For businesses such as plastic surgery centers, med spas, or cosmetic dentistry practices, an online gallery of before-and-after photos is hugely beneficial when it comes to converting leads. Your future patients come to your site to find out whether you can provide the results they are looking for. Including a gallery on your website allows you to show off your work to potential new patients.

In addition, images make up a large category of searches. We have all used Google Images before, and you may have seen featured images in a standard search. Ranking highly in these image searches can help boost the number of organic leads to your site.

So, what is considered best practice when it comes to gallery images, and how many images should you include in your gallery?

Quality is King for SEO

You may assume that more images are always better, but our SEO expert and CSO Ryan Rogers explains that “I am a bigger fan of best work as opposed to quantity.” This means that you want to put your best foot forward when you are sharing your before and after photos. Rather than trying to hit a certain number, choose the photos that best represent your work and the results you know patients are looking for. Prioritizing quality also means that you should make sure you use clear, high-resolution photos.

After you have selected your initial gallery photos, be sure that you are continuously updating your gallery with new images. Just as you want to keep up with fresh written content, adding new photos to your site will improve your overall SEO.

Organizing Your Gallery Images

Once you have selected your before-and-after photos, it’s important to consider how to organize and present them. Ryan explains that “every once in a while, you will see an image that is either a before or an after, but those don’t ever get clicked on. The ones that do get clicked on are the ones that show both the before and the after.” So, it’s best to edit your images so both the before and after are visible in a single file. Save your file with a descriptive name that includes the procedure and your city. For example, a good file name would be “Botox Before and After Grand Rapids.” This way, when someone Googles this phrase, your photo is more likely to show up. As a medical practice, it’s also important to rename your files to ensure that no private patient information is disclosed when you’re uploading before and after photos.

Using Alt Text for SEO

Alt text is another SEO consideration you should take into account with your photos. An accurate image description in alt text serves two purposes. First, it makes it easier for search engine crawlers to index your site and improve your overall SEO. Next, alt text improves user experience and accessibility. With descriptive alt text, your images are accessible for visually impaired users relying on screen readers or simply users whose devices failed to load your image properly.

DLM’s Gallery Plug In

Consistently uploading new images to your gallery can be a daunting task. Using DLM Insight, our clients can simplify the process with our gallery plug in tool. This tool allows users to make simple edits to photos such as blurring tattoos or other identifying features or adding your logo as a watermark. Next, you can easily change alt text and file names to improve SEO. Once you complete these steps, the gallery plug in can automatically add your new photos to your site in the corresponding category. If you have questions about this tool, you can call your marketing specialist for a quick demo.

Curious About SEO? Give Us a Call!

To learn more about best SEO practices and how they can help attract new patients to your practice, contact Digital Limelight Media. Call (616) 222-3735, contact us through our site, or email hello@dlmconversion.com.