Web pages and blog posts with images get 650% more engagement than text-only posts. Putting images in your articles encourages visitors to read them. Also, well-chosen images help back up your message and help you achieve a higher rank in image search results.
However, just having images on a website isn’t enough.
You also have to remember to use alt image attributes for each image on your page. With alt tags, you are strengthening your message and helping search engine spiders know what the images are, without actually seeing the picture.
Keep reading to learn more about alt image attributes, how to use them, and other factors that can help your website.
What Are Alt Image Attributes?
The alt and title attributes used for images are often called the alt tag or the alt text and title tag. This is true, even though they aren’t actually tags.
The purpose of the alt text is to describe what is on the image, along with the image’s function on the page. For example, if you are using an image as a button to purchase product “A,” the alt text should read “button to buy product A.”
SEO and ALT Attributes
When you use alt attributes, you are making it easier for search engine spiders to index your website. This also results in it showing up higher in search engine results. The higher your site ranks in SERPs, the more visitors you will get to your site.
An effective alt attribute is going to have a positive impact on your SEO efforts. That’s because they help make your website more accessible for visitors, but your visibility in the image results will also go up.
Another benefit offered by using alt text is that it is a tenet of accessible web design. The main purpose it has is to describe your images to your visitors who can’t see them. This includes browsers that block images along with screen readers, along with those who are sight-impaired.
How to Write Image Alt Tags to Benefit SEO
If you want to ensure your alt tags benefit your SEO efforts, learn how to write them here.
Describe Your Images
An image without alt text is just that – an image. It won’t have any impact on your SEO.
Remember, your images shouldn’t be just for design aesthetics. When you use them properly, they are going to offer some value. Alt text is one of the easiest ways for you to provide a text explanation of the images you have used.
Keep Things Short and Simple
The recommended alt text length is 125 characters. That’s because most of the image readers are going to limit the alt text length to this amount.
Make sure to keep the descriptive image alt text, which is also less than 125 characters.
Use the Targeted Keywords
Alt text gives you another opportunity to include the intended or targeted keyword on your webpage. Also, search engine crawlers will know your website is very relevant to the search query because it’s your keyword.
It’s a good idea to use a minimum of one image with the keywords in the webpage, which will help you with your on-page SEO efforts.
Avoid Stuffing Your Keywords
Try to write your descriptive alt text to include your target keywords. If you stuff keywords, it can have a negative impact on your search engine rank. If possible, try to avoid any poorly written or keyword stuffing in your alt text.
Google, Alt Text, and SEO
Google has created resources about the proper way to use descriptive alt text. This isn’t a coincidence. Google places a significant value on the alt text to figure out what the image is and how it relates to the text around it.
While this is necessary, it doesn’t mean you should spam your focus key phrase into every alt tag you create. You need to have high-quality, good, and related images for your posts.
When you are selecting or creating your alt text, make sure to include useful and informational content that uses your keywords properly and that’s in the contest of the content you have on the page. Try to avoid filling your alt attributes with keywords, because this will lead to a negative user experience and may result in your site being listed as spam.
If you have images of specific products, including the full product name along with the product ID in your alt tag. This helps to make it easier to find.
If a key phrase could be useful to find something that is on the image, include it in the alt tag if possible. Also, don’t forget you need to change the image file name, so it is something that describes what is going on in the image.
Don’t Forget Your Alt Image Attributions
As you can see, image attributes can have a significant impact on your SEO. However, the only way the effect will be positive is if you use the alt text properly. Making mistakes may lead to a drop in your rank on SERPs and your site being filed as “spam.”
If you aren’t sure you can handle the creation of alt tags for your images alone, hire the pros. At Surface Media our team can help you with alt tag creation and ensure that it benefits your website. Contact us today to learn more about the services and solutions we offer.