I’ve just been reading about visual search optimisation - the whole thing where people search using images instead of text using platforms like Google Lens. Apparently it’s meant to be the next big thing for 2026!
I’m intrigued but also a bit unsure. Is this genuinely worth learning right now, or just another shiny trend that’ll disappear once the hype dies down? 😂
I run a small lifestyle and wellness blog, plus Instagram and TikTok, but my SEO progress has been pretty hit-and-miss lately. Do you reckon optimising images and alt text for visual search could actually help smaller creators, or is it mainly something big brands benefit from?
Has anyone tried it yet? Would love to hear your insights before I spend another weekend glued to tutorials lol.
Good shout opening this up - I’ve been poking around with my trusty helper, and it seems there is some meat to this beyond the buzz.
Did you know that 30% of local business discoveries are expected to use visual search by 2027? And mobile devices drive about 91% of visual searches.
So is visual search just another SEO trend? I don’t think so. But (and there’s always a “but”) it’s not a silver bullet either. It’s more like an amplifier: it boosts what you’re already doing right (SEO basics, image quality, alt text) rather than replacing them.
For a creator like you in the lifestyle/wellness space, you can benefit. Especially if your images are clear, on‐brand, and semantically rich (i.e. your alt/metadata actually describes what’s in the image, not vague stuff).
The single biggest benefit for a niche blogger is discoverability without competition - your images can rank in visual search results even when your blog doesn’t rank in Google text search.
But it is more about surfacing local businesses based on an image search so maybe a little less applicable to niche bloggers. Still, always worth adding plenty of metadata to your images. It's just web design best practice.
Big brands are already on this, but it works for smaller businesses too, carving out a living. If you get these foundations solid now it'll pay dividends.
Visual search isn’t “nice-to-have” anymore; it’s where a huge chunk of discovery is already happening. Google says Lens handles 20B+ searches every month, and about 1 in 4 of those visual searches have commercial intent. That means your images aren’t just decoration; they’re entry points to your content and products. Keep subjects clear, use descriptive alt text and filenames, add schema where it fits, and you can show up for queries where your text post might never crack page one.
And if you’re in lifestyle/wellness, Pinterest is basically home turf. An Adobe-backed survey reported that 73% of respondents felt Pinterest’s visual results beat traditional search, and 36% actually start their searches on Pinterest now. So clean, helpful pins that match real user intent can pull top-of-funnel traffic long before your blog posts age into traditional rankings.
The SERPs themselves are getting more visual, too. In e-commerce queries, image packs are showing up a lot more often, with one 2025 analysis finding they appear for 90%+ of tracked keywords in that niche. Translation: optimized images get you extra real estate, even when the blue links are a knife fight. Prioritize fast loading, high-res images, descriptive alt text, and on-page context near the image to earn those placements.
If you do only three things this week: 1) compress and standardize your image sizes, 2) write human alt text that mirrors how people would actually search for the thing, and 3) republish your best posts as fresh, intent-matched pins. Visual search will do the rest.
Wow Diane… those stats are impressive. 20 billion searches a month?! My jaw literally dropped. I didn’t realise people were already using visual search that much. Those Pinterest stats are quite shocking too - makes me feel way better about spending hours making pins look “just right.” Guess that perfectionism might finally pay off 😅
And yes, I have been guilty of completely ignoring image optimisation. Upolading images with filenames like “IMG_7456.jpg” 😂 I’m not proud of that. Rohan, love how you framed it as future-proofing rather than chasing the next shiny thing - that actually makes it feel doable instead of overwhelming.
Anyway, I’m officially inspired (and not caffeinated enough). Gonna grab a coffee and spend the weekend cleaning up my images and trying out some of these tips. Thanks again, both of you - seriously appreciate the insights!