Alt text is a vital component of SEO, and Google has affirmed its significance as a ranking factor. Given the growing importance of visual search, correctly describing your images for search engines has become even more crucial.

However, improving your alt text goes beyond providing a concise image description. It involves implementing a strategic approach, much like other aspects of SEO.

This strategy not only enhances the effectiveness of your alt text but also streamlines the process, making it more automated. This automation frees up your time to concentrate on higher-level tasks.

The alignment of your keywords across various elements, such as content, backlinks, and technical on-page components, including alt text, significantly bolsters your ranking potential.

You can manually input your keywords, or you can leverage a service like AltText.ai, which integrates your keywords into AI-generated alt text.

Understanding Alt Text

Let’s begin with the fundamentals.

Alt text is an essential piece of HTML code that describes the content within an image. It is crucial in aiding individuals with visual impairments when using screen readers.

Furthermore, alt text is valuable to search engines, as it assists in comprehending the page’s content and how to index it.

The absence of alt text is a shortcoming, while any relevant alt text is an improvement. However, alt text that is optimized for SEO offers the most benefits.

The question is, how can we achieve this without dedicating extensive hours to manual input? Here’s the solution:

1. Methodically Prioritize, Update & Add Alt Text to Key Images: The first step is to assess your website’s images and identify which ones are the most critical. This includes images that convey essential information branding or are frequently viewed. Prioritize these images for the addition or enhancement of alt text. Ensure that new images, as they are added, are accompanied by descriptive alt text right from the start. This approach ensures that the most valuable content is accessible to more audience, including those with disabilities.
2. Make Adding Alt Text a Routine: To ensure consistency and accessibility, add alt text as a regular part of your content creation process. This routine practice ensures that alt text is systematically included with every image, making your content more accessible and SEO-friendly.
3. Use Alt Text to Provide Context & Keywords for Your Images: Alt text serves a dual purpose. It provides a concise image description, making it accessible to assistive technology users. Simultaneously, it’s an opportunity to include relevant keywords to enhance your website’s search engine optimization. Striking the right balance between descriptive content and keywords can boost your SEO efforts.
4. Avoid Keyword Stuffing Your Alt Text: While using keywords is essential for SEO, overloading alt text with an excessive number of keywords is counterproductive. Keep the text natural and relevant to the image to maintain its intended purpose: making the content understandable to all users.
5. Avoid Using Basic Alt Text Formulas: Instead of generic alt text formulas like “image123,” aim for alt text that conveys the image’s purpose or content. Descriptive and meaningful alt text dramatically improves the user experience, especially for those who rely on it.
6. Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good: While it’s essential to provide precise descriptions, you don’t need to strive for perfection in every instance. Alt text should be practical and functional, conveying the image’s content without becoming overly intricate.
7. Transcribe Words Into Your Alt Text: For images containing text, transcribe the words accurately into the alt text. This ensures that individuals using screen readers can access the textual content within images, improving accessibility and usability.
8. Evolve & Adapt: SEO practices and accessibility guidelines evolve. Stay updated with the latest practices and changes in SEO trends. Adapt your alt text strategies to align with new requirements and user expectations. This process ensures that your website remains accessible and search engine-friendly, contributing positively to your rankings and user experience.

By implementing these strategies, you can improve the accessibility and SEO performance of your website’s images, making them valuable to a broad audience, including those with disabilities, while positively impacting your search engine rankings.

If you still need help with challenges and confusion, consider exploring our monthly SEO packages and allowing our expert team to assist you.