Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
When using ALT tags - are spaces, hyphens or underscores preferred by Google when using multiple words?
-
when plugging ALT tags into images, does Google prefer spaces, hyphens, or underscores? I know with filenames, hyphens or underscores are preferred and spaces are replaced with %20.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
-
When using ALT tags for images, it's generally best to use hyphens to separate multiple words in the text. Google and other search engines tend to interpret hyphens as word separators, which can help improve the accessibility and SEO of your web content. While underscores can also be used, hyphens are the more widely accepted and recommended practice. Spaces should be avoided, as they might not work as expected in all situations, as you mentioned, they can be replaced with "%20" in URLs. Using hyphens in ALT tags ensures better readability and consistency.
-
Google prefers hyphens (-) as word separators in ALT tags when using multiple words. Using hyphens helps improve the readability and search engine optimization of the ALT text for images. For example, if you have an image related to project management professionals, it's better to use "project-management-professionals" in the ALT tag rather than spaces or underscores. This practice helps search engines understand the content of the image more accurately. (PMP Exam Prep) (Project Management Professional)
-
When it comes to using multiple words in ALT tags, there isn't a strict preference by Google for specific characters like spaces, hyphens, or underscores. Google's algorithms are designed to understand various formats and interpret them accordingly. However, it is generally recommended to use hyphens or underscores to separate multiple words in ALT tags, as they can improve readability for both search engines and users. Using either hyphens or underscores creates distinct word boundaries and makes it easier for search engines like Google to recognize and index the content accurately. Ultimately, the most important aspect is to provide descriptive and relevant ALT text to enhance accessibility and user experience.
i am also researching ai at the moment to help me with tech stuff reading this blog
https://givevaluefirst.com/artificial-intelligence-for-dummies/
-
Google prefers hyphens to spaces or underscores in alt tags when using multiple words. This is because hyphens are more descriptive and easier for screen readers to understand.
For example, the alt text "black cat" is more descriptive and informative than "black_cat" or "black cat".
-
Google recommends using hyphens (-) to separate words in ALT tags when using multiple words. This helps improve the accessibility and SEO of your images by making them more readable and understandable for both search engines and users.
-
YES!!!!
Always use lowercase for filenames because if you use Upper and Lower (sometimes called camel case) for your internal and menu linking Google will crawl it and index the U&l. Then the fun begins when you have to match your sitemap to that!
-
1. File names- always use the hyphen.
2. Alt Text - use spaces and normal word structure. Ryan is correct on the technical intent behind the alt tag, but it can also be a good SEO tool, and you should treat those as exact phrase keywords. So nobody is searching for "city-bikes", they are searching for "city bikes". The alt tag should be what the user will put into google.
-
Yes, use hyphens for filenames, and lower case.
-
Thanks Ryan- so as with filenames, is it advantageous to us:
City-Bikes
or
City Bikes
with filenames, I am told preference is for city-bikes.jpg rather than "city bikes.jpg"
-
Ryan, it depends on your site design but you are correct.
Link Titles will appear when you hover your mouse over the link.
Alt tags are designed to display a text description for those who cannot see the image, such as visually impaired readers or crawlers. You can simply type as you would normally with spaces.
Alt tags do have a SEO significance, as do the image's file name. Both can be used to associate keywords or phrases with your web page, as well as the image search vertical.
-
It will probably show the link title if the image is wrapped in a link tag and you have no alt tag. Alt tags do have SEO significance - and they do show when you hover on an image. Use normal text
-
I am confused - I thought what you see when you hover is the Link Title - at least that's how my site has been functioning.
Does alt tag on images not have any SEO significance?
-
The Alt tag is primarily there for usaility - ie when you hover the user can see the alt information. Therefore write how you would write normal text
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Multiple H2 tags
Is it advisable to use only one H2 tag? The template designs for some reason is ended up with multiple H2 tags, I realise if any think it's that each one is that are important and it is all relative. Just trying to assess if it's worth the time and effort to rehash the template. Has anyone done any testing or got any experience? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoman101 -
Title tag: Long tail words or keyword dilution?
Hi all, I am a newbie to SEO. Lately, I have been struggling to optimize my title tag. Ones say that we should have long tail words in title tags because long tail words improve click through rate and generate quality leads. On the other hand, ones say that putting other words in the title tag will dilute the main keyword that my page ranks for. Do keywords really dilute each other in the title tags? I am really confused. Let me give this an example: Web Design Services | Company Name Web Design Services with Conversion Focused | Company Name Which one would you prefer and why? Thank you. 😄 Best, Raymond
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Raymondlee0 -
Capitalization of first letter of each word in meta description. Catches more attention, but may this lead to google ignoring the meta description then more frequently?
Capitalization of first letter of each word in meta description. Catches more attention, but may this lead to google ignoring the meta description then more frequently? Same for an occasional capitalized FREE in meta description. Anybody had experience with this?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | lcourse1 -
Should I be using meta robots tags on thank you pages with little content?
I'm working on a website with hundreds of thank you pages, does it make sense to no follow, no index these pages since there's little content on them? I'm thinking this should save me some crawl budget overall but is there any risk in cutting out the internal links found on the thank you pages? (These are only standard site-wide footer and navigation links.) Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GSO0 -
Ranking on google but not Bing?
Any reason why I could be ranking for Google but not Bing?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | edward-may0 -
Will Google View Using Google Translate As Duplicate?
If I have a page in English, which exist on 100 other websites, we have a case where my website has duplicate content. What if I use Google Translate to translate the page from English to Japanese, as the only website doing this translation will my page get credit for producing original content? Or, will Google view my page as duplicate content, because Google can tell it is translated from an original English page, which runs on 100+ different websites, since Google Translate is Google's own software?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | khi50 -
Hosting images on multiple domains
I'm taking the following from http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html "Splitting components allows you to maximize parallel downloads. Make sure you're using not more than 2-4 domains because of the DNS lookup penalty. For example, you can host your HTML and dynamic content on www.example.org and split static components between static1.example.org and static2.example.org" What I want to do is load page images (it's an eCommerce site) from multiple sub domains to reduce load times. I'm assuming that this is perfectly OK to do - I cannot think of any reason that this wouldn't be a good tactic to go with. Does anyone know of (or can think of) a reason why taking this approach could be in any way detrimental. Cheers mozzers.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | eventurerob0 -
Should I use both Google and Bing's Webmaster Tools at the same time?
Hi All, Up till now I've been registered only to Google WMT. Do you recommend using at the same time Bing's WMT? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BeytzNet0