Alt Attribute

What Is the Alt Attribute?

Especially in e-commerce, good alt text management is an underrated SEO lever: images ranking better in Google Image Search bring additional traffic. Describe concretely what is shown in the image — for example “English Bulldog sitting on a green lawn” rather than just “image”. Keywords are allowed, but must sound natural. For infographics and product images, the alt attribute is especially valuable since search engines have limited ability to understand image content without it.

The alt attribute (alternative text) is the alternative text you define for every image in HTML. This text is displayed when the image cannot be loaded, and is read aloud by screen reader technology — which is why it is central to accessibility. In the SEO context, the alt attribute is also a signal for Google about what the image contains, especially for Google Image Search. A well-formulated alt attribute helps Google correctly classify images and display them for relevant queries.

Technically, the alt attribute is an HTML element within the IMG tag: <img src="photo.jpg" alt="English Bulldog sitting on a green lawn">. Google uses this text to index images for queries and also as a ranking factor in image search. If no alt text is present, Google can understand the image through visual analysis, but depends on additional contextual information. A meaningful alt text makes images immediately understandable to search engines. This is especially valuable for infographics or charts.

In practice, alt texts should be concise — not too short (at least 5–10 words), but not bloated either. Describe what you see in the image without exaggerating: instead of “image” write “English Bulldog sitting on a green lawn”. If your image shows a product, include relevant details (color, size, material). Alt texts with keywords are allowed but must appear natural — keyword stuffing leads nowhere. Especially for e-commerce and product images, good alt text management is a significant SEO lever: images ranking better in Google Image Search mean more traffic.