How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images for SEO

When it comes to SEO, optimizing your website’s images is just as important as optimizing your text content. One crucial aspect of image optimization is adding alt text and title text to your images. Alt text and title text are not only essential for accessibility but also play a significant role in improving your website’s search engine rankings. In this article, we will explore what alt text and title text are, how to add them to images in popular website platforms, and why they are crucial for SEO.

How to Optimize Images for SEO

• You will learn what alt text and title text are and how to add them to images in various platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Weebly, GoDaddy, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce.
• You will learn about image sitemaps, lazy load, CDNs, responsive images, SVGs, image compression, and various image-related plugins like image optimization, image SEO, image gallery, image slider, image lightbox, image watermarking, image resizing, image editor, image widget, and image map plugins.

What is Alt Text?

Alt text, also known as alternative text or alt tags, is a description of an image that appears when the image cannot be displayed. It is primarily used by screen readers to describe the image to visually impaired users. Alt text serves as a textual replacement for the image, providing context and information about its content. From an SEO perspective, alt text helps search engines understand what the image is about, allowing them to index and rank it appropriately.

Adding descriptive and relevant alt text to your images is crucial for both accessibility and SEO. It not only improves the user experience for visually impaired individuals but also provides valuable information to search engines, helping them understand the context and relevance of your images.

What is Title Text?

Title text, also known as image title or image tooltip, is the text that appears when you hover your mouse over an image. Unlike alt text, title text is not primarily meant for accessibility purposes. Instead, it provides additional information or a tooltip that can be displayed when the user interacts with the image. Title text can be used to provide more details about the image or even serve as a call-to-action.

While title text does not have a direct impact on SEO, it can indirectly benefit your website by improving the user experience. When users hover over an image and see a relevant and engaging title text, it can encourage them to click on the image or explore more of your content. This increased engagement can lead to longer session durations and lower bounce rates, both of which are positive signals for search engines.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) for websites, and it provides built-in features to add alt text and title text to images. The process may vary slightly depending on the version of WordPress you are using, specifically the Classic Editor or the Block Editor (Gutenberg).

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in the Classic Editor

1. In the Classic Editor, click on the “Add Media” button while editing a post or page.
2. Select the image you want to add alt text and title text to, or upload a new image.
3. On the right-hand side, you will see the “Attachment Details” panel.
4. In the “Alternative Text” field, enter a descriptive and concise alt text for the image.
5. In the “Title” field, enter a relevant title text for the image.
6. Click the “Insert into post” button to add the image to your content.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in the Block Editor

1. In the Block Editor, click on the “+” button to add a new block or select an existing image block.
2. Upload or choose the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
3. In the “Image Settings” panel on the right-hand side, scroll down to the “Image” section.
4. Enter a descriptive alt text in the “Alternative Text” field.
5. Enter a relevant title text in the “Image Title Attribute” field.
6. Update or publish your post or page to save the changes.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in the Media Library

1. In the WordPress dashboard, go to “Media” and click on “Library.”
2. Select the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
3. Click on the “Edit” button below the image.
4. In the “Attachment Details” panel on the right-hand side, enter the alt text and title text in the respective fields.
5. Click the “Update” button to save the changes.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Squarespace

Squarespace is a popular website builder known for its user-friendly interface and elegant designs. Adding alt text and title text to images in Squarespace is a straightforward process. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the Squarespace editor, select the page or post where you want to add an image.
2. Click on the “Edit” button to make changes to the content.
3. Add an image block or select an existing image block.
4. Click on the image and select the “Design” tab in the editing panel.
5. In the “Image Title” field, enter the title text for the image.
6. In the “Image Description” field, enter the alt text for the image.
7. Save your changes and publish the page or post.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Wix

Wix is another popular website builder that offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to build and customize websites. To add alt text and title text to images in Wix, follow these steps:

1. In the Wix editor, select the page where you want to add an image.
2. Click on the image or add an image element to the page.
3. In the image settings, click on the “Change Image” button.
4. Select the image you want to use or upload a new image.
5. In the “Image Settings” panel, click on the “SEO” tab.
6. Enter the alt text and title text in the respective fields.
7. Save your changes and publish the page.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Shopify

Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create online stores. Adding alt text and title text to images in Shopify is essential for optimizing your product pages and improving the accessibility of your store. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the Shopify admin, go to “Products” and click on the product you want to edit.
2. Scroll down to the “Images” section and click on the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
3. In the “Alt text” field, enter a descriptive alt text for the image.
4. In the “Image title” field, enter a relevant title text for the image.
5. Save your changes and repeat the process for other product images.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Weebly

Weebly is a user-friendly website builder that offers a range of templates and features. Adding alt text and title text to images in Weebly is a simple process. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the Weebly editor, select the page where you want to add an image.
2. Click on the “Image” element or drag and drop an image element onto the page.
3. Select the image and click on the “Edit Image” button.
4. In the image editor, click on the “Alt Text” tab.
5. Enter the alt text and title text in the respective fields.
6. Save your changes and publish the page.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a popular domain registrar and web hosting provider that also offers website building tools. Adding alt text and title text to images in GoDaddy’s website builder is a straightforward process. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the GoDaddy website builder editor, select the page where you want to add an image.
2. Click on the image or add an image element to the page.
3. In the image settings, click on the “Alt & Title” tab.
4. Enter the alt text and title text in the respective fields.
5. Save your changes and publish the page.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Joomla

Joomla is a powerful open-source CMS that allows users to build websites and online applications. To add alt text and title text to images in Joomla, follow these steps:

1. In the Joomla admin, go to “Content” and click on “Articles” or “Categories” to edit a specific article or category.
2. In the article or category editor, click on the “Images and Links” tab.
3. Click on the “Select” button next to the image field.
4. Select the image you want to add alt text and title text to or upload a new image.
5. In the “Image Title” field, enter the title text for the image.
6. In the “Image Description” field, enter the alt text for the image.
7. Save your changes and update the article or category.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Drupal

Drupal is a flexible and robust CMS that powers a wide range of websites, from personal blogs to enterprise-level applications. Adding alt text and title text to images in Drupal can be done using the “Alt” and “Title” fields in the image settings. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the Drupal admin, go to “Content” and click on “Add content” or navigate to the specific content type you want to edit.
2. Add an image field or locate the existing image field in the content type.
3. Upload or select the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
4. In the image settings, enter the alt text in the “Alt” field and the title text in the “Title” field.
5. Save your changes and update the content.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in Magento

Magento is a popular e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features for online stores. Adding alt text and title text to product images in Magento is crucial for improving the accessibility and SEO of your store. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the Magento admin, go to “Catalog” and click on “Products” to edit a specific product.
2. In the product editor, click on the “Images and Videos” tab.
3. Select the product image you want to add alt text and title text to.
4. In the “Alt Text” field, enter a descriptive alt text for the image.
5. In the “Label” field, enter a relevant title text for the image.
6. Save your changes and update the product.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create and manage online stores. Adding alt text and title text to product images in BigCommerce is crucial for improving the accessibility and SEO of your store. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the BigCommerce admin, go to “Products” and click on the product you want to edit.
2. Scroll down to the “Images” section and click on the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
3. In the “Alt Text” field, enter a descriptive alt text for the image.
4. In the “Image Title Text” field, enter a relevant title text for the image.
5. Save your changes and repeat the process for other product images.

How to Add Alt Text and Title Text to Images in WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress, allowing users to create online stores. Adding alt text and title text to product images in WooCommerce is crucial for improving the accessibility and SEO of your store. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In the WordPress admin, go to “Products” and click on the product you want to edit.
2. Scroll down to the “Product Gallery” section and click on the image you want to add alt text and title text to.
3. In the image settings, enter the alt text and title text in the respective fields.
4. Save your changes and update the product.

What is an Image Sitemap?

An image sitemap is a file that contains a list of all the images on your website that you want search engines to crawl and index. It provides search engines with additional information about your images, such as their location, caption, and license. By including an image sitemap in your website’s XML sitemap, you can ensure that search engines discover and index all your images, improving their visibility in image search results.

Creating an image sitemap involves generating an XML file that follows the specific schema defined by search engines like Google. You can use various tools and plugins to generate image sitemaps automatically or create them manually by adding image URLs and their associated metadata to the sitemap file.

Including an image sitemap in your overall SEO strategy can help search engines understand the context and relevance of your images, leading to improved rankings and visibility in image search results.

What is a Lazy Load?

Lazy loading is a technique used to defer the loading of images until they are needed, improving the performance and user experience of a website. Instead of loading all images on a page at once, lazy loading allows the browser to load images only when they come into view, reducing the initial page load time.

By implementing lazy loading on your website, you can significantly improve the page load speed, especially for pages with a large number of images. This can lead to better user engagement, decreased bounce rates, and improved SEO rankings.

Lazy loading can be achieved through various methods, including JavaScript libraries, plugins, or frameworks. Most modern content management systems and website builders offer built-in lazy loading features or support third-party solutions.

What is a CDN?

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers located in different geographical locations that work together to deliver website content to users. By distributing your website’s assets, such as images, across multiple servers, a CDN can significantly improve the loading speed and performance of your website.

When a user requests a page from your website, the CDN’s server closest to the user’s location delivers the content, including images, reducing the latency and improving the overall user experience. This can lead to faster page load times, decreased bounce rates, and improved SEO rankings.

CDNs also offer additional benefits such as improved reliability, scalability, and security. They can help mitigate DDoS attacks, handle traffic spikes, and provide SSL encryption for secure data transmission.

Integrating a CDN into your website’s infrastructure is relatively straightforward, and many CDN providers offer easy