As an aspiring blogger, knowing the ins and outs of images alts is vital. It’s not a step you want to skip or even take lightly. In fact, neglecting your image alts could be a main reason organic traffic is passing you by. When you are consistent with your image alts and use them properly, you can boost the searchability of your blog, products, and services. We’ll fill you in on what image alts are and how they can greatly impact your SEO and blogging success.
What are Image Alts?
Image alts, alt tags, or alt text, are the written text you enter that describe your images in a brief, yet detailed way. Having image alts are vital in case your site images ever fail to load.
Image alts play several roles, including providing critical information meant to support screen-reading tools for the visually impaired. When implemented correctly, alt text helps search engines understand what your images are as they crawl and rank your blog.
Understanding Image Alts vs. Image Titles
It’s important to note the difference between alts and titles for your images. Unfortunately, many bloggers and website owners make the common mistake of utilizing the image title area, while neglecting the image text area.
If you choose to use titles, your title should be relevant your image alts. However, they aren’t the most critical aspect because image titles won’t give you any SEO boosting points. Image titles aren’t a part of the search ranking process, while images alts are vital.
How Do Image Alts Affect My Website’s SEO?
Utilizing relevant images and proper image alts can give a significant boost to your on-page SEO efforts. Using alt text will increase your blog’s chances of appearing in image searches, while increasing your site’s opportunities for higher page rankings.
When you take the time to understand alt tags, you ensure you provide Google with the information it’s seeking on your site. When search engines, like Google, understand what your images are all about, why they are relevant to your content, and the importance of their use, you boost your chances of organic discovery.
Developing Effective Image Alts
Resist the urge to keyword stuff your image alts. It’s a big no-no and search engines may penalize you for it. It’s important to be purposeful with all of your image descriptions, putting your efforts and focus on context.
The best way to craft your image tags is to visualize the image in your mind. If it were to have issues loading, how would you describe what should be in it’s placeholder? The role of the image alt is to help search engines “see” the image you’ve chosen to share on your site.
Be sure to use descriptive words to help search engines soak up as much detail as possible, without being lengthy. For instance, instead of using “girl in field,” try “blonde girl in blue dress sitting in field of daisies.” Can you visualize the difference?
Top Tips for Using Image Alts
When you follow best practices for your image alts, you can reap the benefits of increase organic traffic. Here are some top tips for using image alts correctly:
- Your descriptions should offer search engine crawlers a clear understanding of your image and why it relates to your blog content.
- Remove unnecessary words, including “this is an image of…”
- Keep image text under one hundred twenty-five characters.
- NO keyword stuffing.
- Don’t forget your blog’s logos and other images you may be using as buttons or ads.
Follow these top tips and you’ll have your blog images optimized for success!
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