Alt Tags or Alt Text (alternative text) are HTML tags that allow you to describe an image on a page.
Here’s an example of an Alt Tag when used in an HTML code:
<img src="office.jpg" alt="employees working on their office computers">
Website owners use Alt Tags for different purposes, such as:
- To help visually impaired users to understand the image on the page.
- To display the description in place of an image if it fails to load.
- To help search engines better understand the image and index it accordingly.
Using Alt Tags for SEO
Website owners apply Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practices to their website to make it visible on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Search engines work by crawling and indexing web pages for relevant keywords, and then displaying the most to the least relevant results on SERPs.
Search engines don’t crawl and index text content alone. They also include all images found on web pages.
Alt Tags help search engines to interpret these images correctly by providing an accurate description. Photos with properly formatted Alt Text are more likely to get indexed and ranked for specific keywords.
Here are some of the best SEO practices on adding Alt Tags that you can follow:
- Describe the photo as precisely as possible.
- Keep it short. Search engines are more likely to index shorter Alt Tags.
- Include your target keyword/s in your Alt Tag, as necessary.
- Don’t stuff keywords in a single Alt Tag.
While search engines have found a way to interpret images, Alt Tags gives them a better, more human image context.
You can learn more about keyword ranking through the following guides:
Adding Alt Text in Sitebeat
Sitebeat allows you to add Alt Tags to your website images without using an HTML code. Follow these simple steps:
- Log In to access the Sitebeat dashboard.
- Under My Sites, click the Edit Site option on the website that you wish to manage.
- Click on an existing photo on your website to display the editing options above it, and then click the [>] Arrow Icon to view all options.
- Click on the Alt Text Icon.
- Enter your Alt Title and Description with your desired keyword in the field provided.
Note: If you want to edit a new site, you have to unpublish the current website and make your new site as your primary website.
Under My Sites, click the [...] Ellipsis Icon on the top-right corner of the website to unpublish the current site. Click Unpublish Site, and then click Yes, Unpublish to confirm.
Under My Domains, click the [...] Ellipsis Icon of the website that you want to replace as your primary website, then click Replace Primary. In the pop-up window, select the domain of the new website in the New Primary Domain list, then click Replace Primary. You can also click the Domains tab under My Sites to perform the necessary steps mentioned.
You can now edit the new site that you wish to manage.
Learn more about how to boost SEO for your website through the following guides:
