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Alternative attribute

What is an alternative attribute ?

An alternative attribute allows search engine robots to understand what an image is in order to be able to index it. In HTML language, it is called the alt attribute and it refers to a textual alternative to an image. 

Why is it important ?

The alt attribute will tell Google what the image corresponds to. It is important to correctly write the title of your image in the HTML code, because the alt attribute is taken into account by the robots for the referencing of your site. In addition, when your image does not appear on the screen, the text written in the alt attribute of the HTML code will appear to the Internet users to give some details about it.

How to write a alt attribute ? 

The simplest and most effective way to write an alt attribute is to use short and descriptive sentences. 

For example :  <img src="https://example.com/image.jpg" alt="clear text alternative" />

An alt attribute must be provided for each picture element <img>. 

In summary, in order for an alt attribute to be written and correctly referenced, it must :

  • be clear, descriptive and short
  • not include terms such as graphic, image or diagram