Open Site Explorer - Image Anchor Text

[nosuchagency]

Hey there.

I'm researching internal links and In my report I get alot of image links with the following text in the Link Anchor Text column: (img alt)(img)[No Anchor Text].

Is it because my images don't have alt-text or something else...

How to optimize correctly?

See attached screenshot.

Best regards

K87xLN8

[nosuchagency]

Awesomeness!

Thanks Tom ;o)

[TomRayner]

Hi Soren

You're spot on there, really.  For images, your alt-text is, in effect, your anchor text.  If one isn't set, OSE will report it like this.

No doubt you'll know what image those pages are using to link to you, so only you know whether or not it would be realistic to ask them to add in an alt-text.  I'd say, where you can, use a descriptive alt text that may or may not include the keyword you're trying to rank for.  There is a school of thought that if you have lots and lots of images linking to your site with the same alt-text, particular if it's an exact match keyword, Google might see it as spammy.  This is particularly relevant for those who use infographics for inbound marketing, although iAcquire did bring out this guide about how you can randomise the alt-text of your images to negate this effect.

In summary, treat alt-text like your anchor text.  Use keywords in them sparingly and correctly, be descriptive where you can.  But if you don't get an alt-text it's not the end of the world by any means.  It's still a link - in some ways it would act like a raw URL text link.

Hope this helps!