```
When Google crawls your website, it reads the alt text to understand your images. Google Images drives significant traffic to websites. Without alt text, your images are invisible to Google.
When a screen reader encounters an image, it reads the alt text aloud. Over 7 million Americans use screen readers. Missing alt text means these visitors skip past your images without understanding your content.
## Why Alt Text Matters for SEO
### Google Images Traffic
Google Images accounts for roughly 20-25% of all Google searches. When your images have descriptive alt text containing relevant keywords, they appear in image search results. Each appearance is a potential visitor to your site.
A bakery with alt text reading "custom three-tier wedding cake with white buttercream frosting" appears when someone searches for wedding cakes in Google Images. A bakery with alt text reading "IMG_4521" does not.
### Contextual Signals
Google uses alt text to understand the content on your page. An image with alt text "emergency plumbing repair under kitchen sink" reinforces the page's topic for Google. This helps the page rank for plumbing-related searches.
Alt text acts like additional content on your page. Every descriptive alt tag gives Google more information about your business, services, and location.
### Accessibility as a Ranking Factor
Google rewards accessible websites. Alt text is a core accessibility requirement. Websites meeting accessibility standards receive a slight ranking advantage over those ignoring them.
Accessibility also reduces legal risk. Lawsuits over inaccessible websites have increased significantly. Alt text is one of the easiest accessibility improvements you make.
## How to Write Good Alt Text
### The Formula
Describe what the image shows in plain language. Include relevant details like location, products, or services when they apply naturally.
**Formula:** [What is in the image] + [relevant context]
### Examples by Business Type
**Restaurant:**
- Bad: "food photo"
- Bad: "IMG_2847.jpg"
- Good: "wood-fired margherita pizza with fresh basil at Giovanni's Italian Kitchen in Portland"
**Dentist:**
- Bad: "dentist"
- Bad: "" (empty)
- Good: "patient smiling after teeth whitening treatment at Bright Dental in Austin Texas"
**Plumber:**
- Bad: "work photo"
- Good: "licensed plumber replacing copper pipes in a residential basement in Denver"
**Real Estate Agent:**
- Bad: "house"
- Good: "three-bedroom colonial home with wraparound porch at 45 Oak Street in Westfield New Jersey"
**Salon:**
- Bad: "hair"
- Good: "balayage highlights on long brown hair styled by Maria at Luxe Salon in Nashville"
**Auto Repair:**
- Bad: "car"
- Good: "mechanic performing brake inspection on a 2022 Toyota Camry at Peak Auto Repair"
**Fitness Studio:**
- Bad: "class"
- Good: "morning yoga class with 12 participants at Balance Fitness Studio in Chicago"
### Rules for Writing Alt Text
**Be specific.** "Dog" is too vague. "Golden retriever puppy sitting in a red dog bed" paints a picture.
**Keep it under 125 characters.** Screen readers cut off alt text at about 125 characters. Stay concise.
**Do not start with "image of" or "picture of."** Screen readers already announce the element as an image. Starting with "image of" is redundant.
**Include keywords naturally.** If the image relates to your services, mention them. Do not force keywords where they do not belong.
**Describe the image, not your opinion.** Write what the image shows, not how great your business is. "Our amazing team" is not alt text. "Five team members standing in front of ABC Plumbing service van" is.
**Use location when relevant.** For local businesses, mentioning your city in alt text reinforces local SEO signals.
## When to Use Empty Alt Text
Some images do not need descriptive alt text. Decorative images adding visual appeal without informational content should use empty alt text:
```
```
Examples of decorative images:
- Horizontal line dividers
- Background textures or patterns
- Purely decorative icons next to text labels
For these images, an empty alt attribute (alt="") tells screen readers to skip the image entirely. This prevents screen readers from announcing "image" without context, which confuses users.
## How to Add Alt Text on Your Platform
### WordPress
Open the Media Library. Click any image. The alt text field appears on the right side. Type your description and click "Save."
For images already on pages, click the image in the page editor. Select the pencil icon (edit). Enter alt text in the "Alternative Text" field.
### Wix
Click the image on your page. Select "Settings" (gear icon). Find the "What's in the image? (Alt Text)" field. Type your description.
### Squarespace
Click the image. Select the pencil icon. Find the "Image Alt Text" field under the "Design" tab. Enter your description.
### Shopify
Go to Products. Click the product. Click the product image. Enter alt text in the "Alt text" field. For content pages, click the image in the editor and fill in the alt text field.
### HTML
Add the alt attribute directly to the img tag:
```
```
## How to Audit Your Existing Alt Text
Most websites have dozens or hundreds of images. Checking each one manually takes time but delivers results.
### Quick Manual Check
Right-click any image on your website. Select "Inspect" (or "Inspect Element"). Look at the HTML for the image tag. Check the alt attribute. If it says alt="" or the alt attribute is missing entirely, the image needs alt text.
### Automated Audit
Free tools scan your entire site for missing alt text:
- **WAVE Web Accessibility Tool (wave.webaim.org):** Highlights images with missing or empty alt text on any page.
- **Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free for up to 500 URLs):** Crawls your site and lists every image with its alt text status.
- **Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools:** Run an accessibility audit to find missing alt text.
### Priority Pages
Start with your most important pages:
1. Homepage
2. Services or products pages
3. About page
4. Top-performing blog posts
5. Location pages
Fix alt text on these pages first, then work through the rest of your site.
## Common Alt Text Mistakes
### Keyword Stuffing
"Plumber Denver plumber services Denver plumbing Denver CO plumber near me" is not alt text. It is spam. Google penalizes keyword-stuffed alt text. Write naturally.
### Using File Names as Alt Text
"DSC_0847.jpg" and "Screenshot 2024-03-15" tell Google and screen readers nothing. Replace file names with descriptive text.
### Leaving All Alt Text Blank
This is the most common mistake. Business owners upload images without touching the alt text field. Every blank alt tag is a missed opportunity.
### Writing Novels
"This is a picture of our head chef Marco who has been cooking Italian food for 30 years and trained in Rome making his famous fresh pasta dish with homemade tomato sauce and fresh basil from our garden out back" is too long. Keep it concise: "Chef Marco preparing fresh pasta with homemade tomato sauce at Trattoria Bella."
### Ignoring Informative Charts and Graphs
If your page includes charts, infographics, or diagrams, the alt text should convey the key information from the visual. "Graph showing 40% increase in website traffic after GBP optimization" is more useful than "graph."
## Alt Text for Social Media
Major social platforms now support alt text:
- **Instagram:** Tap "Advanced Settings" when posting. Select "Write Alt Text."
- **Facebook:** Click the image. Select "Edit" then "Alternative Text."
- **X (Twitter):** After adding an image, click "Add description."
- **LinkedIn:** Click the image. Select "Alt text" in the editor.
Adding alt text on social media helps visually impaired users and improves content discoverability on each platform.
## The Business Impact
Adding alt text to 50 images on your website takes about an hour. The return on this investment:
- Images appearing in Google Image search results
- Stronger page relevance signals for your target keywords
- Better accessibility scores in site audits
- Improved user experience when images fail to load
- Reduced legal risk from accessibility compliance
Few SEO improvements offer this much value for this little effort.
## Check Your Image SEO Score
GradeMyBiz analyzes your website's technical SEO, including image optimization, as part of your full online presence grade.
[Get your free SEO grade at GradeMyBiz](https://grademybiz.vercel.app)
##
For more on this topic, read [How to Get More Google Reviews (Without Being Annoying)](/blog/how-to-get-more-google-reviews).
For more on this topic, read [How to Check Your Business Online Presence in 5 Minutes](/blog/how-to-check-business-online-presence).Start Adding Alt Text Today
Open your website editor. Navigate to your homepage. Click the first image. Write a descriptive alt text. Move to the next image. Repeat.
Set a goal of updating 10 images per day. Within a week, your most important pages will be fully optimized. Within a month, your entire site will have descriptive alt text on every image.
This small effort adds up. Your images start appearing in Google searches. Your site becomes more accessible. Your SEO improves across the board.
[Grade your full online presence for free](https://grademybiz.vercel.app)