When it comes to optimizing your website for search engines, alt text for images is often overlooked. However, it plays a crucial role in improving the accessibility and search engine ranking of your site.
Alt text, short for alternative text, is a description of an image that is displayed when the image cannot be loaded or when a visually impaired individual is using a screen reader. It provides a text-based alternative that describes the content and purpose of the image.
Including alt text for images has several benefits. Firstly, it improves the accessibility of your website for visually impaired users. By providing a concise and accurate description of the image, users who rely on screen readers can understand the context and content of the image.
Secondly, alt text is an important part of search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google cannot understand the content of images without alt text. Therefore, by including descriptive alt text, you provide search engines with valuable information about your image. This can help improve your website’s visibility in image search results and overall ranking.
To optimize your alt text, consider the following tips:
1. Be Descriptive: Make sure your alt text accurately describes the image. Use concise language to convey the content and purpose of the image.
2. Use Keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords into your alt text to improve the chances of your image appearing in search results. However, avoid keyword stuffing or over-optimizing your alt text, as it can have a negative impact on SEO.
3. Keep it Short: Alt text should be concise and to the point. Aim for a maximum of 125 characters so that it is easily read by screen readers and search engines.
4. Don’t Use “Image of” or “Picture of”: It is unnecessary to start your alt text with phrases like “image of” or “picture of.” Screen readers already announce that the content is an image, so focus on describing the image itself.
5. Contextualize the Image: Provide additional context or information related to the image, if necessary. For example, if the image is a chart, include a brief summary of the data it represents.
Remember to include alt text for all relevant images on your website, including logos, infographics, and product images. However, decorative images that do not convey any significant information can have empty alt text (alt=””) or be left without alt text.
Optimizing your alt text for images should be an integral part of your overall SEO strategy. By providing accurate and descriptive alt text, you improve the accessibility and visibility of your website, helping both users and search engines understand the content of your images.
