SEO & Alt Text: When to Optimize for Search (and When Not To)
Are you sabotaging your image SEO by trying to get every picture to rank?
If you've ever found yourself wondering how to get your website's images to show up in Google Search, you're not alone. Many website owners, bloggers, and marketers mistakenly believe that keyword stuffing alt text is the secret sauce. But what if we told you that approach could actually hurt your rankings and, more importantly, alienate a significant portion of your audience?
This post isn't about how to write good alt text – you can learn How to Write Good Alt Text and Image Descriptions here. Instead, we're diving deep into the strategic side: when it makes sense to optimize your alt text for search, when it absolutely doesn't, and how to avoid common pitfalls that can damage your user experience and search rankings.
Let's clear up the confusion and set your alt text strategy straight!
The True Purpose of Alt Text: Accessibility First, SEO Second
Before we talk about SEO, it's crucial to understand the foundational role of alt text (also known as alt attributes or alternative text).
What is Alt Text?
Alt text is a short, descriptive phrase added to images in ALL digital content – websites, PDFs, social posts, Word docs, etc. It is not visible unless an image doesn’t load and looks something like this on the backend:
HTML
<img src="your-image.jpg" alt="Your descriptive alt text here">
Why is Alt Text So Important?
1. Digital Accessibility: This is the primary reason alt text exists.
For Screen Readers: Visually impaired users rely on screen reader software, which reads aloud the alt text to describe what's in an image. Without it, they'd have no context for visual content.
Context When Images Don't Load: If an image fails to load due to a broken link, slow internet, or browser issues, the alt text appears in its place, providing a text description of the image content.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engine crawlers (like Google bots) cannot "see" images. They rely on alt text (along with file names, surrounding text, and image captions) to understand the content and context of an image. This understanding can help your images rank in image search results and contribute to the overall SEO of your page.
The critical takeaway
When you write good, descriptive alt text for accessibility, you often naturally include relevant keywords that also help SEO. The problem arises when SEO becomes the sole driver, leading to harmful practices.
When to Strategically Use SEO in Alt Text (and How)
Not all images are created equal when it comes to their SEO potential. For some industries and content types, image search is a goldmine.
When Visuals Drive Search: The "Food Blogger" Principle
Consider a food blogger. When someone searches for "easy homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe," they are likely looking for appealing visuals of delicious cookies, alongside the recipe. In this scenario, images are integral to the search experience.
Industries Where Image SEO Matters Most:
Food & Recipes: People want to see the dish!
Fashion & Apparel: Visuals are key to understanding products.
Travel & Destinations: Showcasing stunning landscapes and experiences.
Interior Design & Home Decor: Inspiring visual ideas for spaces.
Product Photography (E-commerce): Essential for online shopping.
Art & Photography Portfolios: The images are the content.
How to Do SEO-Friendly Alt Text the Right Way
For images where visual search is relevant, integrate keywords naturally within a descriptive phrase.
Good Example (Food Blog)
Image: A plate of warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk.
Alt Text: alt="Warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on a plate with a glass of milk, a classic easy cookie recipe"
Why it works: It accurately describes the image for accessibility and includes relevant keywords like "chocolate chip cookies," "easy cookie recipe," and "freshly baked" that users might search for.
When NOT to Focus on SEO in Alt Text (and Why it's Harmful)
Now, let's talk about the common misconception that every image needs heavy SEO optimization. This couldn't be further from the truth.
When Visuals Don't Drive Search : The "Dentist" Dilemma
Imagine you're searching for a dentist in your area. Are you sifting through images of dental chairs, waiting rooms, or smiling dentists? Probably not. You're looking for contact information, services offered, patient reviews, and location.
For industries where the core service isn't visual, images primarily serve an illustrative or aesthetic purpose. Trying to stuff alt text on these images with keywords is ineffective and detrimental.
Industries Where Image SEO is Less Critical (for Ranking):
Legal Services: People search for legal advice, not images of law books.
Accounting & Financial Services: Text-based information is paramount.
General Medical Practices: Patients seek trusted doctors, not images of waiting rooms.
B2B SaaS (unless showcasing UI/UX): Focus is on features, benefits, and case studies.
Technical Blogging: Diagrams illustrate concepts; they aren't usually search targets themselves.
The Harmful Effects of Misguided Alt Text SEO:
Keyword Stuffing Penalties: Google's algorithms are smart. They can detect unnatural keyword stuffing, which can lead to your page being penalized or simply ignored for relevant search queries.
Poor User Experience for Screen Reader Users: Imagine a screen reader landing on an image and hearing "dentist, local dentist, best dentist, cheap dentist, dentist near me, dental office, teeth cleaning, root canal, dental implants," for a simple picture of a clinic waiting room. It's frustrating, nonsensical, and makes your content inaccessible.
Wasted Effort: You're spending valuable time on something that won't move the needle for your specific SEO goals. Your efforts are better spent on other ranking factors like high-quality content, relevant backlinks, and site speed.
Decorative Images: The "Empty Alt" Rule
Many images on your site serve a purely decorative purpose. They add visual appeal but don't convey essential information.
Some Examples Include:
Background images
Social media icons
Purely aesthetic dividers
Generic stock photos used as visual breaks
How to Handle Them
For decorative images, the alt text should be empty (alt="") or marked alt=”null” depending on what platform your content is on. This tells screen readers to skip them entirely, preventing unnecessary clutter and improving the user experience for those relying on assistive technologies.
The BIG Mistake
Stuffing decorative images with keywords is the ultimate misuse of alt text. It's harmful to accessibility and provides absolutely zero SEO benefit.
Common Mistakes to Avoid: The "Wrong Ways" to Do Alt Text
Let's look at some examples of what not to do.
#1 Keyword Stuffing: The Cardinal Sin
This is the most common and damaging mistake.
Bad Example
Image: dentist-office
Alt Text: dentist, local dentist, best dentist, cheap dentist, dentist near me, dental office, teeth cleaning, root canal, dental implants
Why it's bad: It's unreadable for screen readers, provides no real description of the image, and screams "spam" to search engines.
#2 Generic Alt Text
This provides no value to users or search engines.
Bad Example
Image: A mountain-landscape
Alt Text: image
Why it's bad: Tells us nothing about the beautiful mountain landscape!
#3 Missing Alt Text
Leaving the alt attribute out entirely for meaningful images.
Bad Example
Image: Product-photo
Alt Text: no alt attribute
Why it's bad: The image is completely inaccessible so customers don’t know what they are possibly buying, and search engines have no clue what the product is.
#4 Repeating Information
Using the same alt text for multiple distinct images.
Bad Example
If every image on a "products" page just has alt="product".
Why it's bad: Fails to differentiate products for users and search engines.
How to Think About Alt Text for Your Website: Alt Text Decision Tree
To make this super easy, here's a quick flowchart to guide your alt text decisions:
Step 1: Is this image essential for understanding the content?
YES: It conveys important information (e.g., a chart, a product, a photo demonstrating a step).
Action: It needs descriptive alt text. Proceed to Step 2.
NO (it's purely decorative): It just adds visual flair without conveying meaning (e.g., a background pattern, a line break image, a generic stock photo that could be removed without losing context).
Action: Set the alt text to empty: alt="" or alt=”null”.
Result: Screen readers will skip it, improving user experience. Search engines won't try to rank it. Stop here.
Step 2: Would someone search for this image visually, or is the image itself a key search result in your industry?
YES (e.g., a food photo, a fashion item, a travel destination, a specific product): Your audience will likely use image search to find content like yours.
Action: Write descriptive alt text that accurately explains the image and naturally integrates relevant keywords.
Result: Improved accessibility and strong potential for ranking in image search and contributing to overall page SEO.
NO (e.g., a dentist's waiting room, a law office, a generic headshot for a "team" page, an illustrative diagram in a technical article). Your audience isn't typically searching for images of these things.
Action: Focus only on accurate, descriptive alt text for accessibility. Do NOT stuff with keywords.
Result: Excellent accessibility for all users, and you avoid penalties while focusing your SEO efforts where they truly matter.
What to Remember
Mastering alt text is a tricky but powerful way to boost both your digital accessibility and your SEO. Not every image needs alt text or will have your keywords in it – AND THAT’S OKAY! By understanding when and when not to focus on keywords, you create a more inclusive web experience and tell search engines exactly what they need to know, without resorting to spammy tactics.
Take some time to review your most recent blog post or best or worst performing pages on your website. Do you have proper alt text established? Or have you been keyword stuffing because you thought that was the right thing to do? Now is the perfect time to fix it to continue to grow an inclusive brand.
Ready to dive deeper into writing perfect alt text? Check out our comprehensive guide: How to Write Good Alt Text and Image Descriptions.
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