Alt text for images: what is it and how to write it correctl

Working with the text content of a site is not limited to key phrases. To get high positions on the search results page, you need to be able to write alt text for images. Most of it remains unnoticed by site visitors. However, this element has a serious impact on the search engine optimization of the resource. Let's talk about it in more detail.

Alt text for images: what is it and how to write it correctly?



Content

What is alt text?

Alt text is an additional 

content writing service  attribute of images and some other multimedia elements of a website. It contains a short description of the image, which gives an idea of ​​its content and significance for the functionality of the page. It is also called an alternative attribute, explanation or alt tag, although the latter term is technically incorrect.



Alt text is written in HTML code or in the settings of the content management system (CMS). It is usually invisible to the user. Most often, this element appears in the interface when the browser cannot load multimedia elements due to a server failure or a low Internet connection.



Alt text is also used as an accessibility and inclusivity tool. It is what the text-to-speech tool reads to describe the image to a visually impaired user. If you have any experience in SEO, you understand that this is a very important factor for search engines.








Why does alt text matter?

One of the common mistakes of a beginner SEO is to forget about alternative text altogether. It seems insignificant, but it can cause serious problems, especially if the site is built around multimedia content. Let's consider the mechanisms of this element's impact on search engine optimization.



Inclusiveness

One of the priorities of modern versions of search engines is equal access to the Internet for everyone. Robots automatically increase the rating of sites adapted for people with disabilities. alt text is one of the key tools of inclusiveness for people with impaired vision. It allows you to get all the necessary information through speech synthesis. So, from here we can make the first conclusion: the alternative description should be brief, but as informative as possible.