What is image ALT text and how do I use it?

A blind man looking at a photograph
A blind man looking at a photograph

Describe your images carefully

Alt text (also known as alternative text), is a short description of an image that is used in WordPress to make it easier for search engines to understand what the image is about. It is also used to provide additional information to visually impaired users who use screen readers to access web content.

Alt text is important for both SEO and accessibility. Search engines use it to understand what the image is about, which can help them rank your page higher in the search results. For accessibility, the alt text helps those who are visually impaired to understand what the image is about.

Adding alt text to images in WordPress is quite simple. When you upload an image to WordPress, you’ll see a field called “Alternative Text”. This is where you can enter the alt text for your image. It’s important to make sure that the alt text is descriptive and relevant to the image.

When writing alt text, make sure to include the main keywords for the page. This will help search engines understand what the page is about and may help you rank higher in the search results.

Alt text should also be succinct and to the point.

Keep it short, but make sure to include the main keywords.

In addition to alt text, you can also add captions and titles to images in WordPress. Captions are the text that will appear below the image, while titles are the text that will appear when the image is hovered over. Both of these can be used to provide additional context and information about the image, which can help improve the user experience.

Alt text also helps search engines understand what the image is about, which can help with SEO. It also helps visually impaired users understand what the image is about, which helps with accessibility.

Make sure to add descriptive and relevant alt text to all of your images in WordPress to get the most out of your website.