Alt text meaning in English

Alt text

What is alt text?

Alt text (alternative text) is a word or phrase that can be added to an image element in HTML, used to describe the image to users and search engines.

Example

Below is an example of alt text for an image of a red dictionary inside an <img> tag.

<img src="/dictionary.jpg" alt="Red dictionary" />Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Why is alt text important for SEO?

Alt text is used by search engines to understand what an image is about, which help them decide what to rank a resource/image for.

Alt text can potentially help a resource appear for new search terms in both organic search and image search.

Images may also appear directly in search results on both desktop and mobile.

Accessibility

As well as benefiting SEO, providing descriptive alt text for images is also very important for accessibility purposes.

This is because Alt text is usually read via screen-readers, providing context to users which may not otherwise be able to see the images on a page.

Image sitemaps

References

Citation URL

https://www.searchcandy.uk/seo/seo-glossary/alt-text/

Last modified: 11th Feb, 2023 Created: 3rd Oct, 2021 By: Colin McDermott

What is this content?

This article is part of an SEO glossary and reference guide created by Search Candy - an SEO consultancy based in the UK. The Search Candy team is committed to providing content that adheres to the highest editorial standards. The date this article was created and last checked for accuracy is posted above. To reuse this content please get in touch via our contact form.