How To Write Alt Text For Images 

Do you struggle to generate great alt text for images you use on your website? Photos are a vital component, so you need to take measures to do that. 9For search engine optimization, alt text for images is usually an ignored component. This is critical to improving your website’s accessibility and search engine rankings.

Learn how to write appropriate alt text for your images and optimize it for search engines. This blog, regardless of your level of familiarity with digital marketing, will help you enhance your alt text.

What is Alt Text for Images in SEO?

It is a descriptive text that is often included in the HTML code of online images. Search engines depend on it to interpret the meaning and context of pictures, making it more useful for internet marketing.

Remember to include descriptive keywords and phrases when writing alternative text for images.

Take the following example: 

The alternative text for a picture of a red apple is “ripe red apple on a white background.” Because the image relates to apples. 

Search engines may use this information to improve the page’s ranking for relevant search queries.

A website’s ranking may suffer when loaded with irrelevant keywords and phrases. This becomes spammy. The alternate language must be brief, ideally only two lines.

SEO is the practice of using descriptive tags for images to improve a website’s visibility in search results.

Why is Alt Text for Images Important?

Several considerations make this important for online marketing:

• Those who use screen readers can have more accessible websites by utilizing it, which is a textual substitute for images.
• This helps search engines understand a site’s context and improve search rankings.
• Alternative text may significantly improve the user experience. This explains a photograph in a manner that is not immediately clear from the image, adding depth and intrigue to the content.
• When uploading pictures to social media, alt attributes may describe them. This improves the picture’s readability, which is useful for people with visual impairments and also for search engines.

As a result, alternative tags are crucial for a website’s accessibility, SEO, user experience, and social media sharing, all of which lead to improved SEO.

How do you write compelling Alt Text for Images?

It improves images for those with visual impairments and aids search engines in understanding the content. Alternative content that is well written may improve website accessibility and search engine optimization.  

Follow the procedure for developing an excellent descriptive tag:

• When describing the picture, be exact. Describe the thing in the photo using clear, illustrative language. For instance, “a smiling girl holding a cup of tea” is better than “a girl with a cup.”
• Make use of suitable terminology. Use keywords that apply to the image and the page content. Avoid irrelevant phrases or keyword stuffing.
• This should be less than 125 characters long, but it should not surpass that limit.
• Avoid the phrases “image of” and “picture of”: It is unnecessary to mention that the item is an image, since screen readers already do this.
• When writing, always use the sentence case. Avoid using all capital letters, but capitalize the first letter of proper nouns and words.
• Alternative wording for successfully describing the image: “A golden retriever playing fetch with a red ball on a grassy field.”
• “Dog playing on grass in a ball field” is an example of a terrible alternative text.

Best Practices for Writing Alt Text for Images

Assistive tags help visually impaired users by describing images on websites. This plays an important role in search engine optimization. It informs search engines what a picture is about, leading to better website ranking. 

Remember to follow these principles while creating them:

• Provide precise information. Please make sure that the description accurately conveys the image’s function on the page. Keep your descriptions precise and avoid using terms like “image” or “photo.”
• Limit yourself to the fundamentals. Remember that alternative text should be succinct, comprising only a few phrases.
• Add keywords: add crucial keywords in it without overdoing it.
• Avoid using the same alternative text for each image on your site. I suggest you provide each photo with its own descriptive text.
• Use descriptive words instead of any other content. Remove the terms “image of” and “picture of” from the assistive tags. These statements do not make a logical point and only add confusion.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that it is beneficial to both search engines and the user experience.

Add Alt Text for images on different Platforms

Adding it to images is a crucial step for ensuring accessibility and improving SEO. 

Here’s how to add descriptive tags on different platforms:

1. For WordPress:
   • Click on the image in the editor
   • Select the pencil icon to edit the image details
   • Enter your explanation in the “Alternative Text” field
2. For Shopify:
   • Click on the image in the product page editor
   • Scroll down to the “Accessibility” section
   • Enter your details in the “Image accessibility tag” field
3. For Squarespace:
   • Click on the image block in the editor
   • Click the “Design” tab
   • Enter your description in the “Image Title” field
4. For social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, Facebook):
   • When uploading an image, select the “Edit” option
   • Enter your alternatives in the “assistive tag” field

Ensure that your accessibility tag provides a detailed description of the image’s content. Not only will this boost your SEO, but it will also ensure that your content is accessible to screen reader users.

Common Mistakes when Writing Alt Text for Images

If you want to rank highly in search engines, avoid the following mistakes:

1. Not descriptive: This needs to give a detailed description of the image, not an incorrect one. Instead of “man working on the computer,” you may substitute “boys typing on a laptop computer in the office.”
2. Stuffing Keywords: Be cautious not to fill this with irrelevant keywords but include some. It should flow naturally for the best reading by both humans and search engines.
3. Ignoring tags: If you want your website to be more accessible and search engine optimized, add description. Always accompany photographs with meaningful alternatives.
4. When using generic terms, use more descriptive terminology instead of just “image” or “photo.” Instead, provide as complete and exact a description of the photo as possible.
5. Failure to take context into consideration: The alternatives for an image should describe what it is and why it is on the page. If the image is a graph or chart, the description should describe what the data represents.

When designing it, provide accurate and relevant information about each image, and always keep the user in mind.

What are some examples of the Good Alt Text for Images?

The ideal text to replace photos is concise but informative, summarizing what the image is about and why it’s there. Here are some excellent instances:

1. Description of a dog playing fetch in the park: a yellow Labrador retriever sprinting with a tennis ball.
2. A bar chart illustrates regional COVID-19 case counts, highlighting May as the month with the highest number of cases.
3. The description accompanying the image reads: “A person using a white cane to navigate a city street.”

“A painting by Vincent Van Gogh titled ‘Starry Night’ depicts a night sky with swirling stars and a small village in the foreground.”

For better search engine optimization, use a clear and relevant explanation with no unnecessary details or personal bias.

How does Alt Text for Images help with SEO?

Designers use it to describe images that people who use screen readers or other assistive technology may not see. In addition, search engines employ this to comprehend the meaning of photos on websites. Meaningful attributes improve image visibility in search results. It helps search engines understand the image’s context. Use accessibility tags to make your website more accessible and user-friendly to both individuals with and without disabilities.

How do you Write Alt Text for Images with a Person?  

To write it for an image with a person, follow these guidelines:

1. Be descriptive: Describe what is happening in the image and provide the required details as needed.
2. Be concise: Limit your explanation to 125 characters or fewer.
3. Be relevant: Focus on the most important information related to the image.
4. Be accurate: Make sure your description accurately defines the image.

Here is an example of such a tag for an image of a person:

“Smiling young lady sitting at a cafe table, holding a cup of coffee, and looking at her phone.”

This will accurately describe the person in the image and provide relevant information about what she is doing.

Conclusion:



Boost your site’s traffic, search engine results, and accessibility for visually impaired users with explanations and best practices. When you publish photographs on your website, be sure to include a descriptive tag that is keyword rich. This will assist search engines in determining what the image is and how to use it. Create high-quality alternatives. This will save you time in the long run. A little action may have a tremendous impact.