Low impactContent
Missing Image Alt Text
Images without alt text hurt accessibility and miss image-search traffic. Here's how to write good alt text.
What it means
Image elements lack the alt attribute, or the alt is empty when it shouldn't be.
Why it matters
Alt text helps screen readers, lets Google index images for image search, and serves as fallback when images fail to load.
How to fix it
- Identify images flagged as missing alt text.
- For content images: write a short (under ~125 char) description of what's in the image.
- For decorative images: explicitly set alt="" so screen readers skip them.
- Don't keyword-stuff. Describe accurately.
Example
Before
<img src="/hero.png">After
<img src="/hero.png" alt="Free SEO scanner dashboard showing 12 prioritized fixes for a sample site">Find this issue on your site automatically
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Frequently asked questions
Is missing alt text an SEO penalty?
Not directly. But it's an accessibility issue and you lose image-search traffic.