Are you missing out on an incredible way to optimize your website and rise in the search results? If you’re not optimizing your images and creating descriptive, keyword rich alt image tags; then you are. This is one area that tends to be ignored by websites and it should be a priority; not only for search engine optimization (SEO) reasons but for the visually impaired also.
Let’s quickly touch on the visually impaired. Have you considered how the value of an image on a website can be completely lost on people with vision problems? But the technology that helps them use the internet and read content will also read your alt attribute/image tags to them and at least let them know that an image exists, what the image is and that helps them tie together the importance of the image. Not only are you making your website more user-friendly to the people with vision concerns, you’re also showing that you care and are accommodating. For that reason alone you should be using image tags.
Of course, your SEO will also benefit from the use of image tags. Search engine spiders or bots cannot read images, they read words. By attaching well crafted tags to your images, the images then gain value to these search engine tools and give your page a boost in the rankings.
Image tags are not captions. I could repeat myself, but instead, just read that sentence again. Captions are typically read with the content and can be very important so they shouldn’t be ignored, but they are not the same as image tags. Hover your cursor over an image and you’ll see the image tag (if the website uses one). The image tag should describe the image by using keywords and, when well crafted, it should plug your website a little bit.
To be clear: keyword stuffing is bad – don’t do it. Instead, use well thought out keywords that relate to searches and the information on the webpage. Example: Let’s say you’re insurance company and you have an image of a happy, young family on your life insurance page. Your image tag may read: Happy Family with Brand X Life Insurance. Look at how you got your company name in there, the product you’re selling and a description of the image without coming across as spammy or stuffed with keywords.
Creating alt attribute image tags for your website can be time consuming, especially if you use a lot of images; but it’s a great SEO tool and can help you build an audience, rise in search results and it’s very useful for the visually impaired.
