Image alt text
Alt text is the written description of an image, carried in the image's alt attribute. Adding good alt text is quick, low-risk, and helps both accessibility and image search.
It is read aloud by screen readers, shown when an image fails to load, and used by search engines to understand what an image shows.
What this check flags
The crawler flags images that are missing meaningful alt text:
- Images with no
altattribute at all. - Informative images with an empty
altwhere a description is needed. - Images used as links or buttons with no alt text, which leaves the control unlabeled.
It groups the results by the page each image sits on, so you fix them page by page.
Why alt text matters for SEO
- Accessibility. Screen readers announce alt text, so people using them can understand your images. Accessibility and SEO reward the same clear descriptions.
- Image search. Descriptive alt text helps your images appear in image results, which can be a real traffic source for product, recipe, and visual content.
- Context on failure. When an image does not load, the alt text shows in its place, so the page still makes sense.
- Page understanding. Alt text gives search engines another honest signal about what a page is about.
It is not a heavy ranking factor on its own, but it is genuinely useful and easy to get right.
What makes good alt text
- Describe the content and function of the image, not the fact that it is an image.
- Keep it concise, usually a short sentence, and under about 125 characters so screen readers do not run long.
- Be specific. "Golden retriever puppy sitting in grass" beats "dog."
- Write naturally. Do not stuff keywords; that reads as spam to search engines and is useless to screen-reader users.
- Do not start with "image of" or "picture of." Screen readers already announce that it is an image.
When alt text should be empty
Not every image needs a description. Purely decorative images, like a background flourish or a spacer, should carry an empty alt="" so screen readers skip them. The key distinction:
| Image type | Alt text |
|---|---|
| Informative (conveys meaning) | Describe what it shows |
| Functional (a link or button) | Describe what it does |
| Decorative (visual only) | Empty alt="" so it is skipped |
The alt attribute should always exist. The choice is whether it has content or is intentionally empty.
How to fix it
- Missing on informative images: add a concise, specific description.
- Missing on image links or buttons: describe the destination or action.
- Decorative images: set
alt=""so assistive tech ignores them.
How Crawlpit Monster reports it
Images missing alt text appear as an issue group on the dashboard, and each page's detail view lists that page's images so you can see exactly which ones need attention and fix them in place.
Common mistakes
- Keyword stuffing the alt text. Repeated keywords help no one and can look manipulative.
- Using the file name, like
IMG_2043.jpg, which describes nothing. - Describing decorative images, which adds noise for screen-reader users. Use empty alt instead.
- Leaving image links unlabeled, which is both an accessibility failure and a lost signal.
Frequently asked questions
Does alt text improve rankings?
It is not a major ranking factor, but it helps image search, accessibility, and page understanding, so it is worth doing well.
How long should alt text be?
Usually a short sentence, under about 125 characters. Long enough to be specific, short enough to be read aloud comfortably.
Do decorative images need alt text?
They need an empty alt="" so screen readers skip them. The attribute should exist; its content should be empty.
Should my logo have alt text?
Yes. A logo that links home should describe the site, for example the site name, since it is a functional image.