undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    What is your Brand Authority?
    Moz

    What is your Brand Authority?

    Check yours now
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • SEO Q&A

      Insights & discussions from an SEO community of 500,000+.

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. On-Page Optimization
  4. Should I watermark my product images

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Should I watermark my product images

On-Page Optimization
9
13
11.1k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • BipSum
    BipSum last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 12:51 PM

    I am in the process of creating new images for my products to use on my website.  Are there any advantages or disadvantages of watermarking each image?  Is there an SEO impact good or bad?  I am aware that filename and Alt tags are important, but am unsure if google dislikes watermarked images.

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • BipSum
      BipSum last edited by Oct 11, 2013, 7:02 AM Oct 11, 2013, 7:02 AM

      Hi all, thanks for your comments.  Looks like it wouldn't do any harm if I had a small brand logo placed on each image.  Will have a think and probably just go for it.

      Thanks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • vmialik
        vmialik last edited by Oct 11, 2013, 7:02 AM Oct 10, 2013, 7:56 PM

        Time might come, and might be around the corner when, images in Google Search will be OCR'd (scanned for text/wording and made searchable) this will result in your watermarks if its in Copyright Joe Smith (text form) will be searchable.

        Also thing about this if you are using image search with an image of your brand, (not sure about practically but theoretically) you should be able to find all your images if they are watermarked with your Brand image in Google image search.

        So if you are planning to future proof your images for image SEO go for it!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • Sharla
          Sharla last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 3:39 PM Oct 10, 2013, 3:35 PM

          Are you selling your own manufactured goods or reselling someone elses? If you're reselling someone elses, don't they have images of their products already to use?  I think it's rare for a reseller to take all their own product images, but if you do because you feel it gives you an edge, I would use your own logo prominently rather than as a watermark.  Maybe you have an artistic presentation of goods that needs proprietary protection - that is the only case I can see for potential watermarking.

          And, if you're selling your own goods, do you also sell them to others for resale?  I frequently need product photos from manufacturers for promotion by authorized sellers of their brands.

          Different companies have different ways they let marketing depts retrieve images, and from my side, the easier it is, the better.  I've never seen anyone put watermarks on their images, but some create their sites so you have to go through a lengthy registration process and wait to hear back - huge pain in the kisser for me as I have to go to the client, they have to find the account, get it back to me, I enter it, oops, website says not that string of numbers, go back... etc.  Time suck warp.

          Some companies make their images non-downloadable (though there are some workarounds and screen shots).  The ones I like best - just let me have the images, no mess, no fuss.  I am after all trying to sell their products.

          Then, I brand a corner with the resellers logo, but not as a watermark; rather it's a notice that yes, this company carries this merchandise.  And for SEO, if the reseller branded image of the original product comes up in image search (which they do sometimes as I always fully tag out my images), then all the better.  If you're selling your own goods with no authorized resellers, I think I would brand a corner also - no watermark, just a logo, but only if for some reason your logo is not already on the products.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • AWCthreads
            AWCthreads @EGOL last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 2:21 PM Oct 10, 2013, 2:21 PM

            Does the mark say, "EGOL?"

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • EGOL
              EGOL @BipSum last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 2:19 PM Oct 10, 2013, 2:19 PM

              I do the bottom left or right...  Weasels still steal it.  Some publish with my copyright mark, some paint it out, some put a textbox over my mark.

              AWCthreads 1 Reply Last reply Oct 10, 2013, 2:21 PM Reply Quote 0
              • Oren.
                Oren. last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:35 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:35 PM

                Lots of good points already.  I find that small logo in a corner is helpful because even if the image is stolen, saved to a computer, reused, posted on facebook without context, whatever -- your brand is still prominently displayed.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • AWCthreads
                  AWCthreads @BipSum last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:42 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:33 PM

                  There may be some value in branding in that regard depending on what you're selling.

                  However, If its small and unobtrosive then the viewer probably wouldn't be able to tell what the logo is/says until they open the image.

                  Edit add - when its that small its easily removed and cropped so it really becomes a matter of whether you think its important as a branding element versus protection.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • gazzerman1
                    gazzerman1 @BipSum last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:22 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:22 PM

                    Watermarking can have an advantage in Google images. If you have lots of images your brand will show up often and people will get to know it, without ever having visited your site.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • shendison
                      shendison last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:19 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:19 PM

                      Do it - For me it adds credibility when a company watermarks their images unobtrusively, and G loves credibility...

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • BipSum
                        BipSum last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:12 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:12 PM

                        Thanks for your feedback.  I was thinking about a small brand logo bottom right or left of each image.  Nothing instrusive.  For the feeds it would be clean images.

                        Thanks again for your thoughts.

                        gazzerman1 AWCthreads EGOL 3 Replies Last reply Oct 10, 2013, 2:19 PM Reply Quote 2
                        • SErOb
                          SErOb last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:11 PM Oct 10, 2013, 1:11 PM

                          I agree w/ AWC.

                          If you do watermark, just make sure it's not the least bit distracting.

                          One ecomm site I work with has over 10,000 original product images.  They were constantly being stolen, which is annoying considering the effort that goes into the production of the images.  Once they were watermarked (via the ecomm platform), the poaching pretty much stopped.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • AWCthreads
                            AWCthreads last edited by Oct 10, 2013, 1:00 PM Oct 10, 2013, 12:58 PM

                            A watermark won't affect your rank.

                            In my opinion this is more a matter of the use of your time.

                            I very rarely see watermarks anymore on ecommerce sites. I think a watermark will do more to pollute the appearance of your product than protect your images from piracy.

                            From a practical perspective, Google and other shopping feeds may have rules regarding watermarks and artwork associated with products so make sure you are aware of the rules if you use feeds.

                            Edit add - I can recall 1 ecommerce site I've visited using watermarks and the only other places I see it are sites that sell images and artwork.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                            • 1 / 1
                            1 out of 13
                            • First post
                              1/13
                              Last post

                            Got a burning SEO question?

                            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                            Start my free trial


                            Browse Questions

                            Explore more categories

                            • Moz Tools

                              Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                            • SEO Tactics

                              Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                            • Community

                              Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                            • Digital Marketing

                              Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                            • Research & Trends

                              Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                            • Support

                              Connect on product support and feature requests.

                            • See all categories

                            Related Questions

                            • UWPCE

                              Multiple H1s and Header Tags in Hero/Banner Images

                              I work on education websites, and our sites are being flagged by SEO and accessibility checkers for having multiple H1s. The home pages have the site name as an h3 in the hero image, and an aspirational headline (think: Be Like Mike) as an H1. The sub-pages have two H1s: one on the site name in the banner image, and the other on the page title. Note that the site name is very keyword-rich. If we were to remove the H1 and H3 tags from the hero/banner images, would it do any SEO harm? At the same time, we’d rewrite the H1 on the home page to be more keyword-focused. Any other options? I also read that it’s OK to have multiple H1s as long as it’s clear which H1 belongs to the heading area and which one belongs to the body area of the page. Thanks in advance!

                              On-Page Optimization | Jun 16, 2021, 8:12 PM | UWPCE
                              0
                            • mattl99

                              Product Descriptions (SEO)

                              So I would like a few opinions. How long should a product description be? Enough to get the point across? 100 words? 800 words? Over detailed? Any advice would be appreciated.

                              On-Page Optimization | Aug 23, 2018, 7:12 AM | mattl99
                              0
                            • Deluxe

                              Will it upset Google if I aggregate product page reviews up into a product category page?

                              We have reviews on our product pages and we are considering averaging those reviews out and putting them on specific category pages in order for the average product ratings to be displayed in search results. Each averaged category review would be only for the products within it's category, and all reviews are from users of the site, no 3rd party reviews. For example, averaging the reviews from all of our boxes products pages, and listing that average review on the boxes category page. My question is, will this be doing anything wrong in the eyes of Google, and if so how so? -Derick

                              On-Page Optimization | Sep 30, 2016, 8:28 PM | Deluxe
                              0
                            • soralsokal

                              How many words for product description

                              Hi, I've read articles on the MOZ blog, which stress the point for unique product descriptions. I think this was even mentioned in one White Board Friday. Now I am in the process of writing them. How many words should they have at least in your opinion? Best, Robin

                              On-Page Optimization | Jul 2, 2014, 10:54 AM | soralsokal
                              0
                            • Amosnet

                              Do images on a CDN affect my Google Ranking?

                              I have recently switched my images to a CDN (MaxCDN) and all of the images within my post are now get loaded directly from the CDN. Will this affect my Google ranking? Do Google care if the image is hosted physicaly on the domain?

                              On-Page Optimization | Feb 29, 2012, 1:53 PM | Amosnet
                              0
                            • sichristie

                              Alt tag matching product titles - e-commerce

                              Hey all, Just wondering if it is ok to match the alt tag to product titles. Imagine an e-commerce site that lists a whole lot of products on any one page for any one category. Each product listing has a thumbnail image beside it. The easiest way to implement this dynamically is to use the product title for the alt tag. Anyone had any experience with this? Is it overkill / spam of keywords - given that the product title is repeated. Our current situation is that our alt tags are simply blank or say 'photo' which is no good, and we have hundreds of thousands of pages. Cheers, Croozie

                              On-Page Optimization | May 22, 2011, 9:56 PM | sichristie
                              0
                            • MikeDelaCruz77

                              E-Commerce product pages that have multiple skus with unique pages.

                              Hey Guys, With the recent farm/panda update from google i'm at a cross roads as to how I should optimize product pages for a project i'm working on for a client. My client sells tires and one particular tire brand can have up to 15 models and each model can have up to 30 sizes. IE: 'Michelin Pilot Sport Cup' comes in 15 different sizes. Each size will have it's unique product page and description bringing me to my question. Should I use the same description on every size? I do plan on writting unique content for each tire model however i'm not sure if I should do it for every size. After all the tire model description is the same for every size, each size doesn't carry any unique characteristics that I can describe. Thanks in advance!

                              On-Page Optimization | Aug 29, 2011, 3:05 PM | MikeDelaCruz77
                              0
                            • krishrun

                              Change in Product Name

                              My site - http://www.guru99.com/quick-test-professional-qtp-tutorial.html Currently caters to an automation testing product from HP called Quick Test Professional popularly know and searched as QTP Recently HP changed the product name from QTP to HP Functional Test. Considering this , what do I do with exiting QTP pages and how do I optimize the site moving ahead...

                              On-Page Optimization | Mar 11, 2011, 7:51 AM | krishrun
                              0

                            Get started with Moz Pro!

                            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                            Start my free trial
                            Products
                            • Moz Pro
                            • Moz Local
                            • Moz API
                            • Moz Data
                            • STAT
                            • Product Updates
                            Moz Solutions
                            • SMB Solutions
                            • Agency Solutions
                            • Enterprise Solutions
                            Free SEO Tools
                            • Domain Authority Checker
                            • Link Explorer
                            • Keyword Explorer
                            • Competitive Research
                            • Brand Authority Checker
                            • MozBar Extension
                            • MozCast
                            Resources
                            • Blog
                            • SEO Learning Center
                            • Help Hub
                            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                            • How-to Guides
                            • Moz Academy
                            • API Docs
                            About Moz
                            • About
                            • Team
                            • Careers
                            • Contact
                            Why Moz
                            • Case Studies
                            • Testimonials
                            Get Involved
                            • Become an Affiliate
                            • MozCon
                            • Webinars
                            • Practical Marketer Series
                            • MozPod
                            Connect with us

                            Contact the Help team

                            Join our newsletter
                            Moz logo
                            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                            • Accessibility
                            • Terms of Use
                            • Privacy

                            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.