Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller recently responded to a Reddit user questioning the importance of alt text in the age of AI (artificial intelligence).
In a Reddit thread, the user asked:
“Are image alt texts still relevant for SEO (search engine optimisation) with the advancements in computer vision and images recognition?”
Alt text, short for ‘alternative text’ is a brief snippet of text used to describe what it is that an image displays. Alt text is helpful for visually impaired users, as it allows them to understand the content of the image. A screen reader will use the alt text to verbally describe the image.
Additionally, alt text makes it possible for search engine crawlers to interpret the content of the image accurately, which can help rank the content accordingly.
In his response, Mueller confirmed that the relevance of the page an image is embedded in plays a key role in the image optimisation. This can help Google better understand the context, which can help rank it.
He used an image of a beach as an example and said:
“Just knowing [an] image is of a beach doesn’t really give sufficient background information to be able to show it in an image search appropriately.”
He elaborated that:
“Unless your site is a photo agency, traffic for “photo of a beach” isn’t going to be that useful – but for a hotel, having “hotel with beach in X” can be relevant.”
While the alt text is useful, the content on the page in which it is embedded can help Google better understand its relevance. This can increase visibility on the search engine results page and help divert the most relevant traffic to the site. More targeted traffic visiting your site can mean more chance of conversions.
If a photographer has an image embedded on a page of their website focused on their services and includes the alt text “photo of a beach”, we will assume that this photographer offers services in taking photos by the beach.
If a hotel has an image embedded on their site with the alt text “hotel by a beach in Florida”, we’d assume that the image shows their hotel in its location by a beach in Florida, and will return the image in search results made for hotels by the beach in Florida.
In summary, John Mueller has confirmed that the content of a page in which an image is placed upon is just as important as the image’s alt text.
When optimised synonymously, the context of a page can enhance the image’s relevancy to search engine crawl bots, which can help improve the image’s visibility in the search results.
Need some help optimising the content of your website to help improve the number of visits? Reach out to the team at Engage Web today.
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