The Role of Alt Text in On-Page SEO
Alt text (alternative text) is a small yet powerful element in SEO that many beginners overlook. It serves two major purposes: helping search engines understand your images and making your website more accessible to visually impaired users. When used correctly, it can boost both your page relevance and user experience — two critical factors in modern SEO.
🖼️ What Is Alt Text?
Alt text is a description you add to images in your HTML code. Its main job is to describe the content of an image in case it can't be viewed by a visitor. It looks like this in code:
If the image doesn't load, the alt text will appear instead. Screen readers also use this text to help visually impaired users understand what the image is about.
🚀 Why Alt Text Matters in On-Page SEO
1. Improves Image SEO
Search engines can’t "see" images. They rely on alt text to understand what the image is about. This helps your image rank in Google Images, which can drive more traffic to your website.
2. Boosts Page Relevance
Relevant and descriptive alt text improves the context of your content. It supports your keywords and shows search engines that your page is well-structured.
3. Enhances Accessibility
Alt text helps screen readers describe images to users who cannot see them. This is essential for making your site accessible and compliant with accessibility standards (like WCAG).
4. Supports Better User Experience
A good alt tag provides clarity, especially if an image fails to load due to slow connections.
✅ Best Practices for Writing Alt Text
Be descriptive: Explain the image clearly.
Keep it short and focused (125 characters or less).
Include keywords naturally, but don’t stuff them.
Avoid saying “image of” or “picture of” — just describe it.
Write for humans, not bots.
❌ Common Mistakes to Avoid
Leaving alt text blank (unless the image is purely decorative).
Stuffing keywords unnaturally.
Writing vague descriptions like “image1” or “photo123”.
Duplicating the same alt text for every image.
🛠 Tools to Help You Optimize Alt Text
WordPress SEO Plugins (Yoast, Rank Math)
Screaming Frog SEO Spider (to audit alt tags)
Browser Extensions like WAVE (for accessibility checks)
📌 Final Thoughts
Alt text may be a small part of your HTML, but it carries a big impact in your On-Page SEO strategy. From improving image visibility in search engines to making your site more user-friendly, writing effective alt descriptions should always be a part of your content publishing routine.
SEO Tip: Treat your images like valuable content. Describe them with purpose, and they’ll work harder for your rankings.