Optimizing Alt Tags for SEO and Accessibility

Both. I have a Slack screenshot from Dreamforce that ranks because of alt text. It helps a lot with ranking.

Thanks ! Any tips on how to write them?

1. Understand the Image's Context: Consider the content and function of the image within your page. What does it convey or what is its purpose?
2. Be Descriptive and Specific: Write a concise description that provides the same function or information as the image.
3. Include Keywords, but Don't Keyword Stuff: Use relevant keywords naturally. Avoid overstuffing the alt text with keywords as this can be penalized by search engines.
4. Keep it Short: Aim for around 125 characters. Screen readers often cut off alt text at this point.
5. Avoid Redundant Phrases: Avoid using phrases like "image of" or "picture of." Screen readers already announce the image as an image.
6. Describe Text in Images: If the image contains text, include that text in your alt tag.
7. Use Empty Alt Attributes for Decorative Images: If the image is purely decorative and adds no informational value, use alt="" so screen readers can skip it.

• Contextual Relevance: Ensure the alt text serves the same purpose as the image.
• Clarity and Brevity: Clear, to-the-point descriptions are best.
• Accessibility Focus: Remember the primary purpose is to describe images to those who cannot see them.
• Avoid Over-Optimization: Write for the user, not just for search engines.

1. A Product Image on an E-commerce Site

• Bad: alt="Shoe"
• Good: alt="Men's blue Adidas running shoes"

1. Graph or Chart

• Bad: alt="Sales chart"
• Good: alt="Bar chart showing a 30% increase in sales in Q1 2024"

1. Decorative Image

• Bad: alt="Blue decorative border"
• Good: alt="" (if it adds no informational value)

1. Image Containing Text

• Bad: alt="Logo"
• Good: alt="OpenAI logo"

1. Complex Images (like Infographics)

• Bad: alt="Health infographic"
• Good: Provide a detailed description in alt text or offer a long description elsewhere on the page.

you can also try this GPT: Alt-Text Generator Assistant
By CAT SCHNEIDER

Also, you can practice by entering your alt text into GPT and asking it for best practices and recommendations.

That was super helpful! Thank you !

You're welcome 🙂 It takes practice, but you'll get better at it over time.

That is a great primer on alt texts Lia. It's said that point 4 is a myth. Write as short as possible, but as long as needed to describe the image.

Agree... but I find that when I have limits, it forces me to be more intentional with my word choices. Great call out.

Good point. But it should not be a restriction making the alt text unusable. Alt texts for graphs, infographics etc will often need more characters.

It is also good practise to not repeat information already in the text surrounding the image like captions. Users of screen readers already read the text, and just want to know what the image is about. Repeating information in the alt text for SEO is ignoring the purpose of alt texts.

Just seeing these messages. Thank you for your input here.
So just to sum up one aspect, adding in keywords will be good for SEO?

Yes. Alt text boosts image SEO by giving search engines context for better indexing/ranking in image searches. File names are also a factor in image search. For organic search the alt text is treated like other text on the page (as per my knowledge).

You can also try this alt text GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-Z0qjHKwvq-alt-text-english Just start by uploading an image.

Thank you so much!