Image Alt Text: A Crucial Element for SEO and Accessibility

Image alt text is the text displayed on a web page when an image fails to load.

It plays a key role in helping screen readers describe images to visually impaired users and aids search engines in crawling and ranking the content effectively.

Including accurate and descriptive alt text enhances the site’s accessibility, user experience, and image traffic.

By providing alt text, offer both visitors and search engines a clear description of what’s depicted in the image. Incorporating relevant keywords also boosts the chances of ranking higher in image search results.

Aim for a simple, specific description that adheres to the 125-character limit.

If the description doesn’t accurately convey the image, revise it until it does.

Also use alt text generator tools to simplify the process.

For large eCommerce sites, prioritize adding alt text to the most important products first and gradually work through the rest.

A proactive approach is to include alt text in the early stages, before a product page goes live, to ensure all new releases are optimized from the start.

Optimizing Image Alt Text for Performance

Google’s algorithm considers over 200 ranking factors, and clear, succinct image descriptions are essential for effective alt text.

Adding relevant keywords is beneficial for SEO, but it’s important to strike a balance between specificity, context, and keyword usage.

Optimizing the alt tags is just one piece of the puzzle; optimizing the images themselves is equally important. Proper image optimization enhances visibility on Google, leading to increased traffic.

Beyond SEO, there are several benefits:

Improved User Experience (UX):

Properly optimized images enhance UX by making websites easier to navigate.

Large images, for example, should be resized to avoid overshadowing other elements on the page.

Improved Website Speed:

Page speed is crucial for SEO.

Large or poorly formatted images can slow down the site, negatively impacting rankings and accessibility.

Enhanced Accessibility:

Adding ALT tags to images helps visitors, especially those using assistive technologies, navigate the website more easily.

This not only improves accessibility but also benefits the SEO efforts.

While image optimization might seem like just another task in the SEO strategy, it has a significant impact on rankings and user experience.

Insights from Image Alt Tag Performance Data

For eCommerce websites, optimized image alt text can give the products a competitive edge.

By analyzing top-performing product pages using tools like Semrush, see how well the image alt tags align with the SERP performance.

This analysis can help to determine whether the product images are appearing in popular product listings.

Our data shows that not all eCommerce businesses are leveraging image alt tag optimization, potentially missing out on improved organic rankings.

Products with optimized alt text were consistently ranked in the organic product image section of the SERPs.

In contrast, brands that neglected this optimization saw lower traffic and revenue.

How to Optimize Image Alt Tags

When crafting image alt tags, be descriptive but concise.

Keep the description under 125 characters, as assistive technologies may not process longer text blocks.

Including relevant keywords, just as in meta tags, can boost SEO.

However, avoid keyword stuffing, as it can lead to a poor user experience and be flagged as spam by Google.

Images are valuable to both site visitors and those searching for the content.

Properly optimized image alt tags elevate the site’s SEO performance, user experience, and accessibility.

Investing time in optimizing the images can result in substantial traffic gains.