Retrievability and UX · Branch R.C, Visual experience and media
R-11 Images must be relevant, performant and managed with a preferred image in mind
Important pages must use original and useful images, with accessible alt text. The main image you want Google to choose must be indicated with suitable metadata.
- Scope
- All public content
- Priority
- Optimisation.
- Quality bucket
- Retrievability and UX
- Legacy coverage
- SEO-46, GEO-63
Why it matters
Generic, oversized or badly described images slow the page down, add nothing for users and give search engines a weak preview to show. If you do not signal which image best represents the page, Google may pick one that is unhelpful, such as a logo or a text-heavy graphic.
How to implement
- Replace stock or generic images on key pages with original images that represent the page.
- Rename files descriptively and write natural alt text without keyword stuffing.
- Compress images, set correct dimensions and apply lazy loading properly.
- Choose a high resolution main image and avoid logos, text-heavy graphics and extreme aspect ratios.
- Indicate the preferred image with suitable metadata, and for Discover allow large previews with max-image-preview:large.
- Align the social share image with the image you want in Search.
Checklist
- Prefer original images.
- Use descriptive filenames and natural alt text.
- Do not stuff keywords.
- Get compression, dimensions and lazy loading right.
- Choose a high resolution image that genuinely represents the page.
- Do not use a generic logo.
- Do not make a text-heavy image the default preview.
- Avoid extremely narrow or wide aspect ratios.
- For Discover, check for a suitable large image and max-image-preview:large.
- Align the social share preview with the Search preview need as far as possible.
How to audit
- Check that important pages use original images that represent the page, not generic logos or text-heavy images.
- Check filenames and alt text for descriptive, natural wording without keyword stuffing.
- Check compression, dimensions, lazy loading and aspect ratios.
- Check the preferred image metadata, including max-image-preview:large where Discover is a target.
How UltimateSEO checks this automatically
Automated. Checked automatically: images missing alt text, missing width and height, oversized dimensions and lazy-loading attributes on crawled pages.
States used: PASS, FAIL, UNKNOWN, NOT_APPLICABLE or BLOCKED. UNKNOWN is never shown as a pass. How states work.
Sources
Part of The UltimateSEO Framework v4.1, revised 2026-10-07. Evidence states, control states and the publish gate are explained on the hub.