Alt Text and Image SEO for Photographers
Write alt text, file names and captions that help accessibility and search, without keyword stuffing.
In this article
Alt text is a short description of an image, written for people who cannot see it and for search engines. For a photographer, good alt text says plainly what is in the picture and, where it fits, the place or occasion. Pair it with sensible file names and captions, and avoid stuffing keywords.
The main reason to write it is accessibility. The search benefit follows from doing the job well.
What alt text is
Every image on a web page can have an alt attribute. It does three things:
- Screen readers read it to people who are blind or have low vision.
- Browsers show it when the image cannot load.
- Search engines use it, with the surrounding text, to understand what the image shows.
Alt text is not a caption. A caption sits visibly under the image and adds context. Alt text sits behind it and describes the image itself. Many portfolio pages need both.
Some website builders have a field for alt text on each image, others call it a description. If you cannot find it, check your platform's help pages.
Writing it
Imagine describing the photo to someone over the phone. Say what matters.
Good habits:
- Be specific. "Bride laughing with her bridesmaids on a hotel balcony" beats "wedding".
- Be short. One sentence is plenty.
- Skip "image of" or "photo of". Screen readers already say it is an image.
- Include a place or occasion when it is useful and true, such as a venue name or "newborn session at home".
- Describe what is visible, not what you wish people to search.
- Keep it unique per image. Repeating the same text on a whole gallery helps no one.
Examples (yours will differ):
| Image | Weak | Better |
|---|---|---|
| Couple at sunset | wedding photographer best photos | Couple walking along a beach at sunset, her veil lifting in the wind |
| Newborn on blanket | baby | Newborn sleeping on a cream blanket with tiny hands folded |
| Corporate headshot | headshot photographer | Smiling woman in a navy blazer against a grey studio backdrop |
For decorative images, such as a divider, use empty alt text so screen readers skip them.
Keep sensitivity in mind. Describe people respectfully and leave out private details like children's full names.
File names
File names are a quiet signal. Cameras produce names like IMG_4032.jpg, which tell nobody anything.
- Use short descriptive names with hyphens:
bride-and-bridesmaids-hotel-balcony.jpg. - Include the place or event when it is true and useful:
family-portrait-park-autumn.jpg. - Use lowercase and no spaces or special characters.
- Rename before uploading, not after, so the name sits in the URL.
- Do not repeat the same phrase across every image; vary it.
Renaming hundreds of files is slow, so do it for the images you publish on key pages. A batch rename tool in your editing software can add a base name and a number if you do not want to type each one.
Keep file sizes small too. A fast page helps visitors and search. See speeding up a photography website for compression and loading tips.
Captions
Captions are visible text, and people read them. They are the place for context and a human voice.
- Use them for names, places and short stories. "Rohan and Mira at the garden ceremony" tells a visitor something alt text does not need to.
- Use them sparingly. Not every photo needs one.
- Credit vendors and venues where appropriate, with their agreement.
- Match the caption to the page topic. A venue page can name the venue, florist and planner.
Captions also give you text to link from. Linking a venue name to the venue's page or to a related post helps visitors move around. If you plan content on a calendar, the marketing calendar can hold caption and image tasks too.
Page text matters more than any single image tag. Write real paragraphs on your service pages and blog posts around the images.
Mistakes
- Keyword stuffing. "wedding photographer London best wedding photos cheap" is unhelpful and can look spammy.
- Leaving alt text empty on meaningful images.
- Using the same alt text for the whole gallery.
- Writing "image of".
- Putting text inside images such as a price list as a picture. Screen readers and search cannot read it. Use real text.
- Forgetting mobile. Check that images are not cropped so much that the description no longer fits.
A quick audit helps. Pick your five most visited pages, check each image for alt text and file name, and fix what is missing. Repeat every few months.
Linking it to leads
Image work only pays if visitors reach you. Make sure each page has a clear way to enquire, and record where leads come from. In ClickBook, website form leads land in one list with the source, so you can see which pages and campaigns bring people. Take a look at the demo if you want to see how.
Image search is also useful with your social work. The same descriptive habits help your Meta ads for photographers creative notes and your team's schedule and handovers, because everyone can find the right image by name.
Frequently asked questions
What is alt text?
A short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers and used by search engines. It also shows if the image fails to load.
How long should alt text be?
Usually one short sentence, often under about 125 characters. Say what is in the image, plainly.
Should every image have alt text?
Meaningful images should. Purely decorative images can have empty alt text so screen readers skip them.
Does alt text help Google rankings?
It helps search engines understand your images and can support image search. It is one small factor and does not replace good page content.