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Optimize alt text and file names for image search

Optimize alt text and file names for image search

VerdictMarginal

CategoryOn-Page

Last reviewedNovember 7, 2026

The problem

Images bring no search traffic.

Steps

  1. Name files descriptively before uploading.
  2. Write alt text that describes the image for people who cannot see it.
  3. Use original images where possible.

Evidence

Alt text and file names help Google understand images and are an accessibility requirement, but image search drives meaningful traffic only in visual niches.

Verdict

Marginal, except in visual niches such as recipes, design, products and travel.

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Dan Keller Avatar
Dan Keller
Dan Keller writes repoSEO and its sister site AEOplays, which reviews AEO plays the same way. Before that he edited King Digest, a newsletter on search, marketing and AI, until he got tired of passing on tactics nobody had checked. He reviews each SEO play against what Google documents and what holds up in practice, and says so when the evidence isn’t there yet.