Image File Naming Conventions for Teams (with Templates)

Why ‘IMG_8302.jpg’ is Costing You Time and SEO

We’ve all been there: a folder filled with files named image-1.png, screenshot-final.jpg, and logo_new_v2.svg. While it seems quick at the moment, poor file naming leads to chaos. It makes assets impossible to find, creates confusion for team members, and completely misses out on a simple but effective SEO opportunity.

Establishing a clear and consistent file naming convention is one of the easiest ways to improve your team’s workflow and your site’s search visibility.

The Golden Rules of Naming Image Files

Before we get to the templates, here are four universal rules for naming any file for the web:

1. Be Descriptive and Concise: The name should clearly describe what the image is. blue-suede-hiking-boots.jpg is infinitely better than product-291.jpg.
2. Use Hyphens, Not Underscores: Search engines treat hyphens (-) as word separators, but they often lump words connected by underscores (_) together. blue-suede-boots is seen as “blue suede boots,” while blue_suede_boots might be seen as “bluesuedeboots.” Always use hyphens.
3. Use Lowercase Only: File names can be case-sensitive on some servers. Using all lowercase letters prevents broken image links and confusion. My-Image.JPG can easily become a 404 error if someone links to my-image.jpg.
4. No Special Characters: Stick to letters, numbers, and hyphens. Avoid spaces, apostrophes, ampersands, and other special characters, as they will be converted into messy, percent-encoded strings in URLs.

File Naming Templates for Different Use Cases

Here are some practical, ready-to-use templates you can adapt for your team. The goal is to move from general to specific.

1. For Blog Posts and Articles

A good pattern is to combine the primary keyword of the article with a description of the specific image.

Template: [article-keyword]-[image-description].jpg

• Good: color-contrast-guide-pass-fail-examples.png
• Good: image-compression-tips-quality-slider.jpg
• Bad: blog-image-1.jpg

This makes it easy for a content manager to find all images related to a specific article and provides excellent descriptive keywords for Google Images.

2. For E-commerce Product Photos

For products, clarity and consistency are key. Include the product name, model/SKU, and the type of shot.

Template: [product-name]-[sku-or-model]-[shot-type-or-angle].jpg

• Good: neatforge-explorer-backpack-b-52-front.jpg
• Good: neatforge-explorer-backpack-b-52-lifestyle-on-hiker.jpg
• Good: neatforge-explorer-backpack-b-52-detail-stitching.jpg
• Bad: backpack.jpg

This system is perfect for platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, and it helps keep your product image library organized, especially when you have multiple colors or versions.

3. For Marketing and Website Banners

For general site assets, describe the content and its placement or purpose.

Template: [page-or-section]-[content-description].jpg

• Good: homepage-hero-banner-summer-sale.jpg
• Good: about-us-page-team-photo.jpg
• Good: services-page-icon-web-development.svg
• Bad: banner-ad-final.jpg

4. Managing Revisions

How do you handle updates without resorting to _final_v2? Use dates or version numbers at the end of the filename.

Template: [original-filename]-v[#].jpg or [original-filename]-[YYYY-MM-DD].jpg

• Good: homepage-hero-banner-summer-sale-v2.jpg
• Good: homepage-hero-banner-summer-sale-2025-06-09.jpg
• Bad: homepage-hero-banner-summer-sale-new.jpg
• Worse: homepage-hero-banner-summer-sale-final-final.jpg

Using a structured versioning system keeps the history clear and avoids ambiguity.

Implementing the System

1. Document It: Write down your chosen naming conventions in a shared team document.
2. Start Today: Apply the system to all new images going forward.
3. Gradually Update Old Files: You don’t need to rename every old image overnight. Start with your most important pages (homepage, top products, latest blog posts) and update them over time. Remember to set up 301 redirects if you change the filenames of images that are already ranking in search engines.

A solid file naming convention is a small change that has a massive impact on organization, team efficiency, and SEO. It’s one of the simplest and most effective “best practices” you can implement.