Alt text, also known as alternative text , is a really important part of web accessibility and SEO. It’s essentially a detailed description of an online image, video, or other type of visual content. It’s super helpful for a few reasons! This is why you need to know how to check if an image has alt text on your blog!
Originally, the whole point of alt text was to help readers who are visually impaired gain context about what your image is and how it adds value to a blog post or webpage. In turn, increasing web accessibility which is a great thing on its own! Including alt text in your images is super important and also one (very important) way to make sure your site is ADA-compliant. Making your website accessible to everyone and inclusive ensures a positive user-experience.
Aside from all this, alt text is also a huge help when it comes to search engines understanding what your image is about. We all know that adding images to break up text is good for SEO, but web crawlers can’t actually process the visual content and determine if it’s relevant and adds value. However, if you have descriptive alt text, it can do just that! This helps A LOT to improve the overall SEO performance of your site, which will help you rank higher on the search engine results pages!
But . . . what if you’re not sure if you added alt text or not? Today, we’re going to walk you through how to check if an image on your blog has alt text, and how to add it if you need to! This is a super simple step that can have a huge impact on your website’s accessibility and search engine performance.
How To Check If An Image Has Alt Text on Your Blog
Method 1: Look at the image on a website.
Before diving into the nitty gritty like tools and code, just start by checking out the image on your blog. Sometimes, the alt text is displayed while you wait for the image to load or when you hover over the image. (But, beware, this could also just be the title attribute, which is also good for accessibility, but it’s not the same thing.)
You can also try spotting alt text by just doing a quick right click on an image or long pressing on mobile and checking if an alt text description appears. Unfortunately, this method isn’t foolproof, but it’s an easy peasy place to start!
Method 2: Use a website accessibility tool.
To quickly check for missing alt text across your site, you can use online accessibility tools like the WAVE browser extension (there’s a Firefox and chrome extension). These helpful tools scan entire websites for accessibility issues, obviously including missing alt text. Simply go to your chosen tool, enter your website URL, and then click Analyze. The tool will highlight any images missing alt text and also provide helpful recommendations for improvement!
If you’d like a more comprehensive SEO report that not only finds accessibility errors, but locates ALL errors that could be hurting your ranking, run a free SEO site audit with us at InfluencerSEO!
Method 3: Check the image’s HTML code manually.
If you’re comfy with some basic coding, checking the image’s HTML is another good way to determine if image alt text exists. Simply right-click the image and select Inspect or Inspect Element. In the HTML panel, look for the <img> tag. Then you can search for the alt attributes within the alt tag like this:
html
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<img src=”image.jpg” alt=”Description of the image”>
If the alt attribute is missing or empty, the image doesn’t have alt text. Pretty simple!
Method 4: Check alt text in the media library.
Instead of going to each individual page to check all your images for alt text, you can check all your uploaded media in your platform’s media library! In WordPress, for example, head over to Media, then Library, and select an image. The image details will pop up and there will be a box for alt text. If that space is empty, there’s no alt text and you should add some!
Method 5: Check alt text on social media platforms too.
If you’re posting images on social media, it’s also important to make sure they have alt text for better accessibility and SEO. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow you to add alt text when uploading images.
- For Twitter, after uploading an image, click the Edit button to check for or add alt text in the provided field.
- For Facebook, click Edit Photo and you’ll see the alt text box. If there’s no text in it, then you know the image is missing alt text and it’s time to add some!
- For Instagram, select your post, click the three dots in the upper right corner, and select Edit. Then, in the lower right of the photo, you’ll see Edit Alt Text. Click this. You’ll be able to see if there’s any alt text and add it if necessary.
How To Write SEO-Friendly Alt-Text For Your Images
Keep it descriptive and specific.
To write SEO-friendly alt text, be very descriptive, so both users and search engines can easily understand what the image contains. Instead of vague terms, focus on showing exactly what the image represents. The more precise you can be, the more valuable your alt text will be. For example, for a bowl of fruit, instead of just saying “fruit” you could say “close-up photo of a green apple and pieces of watermelon with water droplets on the surface.”
Include relevant keywords.
While it’s super important to write specific alt text, you also need to incorporate keywords to help improve your SEO. These keywords will help web crawlers further determine how relevant your image is to your web page and link your content to searchers. So, do some keyword research and naturally incorporate keywords into your alt text.
Avoid keyword stuffing.
While keywords are SUPER helpful and important, try to avoid keyword stuffing. Overloading your text with keywords can not only mess up the user experience, but also your SEO ranking. It’s viewed as a manipulative, low-quality tactic, so web crawlers will lower your ranking if they determine you’re keyword stuffing.
Keep it short and concise.
Alt text should be brief but informative. While you do need to be descriptive, aim to keep your alt text under 125 characters. This is the ideal length for visually impaired visitors using screen readers. It ensures they can quickly understand the image’s content and move on to the more important parts of the blog post or web page.
Include context if necessary.
Sometimes, a specific image needs extra content if you want readers and web crawlers to understand why your picture or graphic is relevant to your blog post or web page. If the image is part of an article to reference a specific point, it’s really important to include that important context in the alt text. This can help users understand the image’s relevance surrounding the content.
What Does Alt Text Mean?
Think of alt text as your image’s little caption that lives behind the scenes. It’s like giving your pictures a voice so everyone—yes, even someone using a screen reader or if the image fails to load—knows what’s going on. Bonus? It also gives Google a clue about your images, which can help your SEO game. So yeah… alt text is low-key important, but super easy to add!
What Is Alt Text?
Okay, so now we know how the how to check for alt text and how to use it, but what ACTUALLY is it? Alt text, short for alternative text, is the written description of an image, graphic, or visual element on a webpage. It lives in the HTML code and is read aloud by screen readers so visually impaired users can understand what the image shows.
If an image fails to load, the alt text may also appear in its place. Essentially, think of it as a textual substitute that explains both what the image is and sometimes why it matters to the content.
Why Is Alt Text Important?
Alt text plays a huuuuuge role in web accessibility. It allows people using screen readers to understand images and makes your website feel way more inclusive. It’s also one of the steps toward ADA compliance and creating a positive experience for every visitor. Beyond simple accessibility, alt text provides clarity when images fail to load and ensures that no information is lost!
How Does Alt Text Help SEO?
Enhances Accessibility (and SEO Bonus)
Making your images understandable for people using screen readers isn’t just kind, it’s good SEO practice. Google rewards sites that consider accessibility.
Adds Context to Your Content
Alt text gives extra context about your page topic, helping search engines “see the big picture” and rank your page more accurately.
Supports Page Load Issues
If an image fails to load, alt text still conveys the meaning. This keeps the user experience smooth, which search engines notice too.
Improves Search Engine Understanding
Search engines can’t “see” images like we do, so alt text tells them exactly what’s in your photo. This helps Google index your images correctly and match them to relevant search queries.
Boosts Your Chances in Image Search
Ever searched Google Images for something cute, funny, or helpful? Alt text increases the chance your images show up in those results, which can bring extra visitors to your site.
Write SEO-friendly alt-text with ease!
Alt text is a simple step you can take to boost your SEO and increase your accessibility! It’s good for you and your readers, so it definitely shouldn’t be skipped. Use this guide to check your images for alt text and add it if necessary! Oh, and don’t forget your videos. They need alt text, too! Here’s what you need to know about alt text for videos.
For more SEO tips and blogging advice, head over to the InfluencerSEO blog. We know how important search engine optimization strategy is for the success of your blog, so we don’t gatekeep anything! It’s time to level-up your SEO-game and start hitting all those big brand goals!
Rather have the experts handle SEO while you focus on creating more great content?
Look into our SEO packages! We’ll handle everything from alt text to URL structure and everything in between. With us, you know you’re doing all you can to rank at the top of the search engine results pages!
Jordan Becerra, founder and Lead SEO Strategist at InfluencerSEO, has spent almost 15 years in the creator internet space, the last nine building InfluencerSEO into the go-to SEO partner for content creators, with 500+ creators served from pre-launch to massive publication. She learned creator monetization and community building strategy from the inside working for Lauryn Bosstick of The Skinny Confidential prior to founding InfluencerSEO, so she understands both halves of the game: how search actually works AND how creators actually build a strong community online and make money. Her job now is to stay ahead of where search engine optimization is going, especially as AI rewrites the rules, and to make sure the creators she works with get there first.
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