Want to increase your site’s visibility and climb the ranks? Try simple things like writing descriptive alt tags and using the alt attribute on your images and you’ll see a big SEO boost.
What are Image Alt Tags?
In SEO terms, Alt Tags (also known as Alt text or Alt attributes) are words that describe images. Originally the reason for alt attributes was to make websites more accessible to the visually impaired. When you add descriptive alt text to images you are allowing screen readers to describe your images to the visually impaired.
Writing Alt Tags is still one of the best practices especially for website owners who want to make their site accessible to all their users. However, Alt Tags have evolved over time and are now considered part of good SEO practices.
What Are They For?
Image alt text is for screen readers to provide audible descriptions for users who can’t see webpage images or the image file.
Another use of Alt text is to provide a written description of images for search images to figure out what the images are about which gives details about a site and the topics it has.
Alt text is just to describe visual images through words that screen readers can read out loud. They also provide written information to search engines about any website.
Why Image Alt Tags Are Important for SEO?
They give search engines information about websites and can help improve the site’s performance. Properly optimized alt text can also boost your Google Images rankings and traffic.
On Page Optimization also includes Alternative text which can improve your visibility in image search results. It’s one of the easiest kind of SEO any site owner has to do to see improvements.
If your images are relevant to your business goals and target keywords then you may need to use Alternative text as they can add more relevant keywords to your site. But avoid keyword stuffing when writing alt text as it can get you penalized by search engines and a bad user experience.
Alt attributes also expose the fine print and details on your site which helps search engines to understand your content better. So optimizing image alt text can bring more customers to your site.
For example if you have a clothing site and you are selling clothes through describing the images on your site, search engines will get a signal that defines what kind of clothes and other details like styles, colors, features and categories.
Even if you have included these keywords throughout your site, using relevant Alt text will add an extra layer of information that search engines can use to evaluate your whole site.
With all this extra information your site can have more relevant and higher rankings i.e. rankings that link to users who are interested in your products and services.
How to use Alt Tags with Images, Photos & Videos
You can create Alt text for your images in three ways. When creating alt text avoid filling alt attributes with too many or irrelevant keywords. Just select any image from the library and then find the settings of that image to write alt text. You will find it labeled Alt text, image attribute or Alt Text where you can write image alt text. Writing descriptive and concise alt text is important for accessibility and SEO.
Edit Image’s Alt Text in Media Library
Probably there’s a media storage platform in any of the platforms you are using. It stores images along with other media like videos that you can use on your site.
Just select any image from the library and then find the settings of that image. There will always be a section to edit. You will find it labeled Alt text, image attribute or Alt Text. Here just select the words you want to apply as you describe your image. Make sure your language makes sense when read by screen readers. Remember to include keywords for SEO. They should describe the image content and most importantly align with your business goals.
Edit image Alt Tags on Specific Pages
Creating Alternative Tags in Media Library is helpful when you have an image and alternative tag settings throughout the site. But sometimes you may want to change the words in the Alternative text on a specific page. For that try to change the description to align with the goals you have for that page’s optimization if it makes sense to the screen reader.
It can give a visually impaired person a proper experience. Some of the recent site builders usually have resources to allow the editing of Alt Texts on a certain image when one is creating the page. It could be in the back end or front end. Here, you will still need to go to the settings on the image and then search for the section where you can edit the Alt Text.
Edit Image Alt Tags Within the Page Code
As a website owner who is conversant with your website’s HTML and are great at coding, you can go directly to the source code of the page and edit the Alt texts. Simply check the code to find the reference of your image using the search platform and make your edits directly. If you have an existing Image Alt tag, put a proper description on it by editing it, without forgetting the relevant keywords. On the other hand, if there is no Alt Tag, use the code:alt=”new image description” to create a new description. Ensure you have used the right keywords or phrases to showcase your image in the best way.
With alternative texts, you can create a better user experience for the visitors who come to your website, especially the visually impaired. You also get a chance to improve your search engine rankings. Given that successful SEO considers user experience an important factor, making your site accessible for every user will not only be pleasant to your audience in the internet but also accelerate the online success of your website/business.
If you carefully choose the phrases or words to use for your image Alt Texts and then properly align them with your target keywords or the goals you have for your business, it will be easier for you to experience the advantages of improved optimization that usually translates to better rankings. Consequently, you will attract more customers to your site.