This resource is intended to help you strategize and create image filenames and titles (if applicable) for the images on your site. 

What’s an image filename vs. image title? 

An image filename is pretty straightforward: it’s the name of the file. All images come with a default filename generated by whatever device or software you use to create them. You can edit this filename using various apps on your phone or computer.

An image title is a custom, descriptive title that you can give to an image, along with the filename. This is entirely optional, we’re just explaining image titles here to make sure it’s clear that filenames and titles aren’t the same thing in WordPress.

Why do image filenames matter?

Image filenames have three key uses:

  • They make it possible to search your WordPress media library for specific images
  • They contribute to page ranking, and to overall site ranking, for specific keywords
  • They help your images to rank in Google image search results (this usually only matters for specific types of images that are produced for content marketing or sales)

How do image filenames impact SEO and accessibility?

Google counts image filenames as a ranking factor (point #26 on this list of ranking factors). Here’s what you need to know about that.

Not having optimized filenames will NOT hurt your site’s SEO in any way that you’d notice – it’s not going to be the difference between being on page 1 or page 2 of search results. It’s one of 200 ranking factors, and a portion of the image optimization factor along with title, alt text, and (if applicable), description and caption. 

But having it is an SEO quick-win. If you combine it with several other quick-win optimizations, you could see a noticeable difference in a page’s ranking.

Image filenames only come into play for accessibility if you haven’t provided alt text. Then a screen reader may narrate the image’s filename in place of a description.  

Do image titles matter?

They don’t, really. Most SEO experts agree that image titles don’t impact your ranking, despite being mentioned in point #26 on this list of ranking factors. At Forge and Smith we don’t customize the titles for our own images. However, you may have reasons to want to take this extra step. 

Image titles also don’t matter for accessibility, image alt text is what’s crucial for assistive technology. 

How should I write image filenames and titles?

Do:

  • Use keywords – the more specific to that page, the better 
  • Be concise yet specifically descriptive—this will help with both internal and external search 

Don’t:

  • Leave the filename as the default—DSC0428937.jpg will come back to haunt you later
  • Overthink it – this isn’t like alt text, most humans aren’t going to see it

Where do I create image filenames? 

If you name your image files before you upload them to our content gathering tool, the names you’ve given them will carry over to the new site. You’re all done. 

Unfortunately you can’t edit a filename once it’s been uploaded to WordPress. You would need to rename the file on your computer, then re-upload it. We recommend also deleting the old image from your media library, to avoid later confusion. Don’t forget to copy over any alt text that you created. 

Where do I edit image titles? 

WordPress will set the filename as the image title by default.

To change your image titles, open an image from the media library (via the lefthand menu in your dashboard). Write or copy/paste the new titles into the correct field, and click anywhere outside of the title field for it to automatically save. Here’s a demo video.