How do I add alt-text (or alt tags) to images?

Every image on your website should have alt-text. 

Alt text is important for two reasons: 

1. Search engines cannot “read” images. They only know what an image contains if you describe the image using the alt tags. 
2. Not everyone visiting your website can see it! They may be using an app that will read the website to them. Having a strong alt-tag description means the visually impaired can “see” your website better. 

Within Shopify, you can add alt-text to any image directly in the Admin in these boxes: 

The text you enter here will appear in your websites HTML code, where it can be used by search engines to determine if your website contains information linked to what an individual is searching for. 

In your theme code, it will look like this: 

Automatically add alt-text to multiple images at once

If your shop is already set up, but your product images do not have alt-text, it is possible to modify your product template, collection template and other templates in your theme code to automatically add alt-text to your product images using a variable such as the product title or your shop name. 

A product page image alt text can be as simple as:

There are apps available in the Shopify App Store that will automate alt-text for you, and it's a feature we are hoping to add to Plug In SEO someday!

For now, if you are comfortable with making small code changes, you can try this yourself (back up your theme first!).