iStock, a leading ecommerce platform providing premium content to SMBs, SMEs, creatives and students everywhere, reveals how SMBs can incorporate visual content in SEO to stay competitive in today’s AI driven landscape.

Findings from iStock’s visual research platform, VisualGPS, shows that SEO continues to be one of the top skills small businesses globally want to learn. In addition, 60% of respondents say that they create and source their own content, with many turning to generative AI as a tool to ideate and iterate visual concepts.

“AI is reshaping how SMBs should approach SEO,” says Helen Pollitt, Director of SEO at iStock. “Many business owners aren’t yet aware of the powerful, cost-effective tools at their fingertips—from using a mix of stock and AI-generated visuals to combining SEO with generative engine optimisation to help AI tools find and show the content when users ask questions. These strategies can significantly boost rankings and drive organic traffic.”

Here, iStock provides some tips for SMBs to consider when incorporating SEO practices within their marketing:

• Traditional SEO still matters: To enhance online presence, provide search engines with additional context as to how the image is relevant to searches made. This includes using descriptive file names, primary keywords, alt text descriptions and choosing the right image format for its use, including WebP for content-driven webpages and SVG for logos that need to be scaled.

• Don’t forget video:  Video can be embedded in web pages to drive reach. VisualGPS shows that 74% of people globally turn to video content online to learn new things and get inspired, yet only 11% of SMBs and SMEs globally use video as part of their content strategy. Utilise structured data and high-quality thumbnails to ensure the content appears on search pages and the page load speed remains fast.

• Experiment with AI: AI tools can be useful within SEO workflows including copywriting, keyword research, optimising meta titles and descriptions or image generation to illustrate a page. If you are going to use gen AI imagery, try A/B testing the content to measure visitor engagement and consider labelling it via an icon or brief text – VisualGPS research indicates that 86% of consumers globally believe that AI-generated content should be clearly labelled.

• Align SEO with GEO: AI-powered Generative search engines (GSEs) are starting to drive “referral” web traffic. To secure online brand authority through generative engine optimisation (GEO), SMBs can analyse traffic data to find out where website visits are coming from to understand the impact GEO is having on brand visibility.