Hundreds of images removed from Google Images after changing naming structure

[WatchMan]

Hundreds of my images used to be in the top 5 or 10 on Google images. In that respect, I wasn't trying to "improve" my rankings but I thought it would be sensible, from a discipline/future-proofing point of view, to change all of my image titles from things like: 174572983.png -> Accurate_Product_Description.png

I was very sparing with my product descriptions. Typically 2-4 words that genuinely described the products. I also added alt text (again, very accurate and minimal) and I selected the "focal" point on each image. I did all of this in Shopify's backend. 

Since doing it, everything has disappeared from Google. Lots of my product pages have videos, and the only "images" that now rank for my products are stills from the video. 

I thought it could be a coincidence, so I took a product I hadn't gotten round to making the aforementioned changes to, and made the same changes. It went from having a handful of my images in the top 1-20, to 0 being in visible anywhere after a couple of days.

Searching site:my-website.com on Google images confirms my images have disappeared from Google images. 

Any idea where I went wrong or how to solve the problem?

[Anam4]

Google Indexing Ensure Re-indexing: When you make significant changes to image metadata, it can take time for Google to re-crawl and re-index those images. You might need to use the Google Search Console to request a re-crawl of your website to speed up this process. Sitemap Update: Make sure your image sitemap is up to date. This helps Google discover your images more efficiently. 2. File Name and Alt Text Changes Avoid Drastic Changes All at Once: Sometimes, changing all the image titles and alt text at once can temporarily affect rankings, as Google needs to reassess the relevance of the images. If possible, try rolling back a few changes to see if your image rankings improve. Consistency with Keywords: Ensure that your new image titles and alt texts still include keywords that your images previously ranked for. Although being descriptive is good, you may have unintentionally reduced the keyword relevance of your images. 3. Image Load and Focal Point Lazy Loading: Check if the new setup has introduced lazy loading for images, which might prevent Google from indexing them properly. Focal Point and Image Structure: If your image focal points or formats have changed, make sure that they still align well with Google’s image requirements. Sometimes, unusual image formats or sizes can negatively impact rankings. 4. Video Stills Over Images Google often prioritizes stills from videos because it considers them as unique content. If the videos have more detailed metadata or are considered higher quality, they might outrank your static images. To counter this, make sure your image alt text and titles are well-optimized and provide more specific context than what the video stills offer. 5. Image Quality and Compression Ensure that the quality and resolution of the images remain high. Over-compressing or resizing images can sometimes lead to a drop in rankings. 6. Structured Data Implement structured data (schema markup) on your website if you haven't already. Adding relevant structured data can help Google better understand and rank your images. 7. Google Search Console Errors Check for any warnings or errors in Google Search Console related to your images. These might provide clues about indexing issues or other problems affecting your images. 8. Shopify-Specific Settings Sometimes, changes made in Shopify's backend settings can impact how Google crawls and indexes the images. Double-check if any Shopify-specific settings are interfering with image display or alt text. Recommendations: Monitor the Changes: After making each adjustment, allow some time and track the impact to understand what changes positively affect your rankings. Gradual Updates: Instead of changing all image metadata at once, try doing it gradually to understand which modifications are causing the drop in rankings.

[WatchMan]

Thanks for the response! I made lots of these changes over a month ago, and I can see on the Google Search Console that the pages in question have been re-indexed several times since then. I even manually requested a re-index of a couple of the pages, but sadly, it made no difference.

I think I'm compliant with every point you raise, but point (3) is interesting. How do I check to see if "lazy loading" has been enabled?