You’ve probably done it without thinking, but it’s becoming more frequent that people search using Google Images. It’s even more popular for those seeking baking aspirations, a hairstyle or holiday inspiration! The only downside to this change of user-experience is that we can’t easily track if people got to a website by clicking on an image in Google, and for us, as a digital marketing agency who love to see the data, it’s a little frustrating.
However, we are here to bring you good news! Search Console is going to be implementing a new referrer URL that’s specific to Google Images. Hooray – another referral source that will help to make further-informed SEO strategies.
So, how can you track visits from Google Images?
If you use Google Analytics to track all website traffic and referrals, you don’t need to worry, as the Google Images referrer URL will be automatically incorporated into the platform, and you will notice referral traffic coming through from “https://images.google.com”.
The new URL will have the country code same top-level domain as the URL that is used for the search in Google Images. As the default URL for worldwide search ends in “.com”, the URL you should see in Google Analytics à Acquisition à Referral Traffic will most likely be https://images.google.com. If a country-specific URL is used for the search, such as https://www.google.co.uk/, in these instances you will see that country’s TLD in your referral traffic sources.
Be aware: if you create your own software or use different means to track website traffic, you will need to manually look out for the new referrer URL and make sure that it is being incorporated/you are attributing traffic from Google Images to Google Images.
We look forward to seeing where https://images.google.com features as a referral for our clients!
Do you optimise your images for SEO? Rank higher in search and Google Images with SEO services from Upperdog. Get in touch today on 01202 798 820 or drop us an email at hello@upperdog.co.uk.