Nowadays, images are returned for nearly 40% of search queries on Google, so you really ought to make the most of them. And if your company’s primary audience is under 35, this should get alarm bells ringing as a huge chunk of Gen Z and Millennials favour visual search over any other technology. This means, to target potential customers, all of your images need to be optimised for search. At this juncture, you should have a lot of questions. How do I optimise images? What is an alt tag? And how can I use them to reap the rewards of SEO?
Well, keep reading, as we’re going to answer them all, and more. With our insights, get ready for more website traffic, engagement and, best of all, conversions.
Contents:
- What is an alt tag?
- How to write perfect img alt attributes: Do’s and don’ts
- Examples
- Types of alt img text
- Summary
So, what is an alt tag?
An alt tag (short for alternative tag) is a type of attribute included within HTML code that contains text used to describe an image on a website. Also commonly referred to as “alt text” or “img alt,” they provide image descriptions for screen readers, search engine bots and users whose bandwidth can’t load the images.
What does alt text look like?
Alt tags look like any other HTML tag. They have an opening tag containing the tag name, an attribute with a name and value pair, followed by a closing tag.
For example:
<img sac="img_example.jpg" alt="Image example description." width="600" height="500">What is an alt tag’s purpose?
It may seem as though we’ve already answered this question, but there’s more to img alt text than simply providing a description of what you see in the image.
While bots can’t accurately interpret images, offering alt text allows them to crawl your pages, inspecting them for properly formatted descriptions and well-placed keywords. The perceived quality and user experience the bots glean from your alt text SEO contributes to how they index the page and, hence, where it ranks. In short, alt tags are great for SEO!
Accessibility
With over 2 million people living in the UK with a form of sight loss and 8% of men affected by colour blindness, accessibility should be a priority for everyone. Using img alt text allows them to access an understanding of what is contained within the images on a webpage. There’s no excuse not to make alt text part of your daily practice to include people with visual impairments and improve your site’s overall accessibility.
Alt tag SEO
Alt text is also an effortless way to optimise your online reach. By including the relevant keywords, search engine bots will deem your site trustworthy and well-organised, distinguishing you from spam. In turn, your ranking and online presence will improve, demonstrating why SEO is so important for business.
How to write the perfect img alt attribute
Now you know what is an alt tag, you can put your knowledge into practice by following this quick guide. In no time, you can overhaul your website to exploit the power of alt tags for SEO and get extra visitors coming to your site. SEO is so worth it for small business as you can get ahead of your competitors and appeal to your niche with higher local SEO rankings.
Dos
Do always offer alternative text
This might sound like overkill, but you should include img alt text for each and every image you use across your website or social media page. There are some special cases where no alt text is provided, but, even then, the img alt attribute should be supplied and left empty.
Do convey the meaning or purpose of the image
It’s all well and good announcing what an image shows, but what is the point if some of your visitors are missing out on important information? Your img alt text should be informative and high-quality content, enhanced by correct grammar and precise detail.
Do include your target keyword
What is an alt tag without the relevant context? Ensure you include a relevant keyword in your alt text for SEO optimisation. You want search engines to crawl your images and to find relevant keywords that match up with your page to prove that your content is reliable, relevant and well-structured just as you would for H1 tags.
Do tell your visitor about image links in alt text
A popular website trend is to include linked images or buttons to take the user to another page. Always remember to let your screen reader-using visitors know where the link will direct them. You can do this by adding this information within the img alt attribute.
Do optimise image placement
In addition to aesthetic placement, you should be thinking about user experience for the portion of your audience who need screen readers. Wherever possible, place your image near the relevant body or header text for a cohesive read.
Do build a good URL path for your images
Google Images’ best practices emphasise that to optimise user experience you should construct a good URL structure for your images. Your images should follow a logical URL path and be discoverable for users and this means writing for humans and not search engines.
Don’ts
Don’t go over 125 characters
After 125 characters screen readers typically won’t continue reading the text, so avoid long-winded descriptions. Not only are the unnecessary, but they will result in a poor and confusing experience for screen reader users.
Don’t repeat what’s already covered in the caption
If the information in your img alt attribute is present elsewhere on your site, change it. This probably means your visitors relying on alt text are missing out somewhere or that your image isn’t being described optimally.
Don’t use phrasing like ‘image of’ or ‘picture showing’
There’s no need to include phrasing alluding to the fact that the image is an image. It’s bad practice to do so as it negatively affects user experience.
Don’t lean into keyword stuffing
Stay on Google’s good side by avoiding keyword stuffing. Not only is this annoying to read, but search engines will actively reduce your SERP ranking, and your online influence will drop.
Don’t include img alt text for decorative images
You can help out people with screen readers by allowing them to skip over aesthetic images. To do this include an img alt attribute but leave it blank like so: alt=” “
Don’t copy and paste text from elsewhere on your site
Search engines such as Google encourage alt tags to be completely original, so if you provide unique descriptions your online authority will grow.
Types of img alt text you’ll be dealing with
Before you write your alt text inside the img alt attribute, you’ll need to consider what type of image you’re dealing with. Is the image essential to the meaning of your content (like an infographic, for instance) or is it merely for aesthetic purposes? This will change how your img alt text will look. Let’s see…
Decorative images
Images, which are there for purely decorative purposes, shouldn’t include alt text. This could be an ornamental motif, border or page break. As we’ve mentioned, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use an img alt attribute. Screen readers will simply tell the user “image” – and that’s just confusing!
Hence, use the alt attribute like so:
<img sic="img_pagebreak.jpg" alt=" " width="600" height="500">Informative images
Informative images are a little different. They add to or complete the meaning of a given webpage and generally enhance user experience. Remember to convey the information contained in the image as well as to include your target keyword(s).
Time for some examples!
Let’s take a look at some examples of what is an effective alt tag for this image of a bumblebee collecting pollen. In this example, the photo accompanies some body text describing the process by which bees pollinate various flowers. Hence, it’s an informative image.
Bad alt text for SEO
<img src="img_bee.jpg" alt=" " width="600" height="500"><img src="img_bee.jpg" alt="picture of bee" width="600" height="500"><img src="img_bee.jpg" alt="bee" width="600" height="500"><img src="img_bee.jpg" alt="Bee. Bumble bee. Bees. Bumble bees. Honeybee. Cute honeybee. " width="600" height="500">Okay alt text for SEO
<img src="img_bee.jpg" alt="bumblebee and flower" width="600" height="500">Great alt text for SEO
<img src="img_bee.jpg" alt="Bumble bee collecting pollen on a yellow flower." width="600" height="500">Your alt text SEO rundown
Now you should be up to speed with how to use alt tags to boost your on-site SEO. Here are the key takeaways:
What is an alt tag?
A type of HTML tag used to describe an image for screen readers, search engines and site visitors.
Why is alt text important for SEO?
Knowing what an alt tag is and how to write them can help search engines, crawl, index and rank your website. By including relevant, original and well-formatted text in the img alt attribute search engines will consider your content of good quality and boost your ranking.
The best practices for writing img alt text?
When you sit down to write your alt text think: short, relevant, precise, concise. Include your target keyword and convey the meaning of the image.
Should I be using them?
Definitely! Adding image alt text to the images across your website whether it be an online shop, blog or service page can drive new traffic to your site and encourage people to stay there longer.
You can continue to enhance your company’s online reputation by reading more about SEO strategy on our digital marketing blog.
