Site Optimization - using img alt tags

It is a fundamental feature of HTML that images, graphics, and photographs, can be displayed on web pages.  The basic HTML tag for inserting an image is <img src="Tom_Fox_photo.jpg" />.  This code tells a web browser there is an image to display and where to find it. Additionally, to comply with best practice and accessibility standards, the "alt" parameter for the <img> tag is required.

A properly formatted <img> tag is as follows:

<img alt="Photo of Tom Fox" src="Tom_Fox_photo.jpg" />

The "Photo of Tom Fox" part is the alternate text for the image, and it is useful for the visually impaired who use text to voice rendition software. The use of img alt tags is part of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Of more immediate interest to web masters and internet marketing optimizers, the text contained with the <img> alt tag is indexed by Google along with the more obvious parts of a web page.

Proof of concept:

Question: Does Google index img alt tags?

Answer: Yes, when it wants to.

Test: Plug the following . . .

"Screenshot of Google Toolbar showing a Page Rank of 7/10"
(including quotation marks)

. . .into Google search and see what comes up . . .  besides this post.

The following screenshot image of the W3C web page was formatted with ALT tag text that will be used in an additional SEO test, in the next post.Edit HTML

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Related posts:

SEO experiments - Google index of exact quotes

Site optimization - additional test of img alt tag text

SEO - img ALT text on Bing and Yahoo! search

Screenshot 1 - 20100724-01

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky
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