Alt Text on Shopify: SEO and Accessibility in Every Image

Every image on your Shopify store has an alt text field. Most stores leave it blank or fill it with the product title copied verbatim. Both approaches miss the point.

Alt text (alternative text) serves two audiences simultaneously. For visually impaired users using screen readers, it describes what the image shows. For Google's image crawler, it provides context about the image content and helps it rank in Google Image Search.

Google Image Search drives 20-30% of total Google traffic. For product-heavy eCommerce stores with quality photography, image search can become a significant organic traffic source. But only if your images have proper alt text that tells Google what's in them.

Here's how to write alt text that serves both accessibility and SEO on every image across your Shopify store.

What Good Alt Text Looks Like

Good alt text describes the image concisely and naturally. It answers the question: "If someone couldn't see this image, what would they need to know?"

Product image examples:

Bad: "product-photo-1.jpg" Bad: "Blue T-Shirt Blue T-Shirt Organic Cotton Blue T-Shirt Men's" (keyword stuffing) Bad: "" (empty)

Good: "Men's organic cotton crew neck t-shirt in navy blue, front view" Good: "Hand-poured lavender soy candle in amber glass jar, 8oz" Good: "Woman wearing oversized linen blazer in oatmeal, walking on city street"

The formula: [Subject] + [Key descriptive details] + [Context/setting if relevant]

Keep it under 125 characters. Screen readers typically cut off after that. Be descriptive but concise.

Adding Alt Text in Shopify

Product images: Go to Products, select a product, click on any product image. A text field appears labeled "Alt text" or "Image alt text." Fill it in for every product image.

Theme images: In the theme editor, most image sections have an alt text field in their settings. Headers, banners, about page images — check each one.

Blog post images: When you insert an image into a blog post via the rich text editor, click the image and look for the alt text option.

Collection images: Collections have a featured image. Go to the collection, scroll to the image section, and add alt text.

The bulk approach: For stores with hundreds of products, export your product CSV from Shopify. The "Image Alt Text" column can be filled in bulk using a spreadsheet. Then re-import.

Writing Alt Text for Different Image Types

Primary product image (front/main view): Describe the product as if you were telling someone what it looks like. Include: product type, color, material (if visible), and distinguishing features.

"Black leather crossbody bag with gold chain strap and quilted pattern"

Alternate product angles: Specify the angle or detail being shown. This helps both screen readers (so they know what's different about this image) and Google (so it indexes different angles).

"Side view of quilted leather crossbody bag showing width and strap length" "Interior of black crossbody bag showing three compartments and zip pocket" "Close-up of gold chain strap and clasp detail on crossbody bag"

Lifestyle/contextual images: Describe the scene and how the product appears within it.

"Woman in white sundress carrying quilted crossbody bag at outdoor cafe" "Flat lay of crossbody bag with sunglasses, phone, and lipstick arranged nearby"

Size and scale images: Describe what provides the scale context.

"Crossbody bag held against woman's hip showing size relative to body" "Bag dimensions shown next to standard smartphone for size comparison"

Decorative/brand images (hero banners, background textures): If an image is purely decorative (contributes no information), you can technically leave alt text empty. But if the image contains meaningful content (a banner with text, a lifestyle shot that sets brand tone), describe it.

SEO Strategy for Alt Text

Google uses alt text as a primary signal for image search ranking. Here's how to optimize without over-stuffing:

Include your target keyword naturally. If the product page targets "organic cotton t-shirt," the primary image alt text should include that phrase naturally. "Men's organic cotton t-shirt in forest green, relaxed fit" — the keyword is present without forcing it.

Don't repeat the exact same alt text on every image. Five product images all with "organic cotton t-shirt" as alt text doesn't help Google. Each image should describe something different about the product. Diversify your descriptions.

Use long-tail variations. Different images can target different search queries:

• Image 1: "organic cotton t-shirt in forest green" (product + color)
• Image 2: "soft cotton t-shirt close-up showing fabric texture" (texture/quality)
• Image 3: "man wearing relaxed fit t-shirt with jeans" (styling/use case)
• Image 4: "organic cotton t-shirt size label showing care instructions" (practical detail)

Each image now has a chance to rank for a different image search query.

Don't start with "Image of" or "Photo of." Screen readers already announce "Image:" before reading the alt text. Starting your alt text with "Image of" creates redundancy. Just describe what's shown.

Common Mistakes

Keyword stuffing. "Blue dress women's blue dress party dress cocktail dress blue party cocktail blue dress." This hurts SEO and provides terrible accessibility. Google recognizes stuffing. Screen reader users hate it.

Using the filename. "IMG_3847.jpg" or "product-photo-final-v2.jpg" tells nobody anything. Always write human-readable descriptions.

Same alt text for every image. Copying the product title into every image's alt field. This is lazy and misses the opportunity to describe unique aspects of each image.

Too long. A 300-character alt text is too much. Keep it focused. One sentence. Two at most for complex images.

Ignoring collection and page images. Most stores add alt text to product images but forget about collection hero images, about page photos, blog graphics, and trust badge images. Every image needs alt text.

Alt text on decorative spacers. Transparent spacer images or purely decorative dividers should have empty alt text (alt="") which tells screen readers to skip them entirely.

The Accessibility Imperative

Beyond SEO, alt text is a legal and ethical requirement.

Approximately 285 million people globally are visually impaired. Screen readers are their interface to the web. When your images lack alt text, these users encounter blank spaces — "Image. Image. Image." — with no context about what's being shown.

Accessibility lawsuits against eCommerce sites are increasing. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been interpreted to apply to websites. WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance — the standard most courts reference — requires alt text on all meaningful images.

This isn't just about avoiding lawsuits. It's about serving all customers. 15% of the global population has some form of disability. Making your store accessible expands your addressable market.

Auditing Your Current Alt Text

For a quick audit:

Open your browser's developer tools (right-click, Inspect). Look at image elements. Check the alt attribute. Is it present? Is it descriptive?

For a comprehensive audit, use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your site and export all images with their alt text values. Sort by "Missing Alt Text" to find the gaps. Then sort by "Alt text equals product title" to find the lazy copies that need rewriting.

Priority order for fixing:

1. Product images (most important for SEO and UX)
2. Collection images (category-level SEO)
3. Blog post images (content SEO)
4. Page images (brand and trust)
5. Decorative images (low priority, empty alt is fine)

What To Do Right Now

Pick your top 10 products by traffic or revenue. Open each one. Check every product image for alt text. If it's missing or just the product title, rewrite it using the formula: [Subject] + [Key details] + [Context].

Spend 30 minutes and you'll have 30-50 images properly described. That's 30-50 new opportunities to rank in Google Image Search, plus improved accessibility for every visitor.

If you want a complete SEO audit of your Shopify store including image optimization, structured data, and technical improvements — book a call with our team. We'll identify every optimization opportunity and prioritize by revenue impact.