Understanding HTML IMG alt text

Search engines are "blind." Many people think that images make for an excellent website. While images can be visually appealing for the user, they don't really help for search engine optimization (SEO) unless they incorporate Alt IMG attributes.

Search engines are essentially text readers. Each image on a website has the opportunity to have Alt IMG text associated with it. For SEO purposes, take advantage of this; this provides another opportunity to be more relevant to search queries.

One of the easiest ways to determine if an image has Alt IMG attributes is to right click on the image in Mozilla Firefox and click "View Image Info."

In the instance above, you see the associated text for the image is "Mobile Technologies and Cloud Computing for AEC Firms." Here is the respective HTML:

<img width="814px" height="278px" src="/portals/0/mainheader.jpg" alt="Mobile Technologies and Cloud Computing for AEC Firms" />

When adding Alt IMG attributes, take into consideration your target keywords. Alt IMG attributes also provide an important way for visually-impaired users to browse your content.