Using Alt and Title attributes on images: why it is important

We live in the age of visual culture. We use images to convey feelings and emotions, to tell stories, and to advertise our products or services.

At the highest level, images help your visitors connect and feel comfortable on your site. The message delivered with the help of a picture is really effective, and you shouldn’t forget to optimize them towards search engines. Today, we will explain why using alt attributes on your images is of paramount importance, and what module can help you to integrate alt tags on your Drupal site.

Making Images Readable for Everyone

People recognize pictures easily, but search engines have difficulties when it comes to image recognition. For best SEO practices you shouldn’t use generic names, instead you should describe what is depicted on an image or what the particular picture means. Search engine crawlers cannot interpret the image. Blind and visually impaired people that utilize screen readers to understand web content and users with standard text-only mode browsers cannot recognize it.

So, how can you tell what is illustrated on a picture? Simply add an accurate and easy to understand alt attribute to your image. The correct syntax is <img src=”name.jpeg” alt=”text”>. If a picture is used for decoration purposes you can use blank attribute (e.g., alt=""). If the image is used for a call-to-action button, you can use the title attribute, like “Buy the product.” If the image presents a lot of important information, you can summarize it in a short line for the alt attribute. Google respects pages where alt texts determine what is on the image and the topic of surrounding text.

Drupal Module for Alt and Title Tags

ImageField Tokens is a great module for picture optimization. It extends the functionality of Image fields adding the ability to specify default values and use node tokens in the Alt and Title text. It contains settings that will definitely ease the website optimization process during its content filling. We advise you to read an article about SEO-modules as well as their functions and practical use.

Our Drudesk team can make a website audit to help you to identify which pictures contain this attributes, and which don’t. We will optimize all your website images!