SEO for Images

Your text is not the only content that can be enhanced by using correct SEO techniques. Images have the capability to have both a Title and an ALT text and you should use both. Images are still content and there will always be a percentage of visitors who land on your website through an image search.

Advisory Titles

When you visit a website and see an image, if you move your mouse and hover over an image the description you see is the Advisory Title. This is a great place to describe your image and use appropriate keywords. If we consider that this image might be a product image you could use the  Advisory Title Text like this: "Grey Cargo Men's Pants - Anti-Crease - Sizes XS-XXL". This way we have used our keywords and concisely described the image without trying to stuff keywords into the description or incorrectly describing the image.

ALT Text

"ALT text" or "Alternative Text"  are primarily used as part of web design accessibility for visually impaired users using screen readers. A screen reader reads out the alternative text attached to the image so that the user can understand what the images is.

ALT text will also be displayed in the case where your image can't be loaded for some reason.

ALT text also gives the search engines a further point of relevance helping them to index both your image and page properly. Search Engines cannot "see"  images on a website page like we can.  It makes it easier for Google to understand the context of the image.

If your H1 tag, your first paragraph and your image tags are all consistent in the subject matter, Google will consider your webpage more relevant. Imagine  having a category listing page with 12 images that have no ALT Text or Advisory Titles? That is 24 different chances to attract website visitors you aren't using.

So what do you include in Advisory Titles and ALT Text?

• Describe the image as accurately as possible for visually impaired users
• Keep it relatively short (125 characters)
• Use your keywords - within your description include a relevant keyword
• DON'T Keyword stuff - it will go against you

How do you add Advisory Titles and ALT Text to your website images?

Within your CMS when you add an image there should be fields for you to add both the Alt Text and Image Title.  They may vary in wording from CMS to CMS and the two fields may be in different locations. Here are some examples;

If you need further help with your website, SEO and online marketing contact me.