How to rename media files in WordPress

Let’s talk about how to easily rename media file names in WordPress library to improve SEO ranking.

In WordPress, media file optimization can make a big difference for SEO. Has anyone tried to rename a photo or video file after uploading it to the WordPress media library? It may surprise you that this operation cannot be performed by default. Fortunately, there are several plugins that allow you to quickly rename media files.

Impact of WordPress Media File Name on Google Site Ranking

Image optimization is useful for increasing organic website traffic.

While search engines like Google can currently interpret images and videos, it’s useful to simplify the algorithmic work of crawling and classifying media by applying SEO best practices such as inserting an alt tag, image title, and caption.

The Phoenix Media Rename Plugin is a plugin that allows you to quickly rename media files in your WordPress media library.

Strengths of this plugin:

• Free.
• Does not require special hosting resources.
• Ease of setup and use.
• Regularly updated and maintained.
• There is compatibility with WPML.
• It can be removed after use.

Installation and setup

You need to install the plugin, which is available in the official WordPress repositories, and once activated, it will be ready to do its job, allowing the user to rename images individually or in bulk.

How to rename media files individually?

To rename images individually, open the media library and select an image.

• Open the media file, scroll down and click Edit Additional Information.
• After clicking on the above function, a new window will open and in addition to the usual available fields such as alt text, description and title, a new available field called “File Name” can be found.
• Enter a new file name and click Update.

How to batch rename media files?

The Phoenix Media Rename plugin also offers the ability to bulk rename WordPress images and this requires the following:

• Open the media library and enable list view by clicking the icon in the upper left corner.
• To the right of each image will be a “File Name” field.
• Change the filename of all images, select the appropriate checkboxes, and to complete the procedure, click on “Batch Actions / Rename and Apply Changes”.

The Phoenix Media Rename plugin is a valuable tool for image optimization. But renaming a media file alone does not guarantee the first position in Google Images.

Additional factors

• Use original images whenever possible. It is also important for SEO that the images are original and not copied from other sites. Search engines value original, unique content – ​​and images are no exception.
• Do not use copyrighted images. Pictures from photo stocks can be improved. A picture can be made more interesting and attractive with the help of simple processing and design.
• Choose the correct aspect ratio. For online stores, the best option is JPEG. This format gives the best quality with the smallest file size. It is also recommended to use JPEG for large photos or illustrations. Use PNG if you want to keep the background transparent . Other formats do not support this feature. Sometimes PNG outperforms JPEG in terms of file weight. For logos and icons , use vector SVG. With CSS or JavaScript, you can manipulate SVG images. For example, resize them without losing quality.
• Compress images in moderation: the picture should not lose much in quality. Keep in mind that Google uses page load time as one of its ranking factors. There are two ways to go: reduce the weight of image files on the site or optimize the way images are displayed – show previews.
• Upload images to your site exactly the right size. For example, you have uploaded a picture of 2500×1500 pixels, and on the page it should be displayed in the size of 250×150 pixels. Even though the image is actually displayed in a small size, the large image must load completely to display it. If there are several such images on the page, this can significantly affect the download speed.
• Use responsive images.
• Fill in the title and alt attributes.
• Create a sitemap for the images (any WordPress SEO plugin does this automatically).
• Add captions to images.
• Use Open Graph microdata and Twitter Card. Open Graph and Twitter Cards are needed to customize the appearance of a post on social networks when reposting an article from a site.
• Use Schema.org structured data for better visibility in search.
• Place images on your hosting.

A few words from search engines

Google recommends:

• Use only those images that fit into the context of the page and complement the rest of the content in meaning.
• Do not use non-original images.
• Place images next to relevant text.
• Fill in alt attributes.
• Pay attention to the quality and content of the pages. Google takes into account the quality of information from the site when ranking images. You can also use page text snippets in image descriptions in Google Images.
• Work out the URL structure for images, since in addition to the names of the images, Google also takes into account the paths in the URL.
• Optimize your site for mobile viewing.

Yandex recommends:

• Post high quality images.
• Pay attention to the quality of the site as a whole.
• Always include the title and alt attributes.
• The text adjacent to the images should be relevant to the image.

PS: If you are using another plugin, please give feedback.