What is image alt text and how to use it for SEO
Image alt text plays a dual role in modern website optimisation. Functionally, alt text provides an essential accessibility feature for visually impaired users by describing image content. Strategically, it acts as valuable data for search engines, aiding in image and webpage indexing, which is crucial for your SEO strategy.
What is image alt text?
Alt text, short for alternative text, is an essential attribute associated with images on a webpage. It functions as a textual description of the image's content, and as mentioned above, plays a crucial role in two key areas:
Accessibility
For users who are visually impaired or rely on screen readers to navigate webpages, alt text provides a helpful way to understand the information conveyed through images. Screen readers utilise alt text to vocalise the image's content, ensuring all users can access the full picture of your webpage's content.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engines use various signals to understand and rank web pages. While they can't directly "see" images, alt text is a valuable clue, helping the search engine understand the image's content and its relevance to the webpage's overall theme. This can improve your image search ranking and potentially even your webpage's ranking for relevant search terms.
How to use image alt text
Understanding the importance of alt text is just the first step. Here's a breakdown of how we would implement effective alt text for your website.
Identifying Images that Need Alt Text
It is best practice for all images to have alt text in place. This can be time consuming for websites with a large image library, so we’d recommend looking to apply alt text to images such as the below first:
Informative images
Images that convey important information or context within your webpage content need descriptive alt text (e.g., charts, diagrams, infographics).
Decorative images
Purely decorative elements that don't add value to the content (stock photos used for visual aesthetics, for example) can have empty alt text attributes or brief descriptions indicating their decorative nature.
Tips for crafting effective alt text
Clear and concise descriptions, ideally under 125 characters.
Text should accurately describe the image's content, focusing on the most important elements.
Consider the surrounding webpage content and how the image contributes to the overall message.
Incorporate relevant keywords naturally, but avoid keyword stuffing.
We can help
As a hospitality marketing agency, we understand all the hidden and not so hidden areas of digital marketing. Our skilled SEO team understands SEO to its core and can assist in finding areas where your website might need a little bit of assistance. From website audits to keyword research and the implementation of alt text across your website, Cab Hospitality can assist with exceptional long-term SEO strategies that deliver results and align with your KPIs.
We have over 20 years of industry experience and a beating heart dedicated to hospitality. Whether you’ve noticed a slow website that needs a facelift, you’re not appearing for searches related to your business, or you’re looking to go in a different direction with your online strategy, please get in touch. The Cab Hospitality team are skilled in all areas of digital marketing and can support your business with any issues, concerns or aims.