Image guidelines for SEO

Each <img> tag should follow these guidelines for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Explanation

Search engines can interpret and evaluate only text and links; they cannot interpret image files. Search engines use the text in the alt attribute of an <img> tag as supplementary information for the image file. In addition, alt attribute text is used by audio readers for the visually impaired.

Guidelines

Review each <img> tag in the site to make sure that it contains an alt attribute that has text that is relevant to the image.

Check each <img> tag for the following:

• Every <img> tag should have an alt attribute that contains text.

  For more information, see WEB1009 - The <img> or <area> tag does not have an 'alt' attribute with text.

• An alt attribute should not start with "copyright," the copyright symbol [© or (c)], or any other character or symbol that has no search-engine relevance.

  For more information, see WEB1000 - The 'alt' attribute of the <img> or <area> tag begins with words or characters that provide no SEO value.

• An alt attribute should contain fewer than 150 characters.

  For more information, see WEB1019 - The 'alt' attribute of the <img> or <area> tag contains too many characters.

See also

Concepts

Page and site guidelines for SEO
Title guidelines for SEO
Heading guidelines for SEO
Description guidelines for SEO
Keywords guidelines for SEO
Hyperlink guidelines for SEO

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