We all know the importance of adding images to your website. They support your content, they help people visualize your content, they make your content more appealing, etc. But when adding images to a website, there is another step that is very important and very often overlooked.
Website metadata includes page titles, descriptions, keywords, and more to help search engines crawl and rank web pages. Search engines interpret data and information on website pages to determine how relevant it is to a user's search query. Another type of metadata is alt image tags, which are descriptions of the images on your page.
Accessibility. Alt text is essential for accessibility, as it allows people with visual impairments to understand the content of images on your website. Screen readers can read aloud the alt text, which provides a description of the image so that people who cannot see it can still understand its meaning.
SEO. Alt text can also help with search engine optimization (SEO). When search engines crawl your website, they will read the alt text of your images and use it to understand the content of your pages. This can help your pages rank higher in search results for relevant queries.
User experience. Alt text can also improve the user experience of your website for all users, not just those with visual impairments. If an image fails to load, the alt text will be displayed instead. This will help users understand what the image was supposed to be, even if they can't see it.
Here are some tips for writing good alt text:
Be descriptive. The alt text should be descriptive enough that a user can understand the image without seeing it.
Use keywords. The alt text should include relevant keywords that will help your pages rank higher in search results.
Keep it short. The alt text should be no more than 125 characters long.
Avoid using image file names. The alt text should not simply repeat the image file name.
Since WordPress is the most popular content management system used for website development, I'll focus on that. When you're logged into the WordPress admin, navigate to Media folder, and when you click on an image, you'll see the field for Alternative Text. It's that simple!
Watch the video below for more information about how to add alt image tags to your photos and some best practices.
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