In digital marketing, SEO best practices must extend beyond the written content on a page. The results of a search engine page are increasingly including images apart from the standard results loaded into a dedicated image tab search. If any of your images have not been optimized, there is a vital source of organic traffic that you may inadvertently be ignoring. Alt text is a way to bring a description of images into the evaluation process and help search engines know how to rank a website.
Increasing web accessibility
Today’s consumer often visits a medical practice website when looking for a new doctor, as a website is a one-stop shop for finding out about the providers and staff, seeing the office or location, and looking at services provided. A website that ranks well in search engines often receives higher traffic rates, and if the website meets the consumer’s need, conversion into a patient is more likely to occur. At Doctor Genius, we specialize in optimizing your website to maximize traffic and conversion potential. We understand and utilize SEO for doctors, including the use of alternate text.
Functions of alt text
One way to increase web accessibility is to add alternate text to images. Many websites contain images that have incorrect, missing, or poorly composed text. While the best details to include may be a matter of personal interpretation, the textual content for an image should be an informative alternate to the non-text content on a web page. The goal with alt text is to achieve the following:
- Bring descriptive and semantic meaning to images for more accurate readability by search engines
- Give contextual clues for the image’s placement in a page
- Provide accessibility to content and function when images are not accessible (either through loading difficulties or user choice)
Screen readers and computers are not able to accurately analyze images for the content they represent. Alt text provides language describing both function and content of an image that software can parse.
Focus on context
The alternate text for an image can be all over the place, as images can evoke different thoughts and emotions for individuals. SEO requires a strong focus on the context of the image and the surrounding environment for alternate text to be appropriate. Determine first whether the image serves a function, which is most often when it is used as a link. Otherwise, what content the alt text contains should depend on the information that accompanies the image and the purpose of the text. Appropriate alt text allows a search engine to accurately analyze the content of your page.
Improve your alt text
Perhaps a focus on alternate text has not been a part of your digital marketing strategy. At Doctor Genius, we know the industry and have experience in social media and website customization, including using best practices for optimization with both textual content and images. We have a number of packages to choose from and work with your vision to develop a strong, effective marketing plan. One of our team members will be happy to answer your questions. Reach us for more information.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice
