A good image file name does two things in WordPress. It helps the page the image sits on get found in Google, and it saves you a lot of time in the media library. Both come from one habit: rename your images on your computer before you upload them. Not in WordPress afterwards, but on your own computer first. Here is how.
Rename the file on your computer first
This is the most important step, so here is exactly how to do it.
On a Mac, open the folder with your images in Finder. Click once on the image to select it, then press the Return key. The name becomes editable, so you can type over it. Type the new name and press Return again to save it.
On a Windows computer, open the folder in File Explorer. Right-click the image and choose Rename from the menu. The name becomes editable, so you can type over it. Type the new name and press Enter to save it.
For the name itself, describe what is in the photo in plain words, and use the kind of words your article uses. Then add your organisation’s name at the end. So an image called IMG_4821.jpg becomes something like:
Boats with rainbow flags on the Prinsengracht during Pride Amsterdam - Organisation Name.jpg
The description helps your article get found, because it uses the same words your article is about. The organisation’s name ties the image to you.
What happens when you upload
When you upload that image to WordPress, it uses the file name to fill in the Title, Alt text and Caption fields for you, automatically. The description you already wrote becomes the text in all three. You do not have to type anything into the media library at all.
The Alt text field is the one that matters most. It is the description read aloud to people who use a screen reader, and it is what Google reads to understand the image. Because you wrote a proper description in the file name, that field is now filled with exactly the right text, with no extra work.
This is where the time saving comes in. If you upload fifty images with good names, all fifty arrive with their fields filled in. There is nothing left to do.
If you upload an image and those fields stay empty, something is not set up correctly on your site. Tell us and we will put it right.
So the whole habit is this: rename each image on your computer, in plain words, before you upload it. That one step does the rest. I rename all my images this way, because it is far quicker than fixing entries in the media library one by one afterwards.
If your media library is already full of images called IMG_4821 and the like, you do not have to fix them all at once. Rename them as you go, starting with the pages that matter most. And if you would like a hand setting this up, just get in touch.
