There are many things you can do to increase the number of people who find your website. In this blog post we address one of those techniques: optimizing images by using image alternative text (alt text).
How do we find things on the internet?
We are used to searching for things on the internet by typing words or phrases into a search engine. For many years, the results of this search were words: click the link text to go to a website. But today, search engines, such as Google, return video, image and podcast results along with text. Additionally, Google offers a variety of filters that help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Image is one of those filters.
What is Alt Text?
Alternative Text/Alt Text is the written copy that appears in place of an image on a webpage if the image fails to load on a user’s screen.
Alternative (Alt) Text is meant to convey the “why” of the image as it relates to the content of a document or webpage. It is read aloud to users by screen reader software, and it is indexed by search engines. The alt text itself is displayed on the page if the image fails to load.
Harvard University
There are many reasons to use alternative text
- Increase image traffic by helping image crawlers understand the subject of the graphic – When a search engine, like Google, thoroughly understands what your image is, it is more likely to deliver it as a part of the search engine results page (SERP).
- Improve accessibility – An image without an alt tag is invisible to anyone who is using a screen reader or is visually impaired. Alt text describes the meaning and context of the image.
- Enhance the user experience – An image’s alt text is invisible when the image loads. However, if an image fails to load, the alt text will be displayed in its place.
This is what it can look like if the image does not load, and alternative text is not specified.
And this is how it could look if the image didn’t load, but the alternative text was specified.
How it can affect website traffic
The most important attribute when it comes to providing more metadata for an image is the alt text.
Google Search Central
Whether someone is searching for a product using words or is looking at image search results, suitable alt tags will increase the probability that they find your images.
Why all product photos should include optimized alt text
One of the most important elements of selling online is having high-quality, accurate product photos. One often overlooked element is including alt text with all product images. Doing this helps search engines to understand the content of the image so they can accurately index them. It also allows screen-reading tools to describe images to visually impaired users.
How to optimize alternative text
- Succinctly describe the image.
- Do not exceed 125 characters.
- Don’t use the word image, picture or graphic.
- If the image is purely decorative, leave the alt tag blank.
In WordPress, here is where you would enter the alt text:
Alt text and search engine optimization
Many factors influence your standings in search results. Learn more about our search engine optimization service, call (518) 392-0846 or email i[email protected].
Learn more about alternative text and accessibility by visiting the w3.org website.