💡 Think of it like this: Image Alt Text is like the label on a product on a supermarket shelf. The clearer and more accurate the label, the easier shoppers — and Google — can find exactly what they’re looking for.
How Image Alt Text Works
Alt text is the HTML attribute that provides a text description of an image. It serves two primary purposes: accessibility (screen readers read alt text aloud to visually impaired users, describing what the image shows) and SEO (search engines like Google cannot “see” images the way humans do — they read alt text to understand what an image contains and how it relates to the surrounding content).
Why Image Alt Text Matters for SEO
In my Nepal SEO work, missing or generic alt text is one of the most frequently encountered on-page issues. I find countless images with alt text like “image1.jpg,” “photo,” or simply no alt text at all — all missed opportunities for both accessibility and search visibility. If you’re unsure how Image Alt Text is impacting your site, working with an experienced SEO consultant can help you identify the problem and fix it efficiently.
Common Image Alt Text Mistakes
Well-written alt text contributes to the topical relevance signals of a page. If you have an image of the Everest Base Camp trek with alt text “nepal-trek.jpg” versus “Hikers ascending the Khumbu Glacier on the Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal,” the second version tells Google much more about both the image and the page’s topical relevance for trekking-related queries.
Do’s and Don’ts: Image Alt Text
Related SEO Terms
TL;DR: Image alt text (alternative text) is an HTML attribute that describes the content of an…
If you remember one thing — focus on how Image Alt Text affects your users first, then optimise for search engines second.
