Matt Cutts Discusses the Importance of alt Tags

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NbuDpB_BTc

Alt tags are “Alternate Text for Images”.

You should include descriptive Alt Tags for the images on your website. Don’t stuff keywords in there, but give an actual description of the image. In many cases the image relates to your Keyword. This could add just a bit more to your website relevancy for the Keywords.

This is also a courtesy feature for those that have images turned off or may be using a reader.

Example of the html code:

<img src=”images/seoupdates.jpg” alt=”SEO Updates”

width=”32″ height=”83″ align=”left” />

If you use images in your Web pages, its good practice to include Alt text for every image that a visitor to your site will see. ALT tags filled with keywords can also be used to boost your keyword frequency and help you achieve better rankings.

Guidelines for the Alt Text:

1. If the image contains important information – use the attribute to describe the image.
2. Title attribute should be used when the image is serving as a hyperlink to a particular page.

Benefits Of Alt Text:

1. Increase your page’s keyword density score and relevancy for your targeted keywords.
2. Your images will also be optimized for Google’s or Yahoo’s image search if you place keywords inside their ALT tags.
3. Search engines can’t tell what the image is by itself. An Alt Tag can help, along with local content.

If you want your website to be indexed, use the alt attribute to make sure that they won’t miss important sections of your pages.