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.
[HELP!] File Name and ALT Tags
-
Hi, please answer my questions:
1. Is it okay to use the same keyword on both file name and alt tags when inserting an image?
Example:
File Name: buy-lego-online.jpg
ALT tag: buy-lego-online
Will it trigger Google Panda? Will I be penalized for that? Or the file name and alt tags should be different from each other? Because when inserting an image on Wordpress, the alt tags are always the same as the file name by default.
2. For example, I have 2 images in a page (same topic/niche) and I will put "cheap-lego-for-kids" and "best-lego-for-sale" as alt tags. Considering that I repeat the word "lego", is it considered keyword stuffing? Will I be penalized for that?
Thanks in advance!
-
I know this is like beating a dead horse, but thought I would link to Search Metric's 2014 ranking factors study. What is missing in what they see as factors that increase rank is ALT tags on images.
You can see the infographic below, you can also download the 80+ page report which I would highly recommend
http://www.searchmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/infographic-seo-ranking-factors-2014.jpg
~Cheers
-
Using a word twice on a page is indeed, not keyword stuffing - where did I say that it was??? I don't believe I have EVER said that in all the years I've worked in digital marketing!
I said that using the same alt tag would be spammy - the reason I think that is that it either implies that you don't have unique images on the page (so what's the point of them?) or that you have been lazy with your alt tags by repeating the same one over again. Both bad user experiences for folk that need them.
-
Hi Amelia, you're right about that alt tags are for people who use screenreaders. Though search engines like google also use the alt tag to recognize there is an image file.
The alt tag is an onpage factor that influence ranking (http://moz.com/learn/seo/on-page-factors)
Although the alt tag may looks like as not important, it's worth using it.
About the spammy thing, using a word twice on a page has nothing to do with keywordstuffing
Grtz, Leonie
-
Hey Amelia.
Yes you are absolutely correct, alt tags are for people, and should be used to that end. When I said it 'tells' Google what the images is about I was responding directly to Shawn's comment that ALT tags are for accessibility, not SEO...
Technically yes, but Google does use the alt text as a relevancy signal (at least as far as we know). And ranks your image (in Google images) based primarily on that information. It’s a part of SEO for better or worse. Besides, you can both improve your on-page AND give relevant and meaningful info to the user, i've never had to choose. If it came down to it I’d always prioritize the user.
-
Amen Amelia. I said the same, but not nearly as thorough as you did.
-
Hi,
I just wanted to dispel a few myths going on here...
- ALT tags are NOT to 'Tell Google' what the image is about, they are there for people who use screen readers to enrich their use of the internet.
- Screen readers can be set up to read out alt tags, file names or title attributes - depending on the user's preference and presumably on the site they are looking at
- Google can and does read image file names: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32567/A-Marketer-s-Guide-to-Optimizing-Images-for-Google-Search.aspx
If you pick relevant images for your pages then you probably will be able to get keywords into both the alt tag and the file name. I don't think this is spammy! It's accurate.
What would be spammy, and this has already been covered by Issac, is if you repeat the same alt text on the same page - vary it! - 'Blue lego bricks' etc. I personally would avoid saying stuff like 'cheap', 'buy' etc UNLESS the image has that text within it (say a picture of lego with a headline within the image saying 'cheap lego') in which case you are doing exactly what the alt tag is there for - enabling screen reader users to experience as similar experience to us sighted folk as possible.
Sorry for the rant, but it annoys me that something that is meant to help people who are (to my mind) at a disadvantage is abused for SEO purposes!
Best wishes,
Amelia
**EDIT: I am well aware that Google and other search engines use alt tags for rankings. What I wanted the OP to be mindful of is that alt tags were not invented 'to tell google what an image is about'. And to point out their value and use for people using screen readers. Most people do not fully understand how blind users navigate the inter-webs, me included. I just think if I can do something to make it easier for them then I will. If you'd prefer to write alt tags purely for the search engines, that is entirely your prerogative! **
-
No you won't be penalised for that.
But do check out my initial response below for a more detailed answer.
-
Thanks so much, Isaac! Sorry for the newbie question. For you, is it okay to use the same file name and alt tags in an image?
For example:
File name: cheap-lego-for-kids.jpg
Alt tag: Cheap Lego for Kids
Will I be penalized for this?
-
A space between each word
Think of the user. Some poeple don't have their images active when useing the web. What would they want to see?
Isaac.
-
Hi Mai.
You should be fine with the example you give. So long as you don't just repeat 'lego for kids’ over and over on the page!
Just add your keywords into natural writing style that your users will find usefull and infomative.
Alt tags are useful for SEO. They 'tell' Google what the image is all about. The images and the alt text should be relevant to what's on your page. So I hope your page is about lego products
Alt tags also makes your images more likely to rank in Google images for relevent keyword searches. This is becoming more popular with people who like to scan through products visually.
Hope that helps.
Isaac.
-
Thank you very much! Last question, which one is better to use on alt tags?
SPACE or HYPHEN? Cheap Lego for Kids or cheap-lego-for-kids?
Thanks again!
-
ALT tags are for accessibility, not SEO. Screen readers will look at those tags and read to those that have trouble with seeing the page what the image is.
As long as the ALT tags are accurate representations of what the image is, you should be okay. If you are attempting to stuff keywords into ALT tags and they do not accurately describe what the image is, then you may not receive any benefit and could potentially get some kind of penalty.
-
Hi, Google can't read (yet) image filenames, that's why we use the alt tag, to tell google what's the image is about. So you can use the image file name as alt tag, no problem. If you use the word "lego" twice it's not keyword stuffing.
here's something to read about keyword stuffing: http://moz.com/community/q/what-constitutes-keyword-stuffing
Grtz, Leonie
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
-
301 Redirects - Large .htaccess file question
We are moving about 5000 pages from root into different folders. We need to individually 301 each page because the are sitting at root level now: mysite.com/page.com We want to move them to: mysite.com/folder/page.html etc I dont think redirect match can works because of the different files names and folders they are being moved in to. Will 5000 entries in .htacess slow site loading? Any other suggestions how to handle?
On-Page Optimization | | leadforms0 -
H1 tag- on home page - what is it best to include
is it best to have in the H1 tag 1. just our website address 2. combination of website address followed by short keywords about our website
On-Page Optimization | | CostumeD0 -
Category page canonical tag
I know this question has been asked a few times on here but I'm looking for very specific advice. Currently when you go to a category, say http://www.bronterose.co.uk/range.html, a canonical tag is added to the head of the page. There are plenty of "variant" pages which carry the same tag, for example: /range.html?p=2
On-Page Optimization | | crichardson9
/range.html?p=3
/range.html?dir=asc&order=price
/range.html?dir=asc&limit=all&order=price Is it wise to push the "link juice" for each of these variant pages to the top level page? Or should each variant page have its own unique canonical tag? After reading many blog posts, guides and papers I'm truly confused! Any general guidance or recommendations would be much appreciated. Chris.1 -
Title tag length
Hi, I am fairly new to SEO and have just noticed the end of my title text has been cut off by Google in the serps results. Everything i have read tells me titles should be maximum of 70 characters, however, Google is only displaying 54. See below Security systems | wireless | battery powered | Police... Nobody else on the page is showing more than 54 characters. Am i missing something obvious? Any and all help gratefully appreciated. Thanks Si
On-Page Optimization | | DaddySmurf0 -
Help Please! - Anchor Text in the Menu
Hi everyone, I am a SEOMOZ newbie and I have been learning about SEO for a while now whilst working on my site - lockcity.co.uk - I already understood the importance of anchor text but was amazed to learn how google only count the anchor text used in the first link (http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/anchor-text). My questions are - does this rule still apply? and if so do the menus really count as the first link? If I went on this approach, this would make my menus too long for e.g. on my 'Auto Locksmith' page, my targetted keywords are 'Auto Locksmith' but also the town keywords need to be included. I really thought I had this covered on the home page by making sure the anchor text and alt text were keyword relevant to the link, but looks like Ive been missing out on an opportunity. Our business is slightly complicated in that the 25 mile radius we cover includes 4 different regions - therefore I feel like I always have to get these keywords in as well to make sure we get traffic from our area. Thanks for any advice you can give!
On-Page Optimization | | LockCity0 -
Title and Heading Tags
Firstly I would like to comment on how helpful this site is. I haven't posted much before but have been reading tonnes of answers for many months now and have been finding it really useful. I used the SEOmoz scanner and the main problem highlighted was duplicate content so I started to add 'customer product reviews' I had received and unique 'further information' to each page (hopefully this was the right thing to do to solve duplicate content! : ) ) Then I looked at heading and title tags. Currently I set title tags for each product page to be "Brand Name- Product Name" but after doing some research we are thinking of putting Keyword Description of Product | Product Name | Brand Name (around 60 characters long). So is this the advised thing to do and create unique titles that are relevant to each specific product page for over 200 pages we have? In addition, any advice on setting optimum tags would be great. We keep reading varying tips online. I gather ideally h1 needs to be a shorter keyword rich version of the title tag? Many Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | jannkuzel0 -
Generic domain for SEO versus Brand name
I am currently building a retail e-commerce site in a highly competitive area. We have a generic brand name; e.g. kitchen-knives.com and we also have another brand name, e.g. 'slycers.com' We have 3 options that I can see and I would like to know which is better for SEO. Build generic.com as a blog site. Link to brand.com 301 redirect from generic.com to brand.com. Use generic.com as anchor text in all links 301 redirect from brand.com to generic.com . Use generic.com as anchor text in all links Also, if there are other better options, then I would appreciate the input! thanks
On-Page Optimization | | cestor0 -
Alt tag matching product titles - e-commerce
Hey all, Just wondering if it is ok to match the alt tag to product titles. Imagine an e-commerce site that lists a whole lot of products on any one page for any one category. Each product listing has a thumbnail image beside it. The easiest way to implement this dynamically is to use the product title for the alt tag. Anyone had any experience with this? Is it overkill / spam of keywords - given that the product title is repeated. Our current situation is that our alt tags are simply blank or say 'photo' which is no good, and we have hundreds of thousands of pages. Cheers, Croozie
On-Page Optimization | | sichristie0