What is Alt Text? SEO Guide for Images to Rank on Google

Have you ever felt disappointed after investing in beautiful product photography only to have no one see it on Google? Today, CIPHER will reveal the secret to getting your images to rank on Google using a small but powerful technique called “Alt Text” that many people overlook. In this article, we’ll introduce you to what Alt Text is, from the basics to advanced techniques, along with SEO services to help improve your SEO Alt Image performance and increase your chances of ranking on Google!

What is Alt Text?

Alternative Text or Alt Text is text used to describe images on a website, which is inserted in HTML Code within the tag.<> This description doesn’t normally appear on the webpage but will show up when the image cannot be loaded, helping search engines like Google understand what the image is about. Many people wonder what Alt Text is and how important it is for SEO.

Alt Text serves as an intermediary in communication between images and Google Bot. These bots can’t “see” images like humans do, but instead read and interpret from the Alt HTML code. This means if we don’t add Alt Text to our images, Google won’t understand what the image is about, resulting in missed opportunities to rank on Google Image Search.

Why Should You Add Alt Text to Images

Adding Alt Text isn’t just for code cleanliness—it has several benefits that will help improve your website’s SEOperformance, for these reasons:

Letting Google Know Images Are Relevant to Content

Google Bot reads information on websites to understand content but can’t “see” images like humans do. Adding Google Alt Text helps tell search engines what the image is about and how it relates to the content, helping Google better understand the context of your website and increasing the credibility of your content.

Positively Affects Rankings on Google Image

Google Image Search is the world’s second-largest search tool (after Google Search) and accounts for 20% of all online searches. Adding Alt Text is an appropriate strategy to help your images have a better chance of ranking on Google Image Search, which will bring additional traffic to your website.

Supporting Screen Reader Usage

Screen Reader is a technology that helps visually impaired users access information on websites by reading text on web pages aloud, including Alt Text. When we understand what Alt Text is, we realize that adding good Alt Text helps make your website friendly to all user groups and is also a factor that Google considers important in website ranking.

Helping Images Connect with Anchor Text

Anchor text is text that links to another web page (Internal Link). When you add Alt Text with keywords that match Anchor text on other pages, Google will see this connection and understand that both the image and text are talking about the same thing, which strengthens Internal Links and positively affects SEO Alt Image rankings.

Where to Add Alternative Text

Adding Alt Text means adding information to images, depending on what platform you use to create your website. Many wonder what Alt in HTML is. Generally, popular CMSs (Content Management Systems) like WordPress, Magento, Wix, or MakeWebEasy will have a specific field for Alt Text when you upload images.

But if your website doesn’t have a field for Alt Text or you want to edit Alt HTML directly, you can add or edit it in the HTML code as well. But be careful because incorrect code editing could cause your website to display abnormally. Understanding what Alt in HTML is is therefore important for SEO Alt Image.

Adding Alt Text in SEO Articles

For SEO articles with images, adding Alt Text is another important factor that will help increase the chances of both content and images ranking better on Google. This is because Alt Text helps link keywords in the content with images, helping Google better understand the context of the article.

When writing SEO articles, you should plan your use of keywords in Title, Heading, content, and don’t forget to add them to the Alt HTML of images as well. You should use keywords that are relevant to the article and accurately reflect what’s in the image. Don’t stuff too many keywords unnaturally.

Additionally, you should name image files meaningfully. For example, instead of “IMG_1234.jpg,” change it to “alt-text-seo-example.jpg,” which will help Google better understand the image content.

Techniques for Good Alt Text

Adding Alt Text isn’t just writing anything—there are techniques that will help make your Alt Text most effective for SEO Alt Image:

Inserting Keywords in Descriptions

Inserting keywords into Alt Text is a good way to increase the chances of images ranking for those search terms. But it must be done naturally, not just stuffing keywords that aren’t related to the image. You should use keywords that are genuinely related to both the image and the article content for the best results in SEO Alt Image.

Using Concise Words

Google Alt Text doesn’t need to be long but should use concise and meaningful words. Avoid using superfluous words like “image of” or “picture showing” because they don’t add meaning to the description. Focus on describing what’s in the image directly with short sentences to help both Google and Screen Readers understand the content best.

Describing What's in the Image

Alt Text is describing what’s actually in the image, not just writing keywords you want to rank for. A good way to think about it is to imagine explaining the image to someone who can’t see it—how would you describe it? Specify important details in the image such as colors, shapes, and surrounding context so users understand the image even if they can’t see it.

Don't Use the Same Description for Every Image

Using the same Alt Text for every image is something to avoid most. Google may see it as trying to trick the Algorithm or doing Keyword Stuffing, which could negatively affect your website’s search rankings. Even if they are the same type of image, such as the same type of product, you should describe them differently according to the specific characteristics of each image.

Add Descriptions Only for Important Images

You don’t need to add Alt Text to every image on your website. Only add it to images that are important to the content. Decorative images, icons, or graphics unrelated to the main content can be left blank or set as Alt=”” so Screen Readers will skip them. Choosing to add Alt Text only to important images will help reduce redundancy and make your web page load faster too.

Examples of Adding Alt Text for Websites

Examples of adding Alt Text in different platforms and methods:

Adding Alt Text in WordPress

WordPress is a popular CMS with a system that supports adding Alt Text necessary for SEO Alt Image. You can add Alt Text in 2 ways:

When uploading images: When you upload an image to the Media Library, there will be an “Alternative Text” field for you to enter a description.
After uploading: You can go to the Media Library and click on the image to edit Alt Text at any time.

Examples of good Alt Text in WordPress:

Food image: “Garlic Pepper Shrimp Menu at CIPHER Kitchen”
Product image: “Black Classic Leather Backpack with 15-inch Laptop Compartment”

Adding Alt Text Directly in HTML Code

If you want to edit Alt HTML directly in HTML code, you can do so as follows:

Find the <> code of the image you want
Add or edit the alt attribute in the tag

html

Examples of good Google Alt Text in HTML code:

html

html

Generate Traffic for Your Website with Services from CIPHER

CIPHER is an expert in IT Solutions and Digital Marketing with extensive experience in website development and SEO for leading brands in Thailand. We offer services covering all aspects of online marketing, including:

SEO Services: Help your website rank on Google with effective techniques that meet standards, including appropriate Alt Text
Digital Marketing Consulting: Analyze and plan online marketing strategies suitable for your business
Content Marketing: Create quality content to attract target audiences and build engagement
Web Design & Development: Design and develop websites that meet business needs and are SEO Alt Image friendly
E-Commerce Development: Develop high-performance E-Commerce websites on Magento and WooCommerce platforms

With our expert team, you can be confident that your website will be efficiently optimized in terms of On-page SEO, Technical SEO, and proper Alt Text implementation to give your images and content a better chance of ranking on Google.

Conclusion

Alt Text is an important but often overlooked component of SEO that helps Google understand images and increases chances of ranking in Google Image Search. You’ll see that this small time investment can effectively increase traffic to your website. Contact CIPHER now to discuss marketing strategies that meet your website’s needs!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Alt Text and Why is it Important for SEO?

Alt Text is text that describes images on a website. It’s important for SEO because it helps Google understand the content of images, increases chances of ranking on Google Image Search (which accounts for 20% of all searches), and makes websites friendly to users with visual impairments.

How Should Good Alt Text be Written?

Write Alt Text with concise words, describe what’s actually in the image, insert keywords naturally, avoid superfluous words like “image of,” and don’t use the same description repeatedly for all images.

ต้องใส่ Alt Text ทุกรูปหรือไม่?

No, it’s not necessary. You should only add it to images that are important to the content. Decorative icons, background images, or graphics unrelated to the main content don’t need Alt Text. You can use Alt=”” so Screen Readers will skip them.

การปรับ Alt Text ช่วยเพิ่ม Traffic ได้อย่างไร?

CIPHER has a team of SEO experts who can analyze and customize Alt Text to suit both images and content, along with implementing comprehensive keyword strategies. This helps increase ranking opportunities in both Google Search and Google Image to bring quality traffic to your website.

What is Alt Text? How to Do SEO for Website Images to Rank on Google

Table of Contents

What is Alt Text?

Why Should You Add Alt Text to Images

Letting Google Know Images Are Relevant to Content