What's the Best Format to Name Images for Search Engines?

Jun 18, 2007 - 9:18 am 1 by

When you name images so that they can show up in image search, what's your preference? What do you think is the best naming convention of the three below?

  • actress-name-sexy-pic
  • actress_name_sexy_pic
  • actressnamesexypic

That is the question at Search Engine Watch Forums.

The advice posed asks the particular individual to go to an image search (e.g. Google Image Search) and see the naming convention for particular image search results.

Marcia also says that she's tried both hyphens and underscores and both seem to work well for her.

Underscores or hyphens both work. I use hyphens for filenames and underscores for images just out of habit, I've done it for so long.

The thread also takes a small tangent. Be careful when naming photos. In the particular thread, adding descriptions or adjectives such as "sexypic" might imply that the site is not "kid friendly."

Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Watch Forums.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 4, 2025

Jul 4, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google June 2025 Core Update, Search Volatility, Insights Report, Ads & More

Jul 4, 2025 - 8:01 am
Bing Search

Bing Search Tests Zoomable & Sticky Related Searches

Jul 4, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google AI Mode Can Respond In Non-English Languages

Jul 4, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Local Place Listings In Green

Jul 4, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Merchant Center Gains Automatic Shipping Updates

Jul 4, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Should .gov Websites be Automatically Indexed in Google?