New: PixelRank for Chrome. Audit any page for images missing alt text or still named DSC_1553.jpg, then send them straight here.

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How to write useful alt text for website images

Write alt text for a person who cannot see the image in this particular place on the page. Decide what the image contributes, then express that information directly. The surrounding content changes what needs to be said.

Describe the information the reader needs

For a product detail, describe the feature that this view reveals. For a process photograph, explain the step being demonstrated. Avoid guessing facts that are not visible or supplied by the editor, such as a person’s identity or an unverified material.

Read the page heading and nearby copy before drafting. If a caption already supplies a long explanation, use the alt text to communicate the image’s essential contribution without simply repeating the entire caption.

Edit an AI draft before publishing

An AI description is a starting point. Compare the subject, color, count, text, orientation, and relationships against the image. Remove inferred claims such as premium, eco-friendly, or award-winning unless those claims have a relevant verified basis.

There is no useful universal rule that every image must have exactly the same number of characters. Keep the description economical, but preserve the detail needed to understand the image. Complex information may need a separate text explanation on the page.

Check the image’s role in the interface

A photo used to illustrate a paragraph has a different role from an icon that submits a form. When the image is a link or control, review whether the accessible label tells the reader what activating it will do.

PixelRank can draft a description from an upload and your context. It cannot determine every detail of the final page placement, so make that last review in your website editor.

WORKED EXAMPLE

A practical comparison

Before
beautiful kitchen best kitchen renovation
Better approach
Kitchen island with three stools beneath two pendant lights

The revised example communicates visible content without adding unsupported praise.

Illustrative example, not a customer result.

Further reading

For platform guidance, consult Google’s image SEO documentation and the W3C image accessibility tutorials. These guides combine editorial workflows with the product’s current capabilities; search visibility depends on more than image metadata.

Put the workflow to use

Draft descriptive filenames and alt text, review the results, and export your image metadata. Start with 10 images per month on Free.

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