3

After switching to a CDN I noticed that my indexed image count went down. I have close to 1000 images on the site with correct tags, alt tags, and all of that. Only 50 are actually being indexed in the organic search.

It's a WordPress site with Yoast SEO plugin, using Maxcdn as my CDN.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Moving images to a CDN is similar to migrating the URLs of other content.

  • Use a subdomain of your main domain (images.example.com), don't use the CDN domain name (893.mebes.bigbadcdnhost.tld)
  • Use 301 permanent redirect (www.example.com/images/foo.jpg to images.example.com/images/foo.jpg)
  • Update your site so that you refer to the images at their new URLs everywhere on your site.
  • Ensure that your images are crawlable on the CDN (not blocked by robots.txt)

I helped move images to a CDN a few years ago. With those rules in place, we didn't lose any image search rankings.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    +1 this. @user32160 Also since your using Maxcdn, they have a robots.txt feature to block content. In your case you do not want that enabled.
    – Anthony Hatzopoulos
    Nov 11, 2013 at 19:44
  • Good point, Anthony, I've added that to my answer.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Nov 11, 2013 at 19:45

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.