Alt text
Also called Alt attribute, Alt tag, Image description.
Alt text is a short written description of an image, stored in the image's alt attribute. Screen readers read it aloud to people who can't see the image, and search engines use it to understand what the image shows. Good alt text describes the image in plain words, in the context of the page.
Doug's Field Guide · Updated
Why does alt text matter?
First, people. Someone using a screen reader hears your alt text instead of seeing the photo. A photo with no alt text is either skipped or read out as a file name like 'IMG_4471.jpg'. Alt text is part of the W3C's accessibility guidance for that reason.
Second, search. Google says it uses alt text, along with the page content, to understand images, and that it helps images show up in Google Images. For a local business that means your job photos, before and after shots and team pictures can be found by what they show.
Third, the link case. If an image is a link, like a logo that goes to your home page, its alt text works like the link text. An image link with no alt text is a link with no words.
How do you write good alt text?
Describe what is in the picture, in one short sentence, as you would to someone on the phone. Mention the place or service when it is true and useful. Skip 'image of' or 'photo of' at the start, since screen readers already say it is an image.
- Weak: alt="plumber plumbing Round Rock plumber near me best plumber". Google calls this keyword stuffing and says it can make a site look like spam.
- Weak: alt="image1" or no alt at all.
- Good: alt="New 50 gallon water heater installed in a garage in Round Rock".
- Good: alt="Dr. Patel with a patient in exam room 2".
- Purely decorative images, like a background swirl, get an empty alt (alt="") so screen readers skip them, as the W3C recommends.
Caption your best photos
- Open your home page and your top service page and list every image on them.
- For each job or team photo, write one sentence saying what it shows and where, if true.
- Set that sentence as the image's alt text in your site builder's image settings.
- Mark purely decorative images as decorative, or give them an empty alt, so screen readers skip them.
- Rename new photo files before uploading, like water-heater-install-round-rock.jpg instead of IMG_4471.jpg.
Common mistakes
- Stuffing alt text with keywords and town names, which Google warns can make a site look like spam.
- Writing 'image of' or 'picture of' before every description, which screen readers already announce.
- Leaving the logo link with no alt text, so the most clicked link on the site has no words.
How Doug does it
Doug's weekly site health check flags images with no alt text, page by page, so you or your web person know exactly which ones to fix. Pages Doug drafts and publishes go out with alt text on their images.
Keep exploring
- Page speed and Core Web VitalsHow fast your page loads, reacts to taps, and holds still while it loads.
- Internal linksLinks from one page on your site to another, with words that say where they go.
- Google Business ProfileYour free listing on Google Search and Maps, and the first thing a local customer sees.
- The fix queueEach week's findings become drafted fixes you can publish, apply, or dismiss.
Sources
Written by Doug's team from these sources and our own work with local businesses. Search engines change their rules, so check the source before a big decision.
