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: January 2, 2026

Jan 2, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google December Core Update Done, News Publishers Hit Hard, Frankenstein AI Recipe Horror & Happy New Year

Jan 2, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Some News Publishers Saw Big Declines With The Google Core Update

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:51 am
Search News

(John) Mueller Report Of SEO Memes (2025 Edition)

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Search Tests Blue Send Button In Query Box

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Why 404s Don't Matter For SEO

Jan 2, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Should .gov Websites be Automatically Indexed in Google?