As the saying goes, an image is worth a 1000 words, but this is not the case for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While this is true to you and I when we are attempting to compare a list of very similar cameras, or reading a map, search engines are able to discern very little from most web site images. However, this article should help you to provide more to a search engine as it attempts to index the images, text, and other data from your web site.

Rescue words from images
First and most importantly when you can rescue words from the images do so. Since the value of an image to an engine is significantly less than normal text, this is a good place to start. It may mean that you include a tag if the entire or most of the page is an image. This may mean that you strategically take text that is in the image or flash content and place in normal text on the page.

Use the Keyword in the name of the image
When naming an image, the use of the keyword in the image name is beneficial. This can be helpful for image searches on an search engine, as well as to help the engines to understand the idea that an image may be trying to provide and it may provide a better understanding of the page's overall theme. So, something like eyepinch-web-hosting-services-icon.gif would be an improvement if the old file name was icon.gif. (.gif or .jpg does not matter, so use the image format that makes sense for your image.)

Place the image caption next to the image
Place a caption next to the image, with the keyword in close proximity to the image on the site.

Place the keyword in the text content that surrounds the image
If the image is placed in the body, and surrounded by text content having the keyword physically close to the image - this will also have benefits.

Use Alt attributes
The use of Alt tags as part of the site design is important. While it is postulated by many SEOs that search engines rarely use Alt tags purely for ranking purposes, many agree that it more likely that Alt tags are used by search engines to gain a better understanding of a page's target keywords or theme.

Use Title attributes
Using the title attribute can further describe your image. Unlike the Alt attribute, the Title attribute can be read and displayed on Firefox whereas either can be displayed in Internet Explorer.

Use the Longdesc attribute
The longdesc attribute tells the search engine that a particular image has more information related to it on another page. The value for the longdesc attribute will contain the url to the page with this more detailed information.