Smugmug and Search engine optimization (SEO) - I give up

Google do have a lot of help pages for webmasters. Here is the one for images: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=114016

Give your images detailed, informative filenames

The filename can give Google clues about the subject matter of the image. Try to make your filename a good description of the subject matter of the image. For example, my-new-black-kitten.jpg is a lot more informative than IMG00023.JPG. Descriptive filenames can also be useful to users: If we're unable to find suitable text in the page on which we found the image, we'll use the filename as the image's snippet in our search results.

Before Smugmug made the changes with filenames the filenames looked like this: 24815903-1qRs4-L-1.jpg.

After the "We have made it so filenames get seen and indexed by Google" the filenames looks like this: 24815903-1qRs4-L-1.jpg.

No change at all to filenames.

I can not see anywhere on http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/ that foldernames will help image search.

I will suggest Smugmug to reopen the "allow images to be found in google image search" and make it right this time.

Just changing the filenames not going to help much: On the same page they also suggest:

• Create great alt text
•  Anchor text
• Create a great user experience
•     standalone landing page for each image
•     putting your images high up on the page
•     structuring your directories so that similar images are saved together

And most importantly Follow Goggle's usual webmaster guidelines.

(The usual stuff: Sitemap, Quality content, avoid duplicate content and much more - most of which Smugmug is not following)

  Some Smugmug users have named their images right for years - It doesn't help at all. (like some of the fotographers with photos on the all-time most popular Smugmug photos)

Personally I don't care about this anymore - I have already given up. I an just frustrated on behalf of all Smugmug users that are frustrated of the poor Smugmug SEO performance. This thread could take years and be as long as "How To Maximize Your Findability" without going nowhere.

Smugmug need to change their attitude to recommendations from Google.

I doubt they will.

Once I was dedicated Smugmug fan - not any more.