{"id":34603,"date":"2020-03-26T19:32:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T00:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=34603"},"modified":"2025-06-23T11:07:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T16:07:16","slug":"alt-text","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/","title":{"rendered":"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\">Alt text (alternative text) describes an image on a web page. It lives in the HTML code and is not usually visible on the page itself.<\/div>\n<p>But what\u2019s so important about alt text? And how can you use it to improve SEO and user experience?<\/p>\n<p>In this guide, you\u2019ll learn:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#why-alt-text-is-important\">Why alt text is important<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-add-alt-text-to-images\">How to add alt text to images<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#should-you-add-alt-text-to-all-images\">Why you shouldn\u2019t add alt text to all images<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-write-good-alt-text\">How to write good alt&nbsp;text<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#alt-text-examples\">Examples of good and bad alt&nbsp;text<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-fix-alt-text\">How to find and fix issues with alt attributes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"hub-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Beginner's guide to on-page SEO\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/svg\/3.svg\"><div class=\"hl-title\">New to on-page SEO? Check out&nbsp;our<\/div><div class=\"hl-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/on-page-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\">Beginner\u2019s guide to on-page SEO<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why is alt text important?\" data-section=\"why-alt-text-is-important\">\n<h2>Why is alt text important?<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Alt text matters for four main reasons.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Improves accessibility<\/li>\n<li>Can improve \u2018topical relevance\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Can help you rank in Google Images<\/li>\n<li>Serves as anchor text for image&nbsp;links<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>1. Alt text improves accessibility<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/visionhealth\/basics\/ced\/fastfacts.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Millions of people<\/a>&nbsp;are visually-impaired, and many use screen readers to consume online content.&nbsp;These work by converting on-screen content, including images, to&nbsp;audio.<\/p>\n<p>Images without alt text cause problems for screen readers because there\u2019s no way to communicate the content of the image to the user. Usually, they skip over these images, or worse, read out long and unhelpful image filenames.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36320\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/00-alt-text.png\" alt width=\"900\" height=\"951\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/00-alt-text.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/00-alt-text-402x425.png 402w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/00-alt-text-768x812.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Google talks about the importance of alt text for users with screen readers in their <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/7451184?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SEO starter guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Alt text can improve \u2018topical relevance\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Google looks at the words on a page to understand what it\u2019s&nbsp;about.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if the page mentions poodles, labradors, and retrievers, then Google knows it\u2019s about dog breeds.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"858\" class=\"wp-image-34598\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/google-words-on-page-1.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/google-words-on-page-1.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/google-words-on-page-1-446x425.png 446w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/google-words-on-page-1-768x732.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>How does this relate to images?<\/p>\n<p>Because sometimes, context is \u2018locked away\u2019 in images that Google can\u2019t&nbsp;read.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34595\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-important-content-1-1.png\" alt><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While Google can almost certain tell that these are images of dogs without alt text, the specific breed may be less obvious\u2014and that\u2019s where alt text comes&nbsp;in.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"932\" class=\"wp-image-34592\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-reveals-important-content-1.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-reveals-important-content-1.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-reveals-important-content-1-410x425.png 410w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-reveals-important-content-1-768x795.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>3. Alt text can help you rank in Google Images<\/h3>\n<p>Google Images is the world\u2019s second-largest search engine. It\u2019s responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/less-than-half-of-google-searches-now-result-in-a-click\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">20.45% of all online searches<\/a>, putting it ahead of YouTube, Bing, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alternative-search-engines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other search engines<\/a>&nbsp;combined.<\/p>\n<p>This means there\u2019s an opportunity to drive traffic&nbsp;from Google Images.<\/p>\n<p>Just look at the number of clicks we\u2019ve had to the Ahrefs Blog from Google Images in the past three months:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"376\" class=\"wp-image-34588\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-search-console-image-clicks-1.png\" alt=\"6,400 clicks from Google Images in the last 3 months\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-search-console-image-clicks-1.png 780w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-search-console-image-clicks-1-680x328.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-search-console-image-clicks-1-768x370.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> This is only a small percentage of our traffic because we\u2019re an SEO blog. People generally don\u2019t search for the information we publish using Image search. It\u2019s a completely different story for those in visual niches like fashion or food where people often find content using image search.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Google\u2019s John Mueller says that alt text is an important part of optimizing for Google Images:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Alt text is extremely helpful for Google Images -- if you want your images to rank there. Even if you use lazy-loading, you know which image will be loaded, so get that information in there as early as possible &amp; test what it renders as.\u2014  John  (@JohnMu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnMu\/status\/1036901608880254976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 4,&nbsp;2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>4. Alt text serves as anchor text for image&nbsp;links<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/anchor-text\/\">Anchor text<\/a>&nbsp;refers to the clickable words&nbsp;that link one webpage to another. Google uses it to understand more about the web page and what it\u2019s&nbsp;about.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"948\" class=\"wp-image-34596\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/links-anchor-text-1.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/links-anchor-text-1.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/links-anchor-text-1-403x425.png 403w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/links-anchor-text-1-768x809.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But not all links are text; some are images.<\/p>\n<p>Google states:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If you do decide to use an image as a link, filling out its <strong>alt text helps Google understand more about the page you\u2019re linking to<\/strong>. Imagine that you\u2019re writing anchor text for a text&nbsp;link.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34622\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-as-anchor-text-1.png\" alt width=\"900\" height=\"997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-as-anchor-text-1.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-as-anchor-text-1-384x425.png 384w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/alt-text-as-anchor-text-1-768x851.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to add alt text to images\" data-section=\"how-to-add-alt-text-to-images\">\n<h2>How to add alt text to images<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Simply add an alt attribute to the <code>&lt;img&gt;<\/code> tag in the HTML&nbsp;code.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Image with an alt&nbsp;tag:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><code>&lt;img src=\u201cpie.jpg\u201d <strong>alt=\u201csteak and ale pie\u201d<\/strong>&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re using a modern CMS, it should be possible to add alt text without having to dig into the HTML&nbsp;code.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in WordPress, there\u2019s a field for alt text when adding an image to a page or&nbsp;post:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1116\" class=\"wp-image-34594\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2-alt-text-wordpress-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2-alt-text-wordpress-1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2-alt-text-wordpress-1-609x425.jpg 609w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2-alt-text-wordpress-1-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2-alt-text-wordpress-1-1536x1071.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>Things are similar in other&nbsp;CMS\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Here are instructions for some of the most popular ones:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.squarespace.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/206542357-Adding-alt-text-to-images\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adding alt text to images in Squarespace<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/help.shopify.com\/en\/manual\/using-themes\/change-the-layout\/accessibility\/adding-alt-text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adding alt text to images in Shopify<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Should you add alt text to all images?\" data-section=\"should-you-add-alt-text-to-all-images\">\n<h2>Should you add alt text to all images?<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>No, this is a common misconception.<\/p>\n<p>If the image exists for decorative purposes and doesn\u2019t carry important information, then there\u2019s no need to add alt&nbsp;text.<\/p>\n<p>For example, some websites have icons to separate content:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"589\" height=\"388\" class=\"wp-image-34593\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/3-icons-1.png\" alt><\/p>\n<p>These are only there to look pretty, so you shouldn\u2019t add alt text. Doing so will only annoy visitors with screen readers, and won\u2019t add any \u201cSEO value\u201d to the&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes for generic or stock images like&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"977\" class=\"wp-image-34599\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/4-stock-image-1.jpg\" alt=\"Stock photo of bath and candle on a plumbers website\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/4-stock-image-1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/4-stock-image-1-680x415.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/4-stock-image-1-768x469.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/4-stock-image-1-1536x938.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>Having alt text that reads \u201cbath and candle\u201d isn\u2019t useful for visually-impaired readers because it\u2019s information they don\u2019t need to know. It would be better to have the screen reader ignore it completely.<\/p>\n<p>But, here\u2019s an important point\u2026<\/p>\n<p>If an image doesn\u2019t require alt text, best practice is to add an empty alt attribute. This is because some screen readers read out filenames in the absence of an alt attribute, whereas most will skip those with empty&nbsp;ones.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what that looks&nbsp;like:<\/p>\n<p><code>&lt;img src=\"spacer.gif\" alt=\"\"&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Learn more in <a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/alttext\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this guide from WebAIM<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to write good alt text\" data-section=\"how-to-write-good-alt-text\">\n<h2>How to write good alt&nbsp;text<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Alt text isn\u2019t rocket science.<\/p>\n<p>Follow these five best practices, and you should be&nbsp;good.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Be concise<\/strong>. Lengthy alt text is annoying for those using screen readers. Use as few words as possible. (Use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3schools.com\/TagS\/att_img_longdesc.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">longdesc attribute<\/a> if a long description is necessary.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be accurate.<\/strong>&nbsp;Focus on describing the&nbsp;image.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid keyword stuffing.<\/strong>&nbsp;This is not a place to shoehorn keywords.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid stating that it\u2019s an image.<\/strong>&nbsp;There\u2019s no need to include \u201cImage of\u2026\u201d or \u201cPicture of\u2026\u201d in descriptions. Both Google and screen readers can work that out for themselves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid redundancy.<\/strong>&nbsp;Don\u2019t repeat information that already exists within the context of the image. For example, if you have a photo of Steve Jobs and the text directly below the image reads \u201cSteve Jobs,\u201d there\u2019s no need to add this description to the alt tag. Google should understand that the caption is effectively the alt&nbsp;text.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You should also remember to add alt text to form buttons. Otherwise, screen readers might pass over them and some visitors won\u2019t be able to interact with your website.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Good and bad alt text examples\" data-section=\"alt-text-examples\">\n<h2>Good and bad alt text examples<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Let\u2019s make sure we understand what works and what doesn\u2019t with a few examples.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"A R \/ CC BY-SA (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0)\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Cheesecake_with_strawberry_and_whipped_cream.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cheesecake.png\" alt=\"strawberry cheesecake with cream\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bad: <\/strong><code>&lt;img src=\u201ccheesecake.png\u201d alt=\u201cpicture of cheesecake\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Okay<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201ccheesecake.png\u201d alt=\u201ccheesecake\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Good<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201ccheesecake.png\u201d alt=\u201cstrawberry cheesecake\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Best<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201ccheesecake.png\u201d alt=\u201cstrawberry cheesecake with cream\u201d&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Matthew Yohe \/ CC BY-SA (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0)\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/steve-jobs.png\" alt=\"apple founder, steve jobs, holding the iphone 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bad<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201csteve-jobs.png\u201d alt=\u201csteve jobs apple iphone ipad mac\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Okay<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201csteve-jobs.png\u201d alt=\u201csteve jobs\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Good<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201csteve-jobs.png\u201d alt=\u201capple founder, steve jobs\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Best<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201csteve-jobs.png\u201d alt=\u201capple founder, steve jobs, holding the iphone 4\u201d&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Zumwalder \/ Public domain\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Orange_AD30HTC_and_PPC412.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/amp.png\" alt=\"orange AD30HTC - 30 watt amplifier\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bad<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201camp.png\u201d alt=\u201cimage4\"&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Okay<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201camp.png\u201d alt=\u201corange amplifier\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Good<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201camp.png\u201d alt=\u201corange amplifier - 30 watts\u201d&gt;<\/code><br>\n<strong>Best<\/strong>: <code>&lt;img src=\u201camp.png\u201d alt=\u201corange AD30HTC - 30 watt amplifier\u201d&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Note the inclusion of the model number in that final example. This is good practice, especially for images on e-commerce product pages.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to find and fix issues with alt attributes\" data-section=\"how-to-fix-alt-text\">\n<h2>How to find and fix issues with alt attributes<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Lots of tools are capable of crawling your site and finding missing alt attributes, including <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs\u2019 Site Audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"793\" class=\"wp-image-34591\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5-sa-alt-tags-1.png\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5-sa-alt-tags-1.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5-sa-alt-tags-1-680x337.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5-sa-alt-tags-1-768x381.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5-sa-alt-tags-1-1536x761.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>But having missing alt text isn\u2019t always an issue because not all images require alt&nbsp;text.<\/p>\n<p>For example, take a look at these missing alt attributes:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"465\" class=\"wp-image-34601\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6-no-alt-text-needed-1.png\" alt=\"Missing alt text on files named icon 1 and icon 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6-no-alt-text-needed-1.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6-no-alt-text-needed-1-680x198.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6-no-alt-text-needed-1-768x223.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/6-no-alt-text-needed-1-1536x446.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear from the filenames that they don\u2019t need alt text. They\u2019re decorative, which means we\u2019d want a screen reader to pass right over&nbsp;them.<\/p>\n<p>So, rather than crawling your site and obsessing over every missing alt attribute (most sites have quite a lot of missing ones), a better idea is to audit and improve alt tags for pages that already get traffic.<\/p>\n<p>There are two reasons for&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>They have visually-impaired readers.<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfb.org\/resources\/blindness-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.4% of US citizens<\/a>&nbsp;have a vision disability. That\u2019s one in roughly every 42 people meaning that on average, if your page gets 10,000 visitors a month, 240 of them can\u2019t consume your content properly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>They could possibly get more traffic. <\/strong>Alt text can help images rank better in Google Images, and that leads to more traffic. Even just&nbsp;a 1% increase to a page with 10,000 monthly visits is an extra 100 visitors.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Here\u2019s the process:<\/p>\n<h3>Step #1. Find your most visited pages from organic search<\/h3>\n<p>Check <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs\u2019 Web Analytics<\/a>:<br>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-189093\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Ahrefs-Web-Analytics-Top-Pages.png\" alt=\"Top pages in Ahrefs' Web Analytics report\" width=\"1425\" height=\"967\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Ahrefs-Web-Analytics-Top-Pages.png 1425w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Ahrefs-Web-Analytics-Top-Pages-626x425.png 626w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Ahrefs-Web-Analytics-Top-Pages-768x521.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1425px) 100vw, 1425px\"><\/p>\n<p>Or the \u201cTop pages\u201d report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs\u2019 Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1506\" height=\"982\" class=\"wp-image-34600\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/7-top-pages-ahrefs-1.png\" alt=\"Top pages by organic traffic in Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/7-top-pages-ahrefs-1.png 1506w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/7-top-pages-ahrefs-1-652x425.png 652w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/7-top-pages-ahrefs-1-768x501.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1506px) 100vw, 1506px\"><\/p>\n<h3>Step #2. Audit your alt attributes<\/h3>\n<p>Install the free <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/alt-text-tester\/koldhcllpbdfcdpfpbldbicbgddglodk?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alt Text Tester Chrome extension<\/a>, load up the page with the most traffic, then activate the extension.<\/p>\n<p>You should see the alt text displayed whenever you roll over an&nbsp;image.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"987\" class=\"wp-image-34602\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/8-alt-text-chrome-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/8-alt-text-chrome-1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/8-alt-text-chrome-1-680x419.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/8-alt-text-chrome-1-768x474.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/8-alt-text-chrome-1-1536x948.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>If the alt attribute is missing, you\u2019ll see a warning.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"820\" height=\"554\" class=\"wp-image-34589\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/9-alt-text-missing-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/9-alt-text-missing-1.jpg 820w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/9-alt-text-missing-1-629x425.jpg 629w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/9-alt-text-missing-1-768x519.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px\"><\/p>\n<p>Check the alt text for a few images on the page. You\u2019ll soon get a feel for whether they\u2019re optimized well, poorly, or not at&nbsp;all.<\/p>\n<p>For example, it only takes a few seconds of scrolling this post to see that all of the images are well-optimized\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34609\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/well-optimized-alt-tags.gif\" alt=\"Example of well-optimized alt text\" width=\"1010\" height=\"744\"><\/p>\n<p>\u2026 whereas the same isn\u2019t true for this page on The Mirror:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-34611\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/poorly-optimized-alt-tags.gif\" alt=\"Example of images with poorly-optimized alt text\" width=\"1117\" height=\"850\"><\/p>\n<h3>Step #3. Repeat for more&nbsp;pages<\/h3>\n<p>Repeat this process for the most visited pages on your website. This should give you a sense of whether your alt text optimization is sound or needs&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n<p>Because most websites get the bulk of their traffic to just a handful of pages, this shouldn\u2019t take too&nbsp;long.<\/p>\n<p>For example, just ten posts on the Ahrefs blog account for 51% of monthly organic traffic\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1518\" height=\"947\" class=\"wp-image-34586\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10-pages-with-most-traffic-1.png\" alt=\"Top 10 pages by organic traffic in Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10-pages-with-most-traffic-1.png 1518w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10-pages-with-most-traffic-1-680x425.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10-pages-with-most-traffic-1-768x479.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1518px) 100vw, 1518px\"><\/p>\n<p>\u2026 so we can easily audit and optimize alt text for most of our high-traffic pages in minutes.<\/p>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Optimizing alt text is important, but it\u2019s not the be-and-end-all of image SEO. You should also optimize filenames, serve responsive images, consider lazy loading, and much&nbsp;more.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/image-seo\/\">our list of 12 actionable image SEO tips<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But what\u2019s so important about alt text? And how can you use it to improve SEO and user experience? In this guide, you\u2019ll learn: Why alt text is important How to add alt text to images Why you shouldn\u2019t add<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":34615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[413],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-34603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-page-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alt text (alternative text) describes an image on a web page. It lives in the HTML code and isn&#039;t visible on the page itself, but it is important for SEO.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn why alt attributes are important and how to write good ones.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Hardwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn why alt attributes are important and how to write good ones.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JoshuaCHardwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joshua Hardwick\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6a89cbde8e750d22996aa26e213e712\"},\"headline\":\"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1697,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/fb-alt-text.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"On-Page SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/\",\"name\":\"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/fb-alt-text.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Alt text (alternative text) describes an image on a web page. It lives in the HTML code and isn't visible on the page itself, but it is important for SEO.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/alt-text\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/fb-alt-text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/fb-alt-text.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":990},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\",\"description\":\"Link Building Strategies &amp; SEO Tips\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ahrefs\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/ahrefs-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/ahrefs-logo.png\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"Ahrefs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Ahrefs\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ahrefs\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/ahrefs\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/ahrefscom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6a89cbde8e750d22996aa26e213e712\",\"name\":\"Joshua Hardwick\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/meme.jpg109e89523fcea81015d3cc08c79f9036\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/meme.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/meme.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Joshua Hardwick\"},\"description\":\"Head of Content @ Ahrefs (or, in plain English, I'm the guy responsible for ensuring that every blog post we publish is EPIC).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/JoshuaCHardwick\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/joshua-hardwick\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images","description":"Alt text (alternative text) describes an image on a web page. It lives in the HTML code and isn't visible on the page itself, but it is important for SEO.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images","og_description":"Learn why alt attributes are important and how to write good ones.","og_url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/","og_site_name":"SEO Blog by Ahrefs","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/","article_published_time":"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":990,"url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Joshua Hardwick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_description":"Learn why alt attributes are important and how to write good ones.","twitter_creator":"@JoshuaCHardwick","twitter_site":"@ahrefs","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/"},"author":{"name":"Joshua Hardwick","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6a89cbde8e750d22996aa26e213e712"},"headline":"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images","datePublished":"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/"},"wordCount":1697,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png","articleSection":["On-Page SEO"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/","name":"Alt Text for SEO: How to Optimize Your Images","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png","datePublished":"2020-03-27T00:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-23T16:07:16+00:00","description":"Alt text (alternative text) describes an image on a web page. It lives in the HTML code and isn't visible on the page itself, but it is important for SEO.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/alt-text\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/fb-alt-text.png","width":1920,"height":990},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/","name":"SEO Blog by Ahrefs","description":"Link Building Strategies &amp; SEO Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Ahrefs","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/ahrefs-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/ahrefs-logo.png","width":2048,"height":768,"caption":"Ahrefs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ahrefs","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ahrefs\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/ahrefscom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e6a89cbde8e750d22996aa26e213e712","name":"Joshua Hardwick","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/meme.jpg109e89523fcea81015d3cc08c79f9036","url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/meme.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/meme.jpg","caption":"Joshua Hardwick"},"description":"Head of Content @ Ahrefs (or, in plain English, I'm the guy responsible for ensuring that every blog post we publish is EPIC).","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/JoshuaCHardwick"],"url":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/author\/joshua-hardwick\/"}]}},"as_json":null,"json_reviewers":[142],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34603"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=34603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}