Alt Text That Ranks
Your Images Higher

Yes. Alt text is a confirmed ranking factor for Google Images and provides contextual signals for web search rankings. Google uses alt text to understand what an image depicts and how it relates to the page content. Pages with well-optimized alt text rank higher in image search results, which account for 22.6% of all Google searches according to SparkToro data. Alt text also contributes to topical relevance signals that influence overall page rankings.

Keep alt text between 50 and 125 characters. Most screen readers cut off alt text at approximately 125 characters, so staying under this limit ensures accessibility. For SEO purposes, the sweet spot is descriptive enough to include relevant context and keywords, but concise enough to avoid keyword stuffing. Google has stated it uses alt text "in combination with other signals" — quality matters more than length.

Yes, but naturally. Include your target keyword only if it genuinely describes what the image shows. Google's guidelines explicitly warn against "filling alt attributes with keywords (keyword stuffing)" as this creates a bad user experience and may cause your site to be seen as spam. A good rule: write the alt text for a visually impaired user first, then check if a relevant keyword fits naturally.

Alt text (the alt attribute) describes the image content for search engines and screen readers — it is the primary SEO signal. Title text (the title attribute) shows as a tooltip when users hover over an image and has minimal SEO impact. Google has confirmed that the alt attribute is significantly more important than title text for image ranking purposes. Focus your optimization efforts on alt text.

Not if the AI produces accurate, descriptive text. The risk comes from generic or inaccurate alt text — whether written by humans or AI. Alt Audit uses Google Gemini to analyse actual image content and surrounding page context, producing specific and relevant descriptions. The key is accuracy: alt text that correctly describes the image helps SEO, regardless of whether it was written by a human or generated by AI.

Decorative images — borders, spacers, purely aesthetic backgrounds — should have empty alt text (alt=""). This tells screen readers to skip them and prevents accessibility noise. However, be careful about what you classify as decorative. If an image conveys any information, supports the content, or would be missed if removed, it needs descriptive alt text. Product images, infographics, charts, screenshots, and team photos are never decorative.