Image alt text for fashion stores
Alt text is a short description of an image. It helps people who use screen readers, it appears when an image fails to load, and search engines use it to understand what a photo shows. Here is how to write it for fashion products and add it in Shopify.
What alt text is and why it matters
Alt text describes an image in words. Shopify shows it when an image does not load, and assistive technology reads it aloud to visually impaired customers. Google calls alt text the most important metadata attribute for an image, because it uses it together with the page content to understand what the image shows.
Alt text is first of all about accessibility. That it also helps search is a bonus, not a reason to stuff it with keywords.
How to write it
- Describe what is visible, in plain words.
- Be brief. Shopify allows up to 512 characters but recommends 125 or less.
- Use the product name or type where it fits naturally.
- Do not stuff keywords. Google warns that it hurts the experience and can be treated as spam.
- Skip filler such as “image of” or “photo of”. Screen readers already announce an image.
From bad to good
Google’s own example shows the idea with a puppy: no alt text is bad, a list of keywords is bad, “puppy” is better, and “Dalmatian puppy playing fetch” is best. The same applies to clothing.
- Bad: nothing at all
- Bad: “dress black dress women dress cheap dress buy dress”
- Better: “black dress”
- Best: “Black linen midi dress with a square neckline, worn with white sandals”
Examples for common fashion photos
- Front view: “Oatmeal knit cardigan with wooden buttons, front view”
- Detail: “Close-up of the double-stitched hem on a navy cotton shirt”
- On a model: “Model in a rust-colored wool coat, hands in pockets”
- Styled: “Striped linen trousers styled with a white tee and leather sandals”
File names help a little
Google says filenames give only light clues about an image, but a short descriptive name is better than a generic one. Use black-linen-shirt-front.jpg rather than IMG00023.jpg or image1.jpg.
How to add alt text in Shopify
- In the Shopify admin, go to Products and open a product.
- Click a media item to open its preview.
- Click Add alt text, type your description and click Save alt text.
You can also upload alt text in bulk with a CSV file. The media editor may suggest alt text for images that lack it. Review each suggestion before you accept it, because accepting saves it to the file.
Check your own store
Missing alt text is one of the things our free Content Audit for Shopify extension flags. It also checks your blog, product descriptions and photo counts.
Questions
How long should alt text be?
Keep it brief. Shopify allows up to 512 characters but recommends 125 or less.
Do I need alt text on every image?
On every image that carries meaning, such as product photos. Purely decorative images do not need a description.
Should I put keywords in alt text?
Use the product name or type where it fits naturally. Keyword stuffing is something Google warns against.
Does alt text improve my ranking?
Google uses it to understand images, so it can help your photos appear in image search. No tool or setting can promise a ranking, and the main reason to write it is accessibility.
Want to see where your store stands?
Our free Chrome extension checks a Shopify store's blog, product descriptions, photos and alt text in one click. Or let us write the content for you every month.