When using ALT tags - are spaces, hyphens or underscores preferred by Google when using multiple words?
-
when plugging ALT tags into images, does Google prefer spaces, hyphens, or underscores? I know with filenames, hyphens or underscores are preferred and spaces are replaced with %20.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
-
When using ALT tags for images, it's generally best to use hyphens to separate multiple words in the text. Google and other search engines tend to interpret hyphens as word separators, which can help improve the accessibility and SEO of your web content. While underscores can also be used, hyphens are the more widely accepted and recommended practice. Spaces should be avoided, as they might not work as expected in all situations, as you mentioned, they can be replaced with "%20" in URLs. Using hyphens in ALT tags ensures better readability and consistency.
-
Google prefers hyphens (-) as word separators in ALT tags when using multiple words. Using hyphens helps improve the readability and search engine optimization of the ALT text for images. For example, if you have an image related to project management professionals, it's better to use "project-management-professionals" in the ALT tag rather than spaces or underscores. This practice helps search engines understand the content of the image more accurately. (PMP Exam Prep) (Project Management Professional)
-
When it comes to using multiple words in ALT tags, there isn't a strict preference by Google for specific characters like spaces, hyphens, or underscores. Google's algorithms are designed to understand various formats and interpret them accordingly. However, it is generally recommended to use hyphens or underscores to separate multiple words in ALT tags, as they can improve readability for both search engines and users. Using either hyphens or underscores creates distinct word boundaries and makes it easier for search engines like Google to recognize and index the content accurately. Ultimately, the most important aspect is to provide descriptive and relevant ALT text to enhance accessibility and user experience.
i am also researching ai at the moment to help me with tech stuff reading this blog
https://givevaluefirst.com/artificial-intelligence-for-dummies/
-
Google prefers hyphens to spaces or underscores in alt tags when using multiple words. This is because hyphens are more descriptive and easier for screen readers to understand.
For example, the alt text "black cat" is more descriptive and informative than "black_cat" or "black cat".
-
Google recommends using hyphens (-) to separate words in ALT tags when using multiple words. This helps improve the accessibility and SEO of your images by making them more readable and understandable for both search engines and users.
-
YES!!!!
Always use lowercase for filenames because if you use Upper and Lower (sometimes called camel case) for your internal and menu linking Google will crawl it and index the U&l. Then the fun begins when you have to match your sitemap to that!
-
1. File names- always use the hyphen.
2. Alt Text - use spaces and normal word structure. Ryan is correct on the technical intent behind the alt tag, but it can also be a good SEO tool, and you should treat those as exact phrase keywords. So nobody is searching for "city-bikes", they are searching for "city bikes". The alt tag should be what the user will put into google.
-
Yes, use hyphens for filenames, and lower case.
-
Thanks Ryan- so as with filenames, is it advantageous to us:
City-Bikes
or
City Bikes
with filenames, I am told preference is for city-bikes.jpg rather than "city bikes.jpg"
-
Ryan, it depends on your site design but you are correct.
Link Titles will appear when you hover your mouse over the link.
Alt tags are designed to display a text description for those who cannot see the image, such as visually impaired readers or crawlers. You can simply type as you would normally with spaces.
Alt tags do have a SEO significance, as do the image's file name. Both can be used to associate keywords or phrases with your web page, as well as the image search vertical.
-
It will probably show the link title if the image is wrapped in a link tag and you have no alt tag. Alt tags do have SEO significance - and they do show when you hover on an image. Use normal text
-
I am confused - I thought what you see when you hover is the Link Title - at least that's how my site has been functioning.
Does alt tag on images not have any SEO significance?
-
The Alt tag is primarily there for usaility - ie when you hover the user can see the alt information. Therefore write how you would write normal text
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does Implemented SEO Changes Using Google Tag Manager are not supported any more?
Hello all! On May i read the article https://moz.com/blog/seo-changes-using-google-tag-manager and I implemented it in order to de-index some pages. I was really happy cause it worked but now the same problem appeared. Does anybody know if Google stopped taking into consideration SEO changes through Tag Manager? Hin6E Hin6E
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GeorgeGia0 -
Silly Question still - Because I am paying high to google adwords is it possible google can't rank me high in organic?
Hello All, My ecommerce site gone in penalty more than 3 years before and within 3 months I got message from google penalty removed. Since then till date my organic ranking is very worst. In this 3 years I improved my site onpage very great. If I compare my site with all other competitors who are ranking in top 10 then my onpage that includes all schema, reviews, sitemap, header tags, meta's etc, social media, site structure, most imp speed, google page speed insight score, pingdom, w3c errors, alexa rank, global rank, UI, offers, design, content, code to text raito, engagement rate, page views, time on site etc all my sites always good compare to competitors. They also have few backlinks I do have few backlinks only. I am doing very high google adwords and my conversion rate is very very good. But do you think because I am paying since last 3 year high to google because of that google have some setting or strategy that those who perform well in adwords so not to bring up in organic? Is it possible I can talk with google on this? If yes then what will be the medium of conversation? Pls give some valuable inputs I am performing very much in paid so user end site is very very well. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | pragnesh96390 -
Do I use H1 tag for logo or page content?
Should the h1 tag be used for the main page content or the logo? I understand the original method was too H1 the logo with the main search term, does this still hold true or should it be content focused?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoman100 -
SEO Dilution: Key Words in Sub Directories v Using a Hyphen in a Single Directory
Hi Moz Community, I'm trying to understand if there is really any material difference with going with one URL structure compared to the other. I assume the hyphen example below is what most would argue is the best option, but due to certain circumstances (I wont go into) I'm most likely going to be forced to use the sub directories URL option. I'm just concerned that going down this path will have a material SEO effect...looking for peoples thoughts? Keep in mind for this example: I'm using the Shopify eCommerce platform and am forced to use the word 'collection' in the url I sell shoes so the word ' Birkenstock ' within the URL represents the brand & 'Sandals ' represents the style. The key word search in this instance would be birkenstock sandals Example 1 http://companyname/collection/birkenstock/sandals V http://companyname/collection/birkenstock-sandals Example 2 http://companyname/collection/sandals/birkenstock V http://companyname/collection/sandals-birkenstock Will be interesting to hear if people what difference if any each will bring. Thanks in advance for any insight.....
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | chewythedog0 -
Reporting Webspam to Google
We are in ecommerce, and there are a few review sites that are dominating the rankings for our products. The sites are very good - very well written content (2000+ words) and visually appealing sites. The 2 main culprits are clearly black hat. One site's backlinks are pure spam, and the other is buying footer and sidebar links. Will ratting them to Google have any impact? If not, any suggestions on how to compete? Our competing pages are product descriptions, and creating a 2000 word product description seems inappropriate. Also, all of these products are brand new, and due to extensive media spends, the search volume is very high. Since they are beating us to the punch by getting good content posted first, they are proving difficult to displace.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AMHC0 -
Is it dangerous to use "Fetch as Google" too much in Webmaster Tools?
I saw some people freaking out about this on some forums and thought I would ask. Are you aware of there being any downside to use "Fetch as Google" often? Is it a bad thing to do when you create a new page or blog post, for example?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BlueLinkERP0 -
Ok to use rich snippets for same product on multiple pages?
I am developing a new set of pages for a series of products which exist on separate sub domains linked to the root domain. The product pages on the sub domains have rich snippets; review count, review score etc. The new pages im building out are for the same products though on the root domain and with different content. Im not comfortable marking those pages up with rich snippets too given they will have the same review counts, scores etc though would like to if its viable? Any thoughts/opinions? Thanks, Andy
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AndyMacLean0 -
Canonical Tag - Question
Hey, I will give a thumbs up and best answer to whoever answers my question correctly. The Canonical Tag is supposed to solve Duplication which is fine. My questions are: Does the Canonical Tag make the PR / Link Juice flow differently? If I have john.long.com/home and john.long.com but put a Canonical Tag on john.long.com/home reading john.long.com then what does this do? Does it flow the Link Equity back to john.long.com? Can you use the Canonical Tag to change PR flow in any means? If I had john.long.com/washing-machines and john.long.com/kids-toys... If I put a Canonical Tag on john.long.com/kids-toys reading john.long.com/washing-machines then would the PR from /kids-toys flow to /washing-machines or would Google just ignore this? (The pages are completely different in this example and content is completely different). Thank you.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AdiRste0