Improve Both SEO & Accessibility by Adding “Alt Text” to Your Images
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and web accessibility go hand in hand.
By adding something called “alt-text” to you images, you can improve both your rankings and the inclusivity of your website for those with certain disabilites.
“Alt-text sounds technical. What is it?”
It's actually very simple. It’s just a short bit of text on each photo on your website.
“What does alt-text actually do?”
If someone with low vision or blindness, for example, is visiting your website using a screen reader the alt-text will describe the image for the visitor so they don't miss out on experiencing your website!
“Ok, but how does alt text help with SEO?”
Search engines scan your website looking for information so that they can “serve” it to people who are searching for things.
As of now, search engines can't “read” an image unless there is alt-text that describes the image.
So alt-text is a way to give a search engine more information about what your site is all about.
Just remember not to “keyword stuff” (see below).
Best Practices for Alt-Text
Be descriptive. How would you explain this image to someone who couldn't see it?
Be concise. 125 characters or about 12 words or fewer.
It doesn't need to include the words like "photo of" (because the device will indicate to the user that it's a photo)
Write in regular sentences, you don't need to separate words with hyphens
If the image is functional describe what it does (for example if the image has a link that goes to another page)
If the image is decorative then it does not need alt-text
Do not put keywords in your alt text that don't describe the image. This is called “keyword stuffing” Not only is that really unfair for a person using an assistive device, Google can catch on and it can work against you.
“How do you add alt-text to an image in Squarespace?”
Here’s a video that shows you how!
Need a transcript of the video? You can find it here!
How to easily check if you have any missing alt-text on your images in Squarespace.
I recommend SEOSpace which is the only SEO tool made just for Squarespace. It’s simple to use and it will scan either just a single page or your whole site if you like and let you know if you’re missing any alt-text (and that is just one of the essential SEO checks it will do for you!).
Want to learn more about how to improve both your SEO and your website’s accessibility?
Check out this post
