Google’s John Mueller discusses the importance of Alt Text for SEO, how you can use it, and why you should rely on something other than AI to do it for you.
Is alt Text Still Important for SEO?
Roger Montii, a search engine blogger, landed into a Reddit exchange between Google’s John Mueller and a site owner who enquired whether image Alt Text is still useful for SEO.
The Redditor questioned if alt text is still useful in light of Google’s use of complex algorithms to examine images.
The question was like this:
“With all the advancements in computer vision and image recognition, are image alt texts still relevant for SEO?” Is there any information on Google or other search engines employing machine learning models to crawl photos rather than depending on user-supplied alt text?”
Page Context and Picture Pairings are Important
Mueller’s response emphasized why the language used for alt-text photos is critical for expressing context about the image and the webpage it’s on.
John also highlighted why AI-generated alt-text could not give context or insights into a picture’s underlying meaning, and that with these, Google would have more information to display an image effectively.
Mueller used a beach picture to clarify his answer:
“Context comes from the page + picture combo, which is important for image search.
A photograph of a beach might be a pleasant poster, a hotel beach, or the location of a toxic disaster. Knowing that the image is of a beach does not provide enough context to display it in an image search properly. Much of it comes from the website, and the alt-text is unusual in that it immediately relates the picture to the page with context.
Traffic searching for “photo of a beach” won’t be very helpful unless your website is a photo agency; however, if you own a hotel, having “hotel with beach in X” may be beneficial.
Again, a lot of stuff may be found elsewhere on the website, but the alt property value offers a special chance to provide background information. (In addition, you won’t be taking full use of alt text for users and search engines if you utilize AI to generate alt texts based on the picture file and the alt text for that image is “photo of a beach.”).
Alt Text Recap
Alt text stands for alternate text. It gives extra picture information, allowing anyone who cannot see an image to grasp (visualize) what it is.
According to Mueller, in terms of SEO, alt text offers picture context and relates it to the webpage, which is critical for users and Google searches.
Google’s Help page states:
“Add alternate text (alt text) to pictures, logos, drawings, and other visuals. Without alt text, screen reader users only hear the word “image.” Some photographs have alt text by default, so be sure it’s what you want.”
Roger Montii explains why alt text is necessary by quoting the World Wide Web Consortium:
“Assume you’re reading the web page aloud over the phone to someone who needs to comprehend it. This should assist you in determining what (if any) information or function the photos include. You may dismiss them as cosmetic if they don’t appear to have any instructive value and aren’t links or buttons.”
AI Lacks the Human Touch
Mueller’s beach example exemplifies the need to use alt text to tell the viewer about the image’s content and purpose.
Mueller was arguing that alt text should not be used just to describe what is in the image, but also to add vital context. In other words, the relationship between your image and the content of your webpage.
Mueller’s response further emphasizes why employing AI for alt text is ineffective for SEO since, while it may properly describe a picture, it cannot convey context.
Source- uSERP
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