An alt tag, also known as “alt text” or “alt description,” is an HTML attribute added to an image tag to provide a text alternative for the image. It serves several important purposes:
- Accessibility
Screen readers: Alt text is read aloud by screen readers, which are software programs used by people with visual impairments to access web content. This allows them to understand the content of the image even if they cannot see it. This improves the user experience for everyone, including those with disabilities. - Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines cannot “see” images like humans do. Alt tags provide text descriptions of images, helping search engines understand the content and context of the image, which is crucial for indexing and ranking. - User Experience
If an image fails to load, the alt tag will be displayed in its place, providing users with a description of the image and preventing a broken or confusing experience. - Image SEO
Alt text is a significant factor in image SEO. When you include relevant keywords in your alt tags, your images have a higher chance of appearing in image search results, driving more traffic to your site. - Contextual Relevance: Alt tags help search engines understand the relationship between images and the surrounding text on a page. This improves the overall relevance of your content, leading to better search rankings.
By optimizing your alt tags with relevant keywords and accurate descriptions, you can significantly improve your website’s SEO performance and overall user experience.