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Image Alt Text Shopify SEO

Adding alt text to product images is an important SEO practice that can help your store appear higher in search results. It helps search engines understand what your images are about, and it can also help visually impaired shoppers using screen readers understand what products are on your site.

This article provides a comprehensive guide on what alt texts are, and how you can add them to your Shopify images on Shopify for enhanced SEO.

What is alt text?

Alt text (alternative text), also known as "alt tags" or "alt descriptions," is the text that describes an image on a web page. This text helps web users who are unable to see the image due to a slow internet connection, an error in the image link, or an inability to see images on their screen for any reason.

Merchants use alt text to provide Google with useful information about their product images. By optimizing their alt text, they can improve their organic traffic and visibility in image search results.

shopify image alt text seo

Benefits of Alt Text For Shopify SEO

There are a few benefits to using alt text for Shopify SEO:

1. Helps Search Engines Find Images Faster

Search engine spiders are engineered to read text. When they come across an image, they check the surrounding code for clues about what the image is. This process can take a little longer than reading text. By including alt text, you can help search engines understand your images faster and index them more quickly.

2. Access Images Even When Not Loaded In A Page

Depending on the user's connection speed and browser settings, images may not always load when a page first loads. Alt text ensures that users can still understand the content of the page, even if the images do not load.

3. Enhance Better User Experience

One of the goals of all Shopify SEO services is to enhance the user experience. When users can't see images, they may become frustrated and leave the site. By providing alt text, you can help keep users engaged with your content even when images are not visible.

However, when done wrong, alt text can hinder your Shopify SEO efforts. It can also annoy your users and increase bounce rates, which can negatively impact your ranking.

4. Add Value To Image Optimization And Overall Site SEO

Value addition to any part of your SEO strategy is always a good idea. In the case of Shopify image optimization, adding alt text will help you improve your traffic and ROI. Ensure that all your product images have well-written, keyword-rich alt text to reap the benefits.

How to Add Alt Text to Product Images in Shopify

image alt text for shopify seo

Adding alt text to images in your Shopify store is easy. Just follow these steps:

  • 1. Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
  • 2. Go to Products > All products.
  • 3. Select the product that you want to add alt text to and click Edit.
  • 4. Scroll the Preview media page and look for the image you want to add alt text to.
  • 5. Under Alt text, enter a short description of the image.
  • 6. Click Save.
  • 7. Hit the X in the upper-right corner to close the product editor and return to your All products page.
  • 8. Repeat these steps for each image you want to add alt text to.

How To Add Alt Text To Theme Images

If you want to add alt text to images that are not product photos (for example, the images in your theme), follow these steps:

  • 1. Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
  • 2. Go to Online Store > Themes.
  • 3. Choose the theme you want to edit and click Customize.
  • 4. Click the section containing an image you want to edit and then click the image.
  • 5. In the Content tab, enter your alt text in the Alt text field.
  • 6. Click Save.
  • 7. Repeat these steps for each image you want to add alt text to.
image seo alt text shopify

How To Add Alt Text To Collection Images

Collection images are the images that appear on your collection pages (for example, your shop's front page). Unfortunately, there is no way to add alt text directly to collection images. Shopify doesn't offer a direct way to do this because collection images are typically controlled by your theme.

To add alt text to collection images, we use two methods:

  • Code: One of the surest ways to add alt text to your collection images is to edit the code. This method requires a bit of technical knowledge, as you will need to access your theme's code editor and make changes to the Liquid files. Our developers have the knowledge and experience to do this for you.
  • Use metadata apps: We also use a host of metadata apps to add alt text to collection images. These apps use different techniques to add alt text, including reading the file name and adding it as the alt text, scanning the page's code, and using artificial intelligence to understand the image.

How To Add Alt Text To Blog Images

Your blog is among the most important pages on your Shopify website. Not only does it help improve your SEO, but it also helps build trust with potential customers and keeps them coming back for more.

Adding the right Shopify blog featured image size and keyword-rich alt text can make your blog posts even more effective. Here's how to do it:

  • 1. Log in to your Shopify admin panel.
  • 2. Go to Online Store > Blog Posts.
  • 3. Select the image added to your blog post and click Edit.
  • 4. Look for the Alt text field and enter a short, keyword-rich description of the image.
  • 5. Click Save.
  • 6. Repeat these steps for each image in your blog post.
shopify seo image alt text

How to Write Good Alt Text

Now that you know how to add alt text to images in Shopify, it's time to learn how to write good alt text. Here are a few tips:

  • Keep it short and sweet: The ideal length for alt text is between 100 and 125 characters. Anything longer will be cut off in Google Image Search results.
  • Use keywords wisely: When writing alt text, it's important to use keywords wisely. Stuffing your alt text with too many keywords will not only make it difficult to read but will also trigger Google's spam filters.
  • Be descriptive: Your alt text should describe the image as accurately as possible. This means using descriptive words and phrases that accurately describe what is happening in the image.
  • Avoid using generic terms: Generic terms like "image," "picture," or "photo" are not only unhelpful, but they also take up valuable characters that could be used to describe the image.
  • Use proper grammar: Just because it's alt text doesn't mean you can skimp on proper grammar. Make sure to use proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
  • Never use hyphens: Using hyphens in your alt text will result in Google cutting off the text at that point. This can make your image inaccessible to users relying on screen readers.
  • Don't write alt text for decorative images: Decorative images are images that don't add any value to the content of the page. These include things like background images, spacer images, and bullet points.

When you book our Shopify Plus SEO services or ask us to fix your website's SEO, our team of experts will help ensure that all your images have valuable and keyword-rich alt text. We take time to understand your business and products so that we can write the best alt text possible.

ALT Tags vs Title Tags vs Filenames

There are three confusing terms that are often used interchangeably: alt text, title tags, and filenames. Here's a quick breakdown of each:

Alt text (alternative text): Alt text is the text that appears in place of an image when the image can't be displayed. It's also used by Google to understand what an image is about so that it can be properly indexed and ranked.

Title tags: Your image title tag is the text that appears when you hover over an image. It's different from alt text in that it's not used by Google for ranking purposes.

Filenames: A filename is the name of the image file on your server. It's what you see when you download an image from a website. The filename has no impact on your SEO but can be used to help users understand what an image is about.

image seo alt text for shopify

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