Why Updating Images Can Backfire

Google Image Indexing
Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

According to Google’s John Mueller, google photos index is sluggish, which might hurt image-heavy webpages that often change their pictures. In the latest Google Office Hours, John Mueller said that Google indexes photos gradually. This might be an issue if individuals are generating huge modifications to hundreds of photos.

On questioning what might assist, Mueller said that several suggested fixes would be ineffective. Therefore the only factor that would assist get fresh photos processed was a quick site reply.

Pictures That Don’t Change in Weeks are Not Indexed

The individual who asked about the issue used the instance of upgrading 50,000 food photos. He also emphasized the subsequent adverse effect on the food website.

google photos index

He went on to say that if you check in Search Console, it says there’s no issue. This is since it detects the photos when it looks for them. However, this does not imply that Google indexes the newly modified picture, as it does not.

As a result, the search console gives the misleading impression that all is alright. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the search console’s failure to show that the photographs had not yet been indexed.

See Also: Google Doesn’t Care What’s In an Image!

Images are Taking a Long Time to Re-index on Google

Mueller responded that it is likely that what’s going on is the overall scanning and processing of photos. The process is far slower than scanning and processing conventional web pages.

google images

And what happens if you delete one picture URL off a website and replace it with a fresh one? It basically takes a long time to scoop up the current one. And that’s most likely what you are experiencing, according to Mueller.

Redirect Old Images 

Mueller then advised that old image URLs be redirected to the updated picture URLs. Mueller proposed the following:

We propose redirecting your old URLs to the fresh stuff, including the pictures in such a situation. Therefore, if you have a picture’s address with the data size linked to it, that link should divert to a fresh one. It’s as if we can maintain the old one on our devices and simply take the detour to the newer version.

Picture Sitemaps Won’t Help You Index Pictures Faster

The individual who asked the query wanted to know if an image site map would help Google Photos index fresh photos faster. Mueller’s response was negatory. He believes it will assist us in determining which ones we have to get.

However, we will have to re-crawl the website. And the picture would only be removed after the web address had been re-crawled with a fresh picture URL. If you’re recording the steady condition, it’ll be more valuable.

google index

The sitemap document with the picture URLs would therefore be useful. Mueller stated that a rapid server reaction would be beneficial for searching.

Updating Thousands of Images Can Have Negative Consequences

The main message is that changing photos might result in a decline in Google rankings for old images that haven’t been replaced. It can take several months for Google to index fresh sites.

To assist hasten up the search, John Mueller suggests employing a quick server response and redirection from the old picture URLs to the updated picture URLs.

Sign up for our Newsletter

Talk to Digital Expert Now!