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
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
-
List of stop words
Hello, I have that search engine discounts stop words in order to gain computing power. Is there a list of those words that are discounted ? Thank you,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoanalytics0 -
Should the Title Tag and the H1 Tag not be the same or not anymore and can that be classed as over optimization?
Hi All, I am just evaluating my title tags, H1,H2's etc and wondered in light of the google algorithm changes over the last 12 months , we should look at more diversity as opposed to things possibly looking over optimized... Originally (18 months ago) my Title tags considered of 2/3 keyword phrases , then I reduced this to my keyword phrase | Brand Name but a majority of my H1's and H2's had the same keyword phrases. Historically this has served us very well and rankings for good but over the last 12 months, we were hit by panda, hummingbird etc...and which we are trying to recover from and from what I have read, the rules have changed with regards to good seo./ over optimized SEO. We have been writting unique content , making more of our links branded etc to sort things out from that perspective but on the page stuff is just as important so I would like to get this right. I am now thinking , that I may be getting penalized if my H1 and title's , H2 are the same ? and that they should be obviously related but different. H2's again , need to be related but not the same as either of the above. Is that how things should be these days ? from what I have read about this, most of the articles are not that recent so I don't what to do what is now redundant advice Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks Pete
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PeteC120 -
If a website Uses <select>to dropdown some choices, will Google see every option as Content Or Hyperlink?</select>
If a website Uses <select> to dropdown some choices, will Google see every option as Content Or Hyperlink?</select>
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Zanox0 -
Using href lang tag for multi-regional targeting on the same page
Hi, I have the site au.example.com and I ranked on google AustraliaI would like to be ranked also in Google New Zeland for the same page (au.example.com) Because they are geographically & culturally close Can I place href lang tag for both countries and present the same page The code should look like: OR should i have create a different page for New Zealand (for eample: http://au.example.com/EN-NZ) And the code will look like: What will work better or there is other solution? Hope I’m clear.. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kung_fu_Panda0 -
Google Brand Preference- Real Estate Industry
So the changes in the Google algo over the last 2 months has ruined most real estate oriented SERPS. I used to rank very well for all of my chosen local real estate keywords. Google pretty much serves up Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Remax(corporate), Century21(corporate), ERA(corporate), and Exit(corporate) for every high traffic real estate serp. It's pathetic. Literally useless to searchers. Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com have always been contenders. Now they just dominate. They were always front page, now they are top three in every high volume real estate serp nation wide. The truly disheartening thing about the update is that it's putting franchise websites in the top rankings that in many cases don't even have a local feed to real estate. So users cant even search properties, but Google's brand is putting them above all the local franchise offices. So if you are a Remax office, Remax's official site is beating you on your local real estate keywords. The corporate site doesn't even relate at all to the local search. I described the issue. I could use the next five sentence to cry about my lack of faith in G anymore, but I won't. How does one compete with brands like Zillow for local keywords. If anyone has a local realtor client that competes against Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com, I am willing to pay you for consultation.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | joseph11790 -
Google Places: Multiple company listings. How to rank the HQ page over a branch location.
Hi Moz experts! I have a client with Google Place listings for multiple branch locations and for some reason the fully SEO optimized Head Office listing is being beaten by an un-optimized branch listing. The HQ listing gets a tonne of traffic where as the ranking and unoptimized branch location doesn't and is the main listing when searching through Google. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Jon_bangonline1 -
Custom Attributes in Google Places
Hi Guys I'm looking for some clarity of what I can and can't add to the custom attribute fields in a Google Places listing. From my understanding, you can add additional information about your services, but not what those services are. The issue I'm trying to resolve is that a client of mine offers far more than the 5 services/ category options Places allow. They are a home services company, covering all sorts from plumbing, painting and decorating, through to extensions etc. They have about 25 different services. At the moment I'm restricted to just getting rankings for 5 services (correlated to the categories in Places), when I'd like to rank locally for them all. As Google is showing local results for most search queries related to their services whether those searches are geographically modified or not, I'm in a position where even if I am ranking top 5 organically for the terms, I'm still on bottom of page 1, or top of page 2. Would it be wise to add these additional services to the custom attributes section of the Places listing, or would this set off the potential for a listing suspension? Any ideas how to combat this problem would be very welcome.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PerchDigital0 -
Optimising a website for multiple keywords and multiple towns
Hello, We have a clients site who we are trying to rank for 10 keywords accross 20 towns so a combination of 200. What would be the best way to tackle this. Their url is www.abbottclarkeifa.co.uk. Thanks Shehzad
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Gareth_Cartman0