts that likely include visuals.
You can then:
Use the tips in the next section to optimize those images for freshness and better designs.
Sift through blogs with consistent traffic and design images that others might quote.
2. Align with Google Image Best Practices
Create images that adhere to Google Image Guidelines. For instance, you should:
Create original images (and text content). Place important photos near the top of your page.
Include structured data on your images so that Google Images can display your pictures effectively.
Create responsive images so that users from all devices can see them.
Pairing excellent visuals with other strategies is the key to creating a compounding SEO effect and moving rankings.
Here at Profit Engine, we can amplify your image-based content by ensuring it's placed on trusted, niche-relevant sites using strategic niche edits and HARO link building.
Talk to us and ensure you don't overlook any link-building potential!
Image Optimization for Link Acquisition
Search engines crawl and index your new pages and content (including images). You must make it easy for them to find and understand your pictures to drive backlinks.
Check out the 7 ways to optimize images:
Create Original, High-Value Images: Your images should be visually appealing and high-resolution to increase their likelihood of being used and shared.
Compress Images for Fast Page Load Times: Large images can slow a website's load time and negatively impact SEO. Use tools like TinyPNG and Optimizilla to help compress pictures, ensuring they load quickly.
Allow for Easy Embedding: Create code snippets that allow websites to embed your images, making them plug-and-play assets.
Include Images in an XML Sitemap: Use image sitemaps to help search engines discover and index your images more effectively.
Optimize Image Metadata: Use relevant keywords in the image file name and surrounding content. You will increase the chances of your images ranking higher in search results and make them easier for users to discover and use. For example, instead of IMG_001.jpg, you can use saas-invoice-management-feature-overview.png
Craft a Compelling Alt Text:Alt tags describe an image's content and help Google understand its context. You can incorporate keywords relevant to the images when adding alt text.
Create Excellent Captions: You should write image captions that can capture the attention of your readers and keep them engaged for longer. This also makes it easy for search engines to index the visual content accurately.
Tools That Support Visual Link Building
An image link-building toolkit can help with every step of the process, from compressing photos to searching for linking opportunities and tracking the link-building efforts.
Let's explore some top tools that can support your image link-building campaigns and maximize your SEO:
Create pictures by providing only text prompts. Generate visually appealing photos that can increase the likelihood of other sites linking naturally to your images
Monitor the traffic estimates of the linking pages
What to Avoid in Image Link Building
Despite following the steps and using the best tools, your image link-building campaigns might not bring the desired results if you make the following mistakes:
Underutilizing Visual Content: Many companies have image assets, such as investor decks, product onboarding visuals, and white paper diagrams, but fail to leverage them effectively. They bury them in PDFs and fail to promote them to earn high-authority backlinks strategically.
Overrelying on AI Image Generation: AI-generated images without human oversight can lack contextual accuracy, fail to match your brand style, and may appear generic or fake.
Using Stock Images: Stock images aren't helpful when building backlinks because you risk copyright issues, and other sites might use the same pictures.
Lack of Image Optimization: You may not receive image backlinks if you don't optimize your images using methods such as compressing your images and writing captivating captions.
No Outreach Plan: Publishing images alone is not enough. You might miss out on backlinks if you don’t identify link placement opportunities for your photos.
Using Aggressive Watermarks: Large diagonal logos and top-corner brand names can deter websites from linking to your images.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Now, let’s answer some commonly asked questions below:
How Do I Find Sites That Used My Images Without Linking?
You can use the following tools to find websites that use your visual content without crediting or linking to your site:
Google Images can help you see where your image appears and check if your site has been linked to.
Use TinyEye to show where your pictures are being used, if it has been edited, and when they were first seen.
Can I Rank Higher Using Image Link Building Alone?
No, you can't rank higher using image link-building alone.
Search engines like Google consider many factors beyond backlinks to rank your site, which include your site speed, the user experience, the quality of your content, and on-page SEO.
Should I Watermark My Images for SEO or Branding?
When done correctly, watermarking your images can help with brand recognition, prevent unauthorized reuse, and prove ownership.
However, you should avoid large watermarks. They might distract users from the content, negatively impact ranking, or prevent website owners from reusing and linking back to it.
Can AI-Generated Images Be Used for Link Building?
Yes, you can use AI-generated images for link building because Google favors unique images and original media over stock photos.
However, remember to tailor your prompt to generate images that match your niche and message and display accurate content.
Conclusion
When done correctly, image-based content can earn unique backlinks.
Start by creating visuals that users need. Then, optimize them for discovery by compressing images, using alt text, building an image sitemap, and incorporating the correct captions. Ultimately, images can be a powerful backlink engine.
Although image link-building is key to building SEO authority, you have to couple it with other strategies.
If you’re unsure about doing it on your own, you can choose to hand it all off to our team of professionals at Profit Engine. We manually vet each link, and our outreach tactics are backed by a 16-point link checklist that ensures every backlink meets strict standards for authority, relevance, and SEO value.
