Oct 10 2008
ALT Tags : A picture means a thousand words
…but zero to a search engine!
There are some who argue that it is useless to use alt tags in images from an SEO perspective. But most SEO experts claim that it does make a difference.
Sure, if you cram in 200 keywords in a single image, it will be useless and ignored. But use a few words that are unique, relevant and useful in describing the image will help search engines such as Google understand what its about.
Check out the following video from Google about ALT tags:
A few extra tips I’ve found searching around:
- Use descriptive and unique keywords
- Try and keep the number of words under 15. Do not try and cheat by cramming in as many different keywords as you can.
- Those images that are used as part of navigation/logos/headings/banners are especially important because they directly relate to what your website is about.
- Alt tags are especially important the more you rely on images to portray your site’s message.
- They’re handy for accessiblity to your content. Those people who cannot see your image may use site readers that read to them the alt tag content instead, which is another good reason to keep them descriptive and relevant.
So there you go! Use them! Use them wisely and you’ll definitely improve your site content!
