Image Alt Tags
Alt Tags are used whenever you have
an image in your site that is important to the
overall message of your site. An Alt tag is a
specially coded bit of text that tells the browser
to show that text if the image is not displayed. Alt
tags can also help people with visual impairment to
navigate a site better.Some
search engines read alt tags, but even without that,
they are a good thing to do, because they help
people to understand what your site is about if the
image does not show up - this can happen more than
you think!
Look this up in your HTML editor
program, since there is usually a simple way to put
in an alt tag. Usually you click on the image, then
choose Image Properties from a menu, or right click
on the image and choose properties, or something
like that.
If you can't find a shortcut, then
this is what an alt tag looks like:
<img src="images/header.gif"
width="900" height="150" border="0" alt="Simple
Effective SEO">
The bolded part is the part that
ads the alt text. Your image code will show a
different filename, and it might or might not have
width and height attributes. It might have other
things too, if you have aligned it or used other
formatting tags. Just ad the alt tag at the end,
before the ">" symbol, and be sure to leave a space
between the last attribute and the alt tag. Don't
add any extra spaces elsewhere, it can make it not
work right.
A good alt tag will provide a
concise description of the image, or the text on the
image. It should be short, and meaningful. No more
than a sentence, and use just 2-3 keywords in it,
maximum.
There are three times when alt
tags are important to your site:
1. When the image provides a
significant portion of the message of the site. If
you have a large graphic with a lot of impact,
you'll want to put an alt tag so that if the image
does not show up, you still get the message across.
2. Alt tags are especially
important when you have a site that has text on a
graphic - like a header. You can read that as text,
but to a search engine, or to someone whose browser
is misbehaving, it is just an image, and has nothing
readable.
3. The other time when alt tags
are pretty much essential is when you have links
that use an image for the link. Remember, a picture
of text is NOT text. So put in an alt tag so the
search engine can see what the link is about. This
will also prove VERY helpful for people when your
images fail to load, because otherwise they have no
way of figuring out how to get around in your site!
Alt tags are also not a miracle
fix, they are simply an easy thing to do to fine
tune your site. They aren't going to make a HUGE
difference, but they can provide benefits other than
just SEO benefits, so they are worth doing.
Do not use Alt tags that are too
long. Long and rambly alt tags are considered spammy
by the search engines, and can cause you problems -
and nobody is going to read them either!
Do not use Alt tags that are
misleading either, and do not pack them with keyword
lists. Alt tags should read easily, as though they
are explaining to a person. Putting keyword lists in
them is a major no-no, and can be viewed as black
hat seo.
Treat them in the same way as you
should treat a title tag or a description metatag.
Some search engines read alt tags, but even without that, they are a good thing to do, because they help people to understand what your site is about if the image does not show up - this can happen more than you think!
Look this up in your HTML editor program, since there is usually a simple way to put in an alt tag. Usually you click on the image, then choose Image Properties from a menu, or right click on the image and choose properties, or something like that.
If you can't find a shortcut, then this is what an alt tag looks like:
<img src="images/header.gif" width="900" height="150" border="0" alt="Simple Effective SEO">
The bolded part is the part that ads the alt text. Your image code will show a different filename, and it might or might not have width and height attributes. It might have other things too, if you have aligned it or used other formatting tags. Just ad the alt tag at the end, before the ">" symbol, and be sure to leave a space between the last attribute and the alt tag. Don't add any extra spaces elsewhere, it can make it not work right.
A good alt tag will provide a concise description of the image, or the text on the image. It should be short, and meaningful. No more than a sentence, and use just 2-3 keywords in it, maximum.
There are three times when alt tags are important to your site:
1. When the image provides a significant portion of the message of the site. If you have a large graphic with a lot of impact, you'll want to put an alt tag so that if the image does not show up, you still get the message across.
2. Alt tags are especially important when you have a site that has text on a graphic - like a header. You can read that as text, but to a search engine, or to someone whose browser is misbehaving, it is just an image, and has nothing readable.
3. The other time when alt tags are pretty much essential is when you have links that use an image for the link. Remember, a picture of text is NOT text. So put in an alt tag so the search engine can see what the link is about. This will also prove VERY helpful for people when your images fail to load, because otherwise they have no way of figuring out how to get around in your site!
Alt tags are also not a miracle fix, they are simply an easy thing to do to fine tune your site. They aren't going to make a HUGE difference, but they can provide benefits other than just SEO benefits, so they are worth doing.
Do not use Alt tags that are too long. Long and rambly alt tags are considered spammy by the search engines, and can cause you problems - and nobody is going to read them either!
Do not use Alt tags that are misleading either, and do not pack them with keyword lists. Alt tags should read easily, as though they are explaining to a person. Putting keyword lists in them is a major no-no, and can be viewed as black hat seo.
Treat them in the same way as you should treat a title tag or a description metatag.
