Using Alt Tags & Descriptions for your Images (and why)

Why you need to add alt text and descriptions to your images (think Pinterest friendly)! via TheEssentialWebsite.com

WHY YOU NEED IT

Number 1 answer: SEO. Next, when you share your content (or visitors share), you’re going to add a little touch of professionalism.

Sadly, this important task gets skipped over A LOT.

Here’s what we’re talking about…

LOOK FAMILIAR?

Let’s use this post as an example. If I go to share this post on Pinterest, here’s what the I see. Notice all of the text already added? Plus ways for people to find us like our url, name, etc.?

The bonus is that this information is all indexed by Google! Meaning, more of your info is out on the interwebs, Google sees that it’s helpful information and thanks you by eventually giving you a tiny SEO gold star on your report card.

Why you should add Alt Tags and Descriptions via The Essential Website

HOW TO DO IT

There are several ways do this. You can add this information when you add a new image to your media library or when you click the “Add Media” button from your page/post editor. →Add media button

From the Media Gallery, click the image you want. Let’s set the Featured Image for this post as an example:

When we choose the image we want, you can see the Title, Alt and Description fields are blank or have weird stuff.

Don't skip this step - Using Alt Tags and Descriptions via TheEssentialWebsite.com

Now it’s time to fix this: Create a short but informative description of what the image is about and add it to your Title, Alt Text and Description fields. (Because, it’s not 100% guaranteed that only the Alt field will be shared – adding to all 3 fields will make sure you’re covered!) Don’t forget to add your website info or other details about your business too. Leave the Caption field blank unless it’s already been styled properly. (Adding a Caption will add a box around your image on your page and add the text below the image.)

Example of Using Alt Tags and Descriptions via TheEssentialWebsite.com

Bonus, when you add your image within the content of your page or post (not the featured image), WordPress auto-adds the image’s Alt Text, etc. into your html! Meaning, when your page or post is shared (like on Pinterest), visitors will have some nice, informative info on any image that’s shared!

THAT’S IT! EASY! By remembering to edit/add your Title, Alt Text and Description each time you add a new image to your website, you’re going make things easy on people who want to share your content, add a little organic SEO and look like a pro!

About Janet

Hi there! I’m Janet Hoover, designer, code techie, dog lover and co-founder of The Essential Website. Our big thing is helping people bring their online visions to life more beautifully, polished and smarter! We create custom-crafted, hand-coded WordPress websites for biz-builders, action-takers and dreamers who are ready to GROW and shine online! We’re here to help you stop dreaming and start doing with the perfect online solution for your one-of-a-kind biz.

8 Comments

  1. Amanda on November 2, 2016 at 10:29 am

    What the heck?! I think I’ve been doing this wrong for so long. haha. Thanks for all the tips!!! Pinterest can be so tricky.

    • Janet on November 2, 2016 at 11:29 am

      So glad it helped!

  2. Rachel on November 2, 2016 at 10:34 am

    This is beyond helpful! I want to start posting photos on Pinterest and I will definitely come back to this post to jump start my SEO ??

    • Janet on November 2, 2016 at 11:31 am

      Thank you and so glad it’ll help you! This is just some of the stuff no one tells you about. We try and fix that. 🙂

  3. Ella on November 2, 2016 at 10:51 am

    Yes to alt text! I recently was educated on the necessity of the alt text. So now I’m taking a little bit of time each day to go back through my website and add proper alt text to all my images. I wish I had known about this earlier!

    • Janet on November 2, 2016 at 11:30 am

      Well, it’s never too late. Good for you for doing that!

  4. McKenzie on November 2, 2016 at 11:00 am

    Thank you! This was very informative!

    • Janet on November 2, 2016 at 11:30 am

      You’re very welcome McKensie! Glad it helped!

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