How to Write Alt Text for Product Images (With Examples)

Alt text is one of the highest-ROI SEO tasks available to e-commerce sellers. It takes minutes per product, requires no technical knowledge, and most of your competitors haven't done it. That combination is rare in SEO.

This guide explains what alt text is, why it matters, and exactly how to write it for product images on Shopify, Etsy, and any other e-commerce platform.

What alt text actually is

Alt text — short for alternative text — is a written description of an image that lives in the HTML of a web page. It was originally designed for screen readers used by visually impaired users. When a screen reader encounters an image, it reads the alt text aloud.

Search engines use alt text for a different purpose: to understand what an image shows. Google cannot see images the way humans do. It reads the alt text, the filename, the surrounding text, and embedded metadata to build a model of what the image contains. Alt text is the most direct signal you can provide.

Why alt text matters for e-commerce

For product pages, alt text has three practical effects:

Google Images ranking. Product images with accurate alt text appear in Google Images searches. Images without alt text are effectively invisible. For physical products, Google Images is a legitimate discovery channel — shoppers use it to find products by appearance before they know the brand.

Google Shopping. When your Shopify store is connected to Google Shopping, Google uses your product images and their associated metadata (including alt text) to match your listings to search queries. Better alt text means better query matching.

Accessibility compliance. In many jurisdictions, e-commerce stores are required to provide accessible experiences for users with disabilities. Alt text is a core requirement.

The anatomy of good alt text

Good alt text for a product image answers one question: what would I say to someone on the phone to describe exactly what's in this photo?

The formula: [color] [material] [product type] [distinguishing feature], [context if relevant]

This formula works because it naturally includes the descriptive keywords shoppers use when searching for products.

Formula in action:

| Product | Good alt text | |---|---| | A green leather handbag | Green leather tote bag with gold chain strap, women's fashion accessory | | A ceramic mug | Handmade blue ceramic coffee mug with speckled glaze, 12oz capacity | | A wooden watch | Men's wooden watch with maple wood face and brown leather strap | | A knitted scarf | Chunky knit wool scarf in burgundy, oversized winter accessory |

What bad alt text looks like

Too generic: product image / photo / image

Keyword stuffed: buy leather handbag cheap leather handbag leather handbag sale best leather handbag

Product title copy-paste: The Explorer Bundle — Limited Edition Fall Collection

Filename copy-paste: IMG_4821 / product-1-main

Writing alt text for multiple images of the same product

Most product listings have several images — main shot, detail shots, lifestyle shots, size reference shots. Each image should have distinct alt text that describes what that specific photo shows.

Example: leather wallet product

| Image | Alt text | |---|---| | Front of wallet | Brown leather bifold wallet, front view showing smooth texture | | Interior | Brown leather bifold wallet interior with 6 card slots and cash compartment | | Size reference | Brown leather bifold wallet next to iPhone for size reference | | Detail shot | Close-up of hand-stitched edge detail on brown leather bifold wallet |

Platform-specific instructions

Shopify:

1. Products → click product → click image → "Add alt text"
2. One image at a time — no bulk editor for alt text natively
3. For large catalogs: use a CSV export or an AI tool for bulk processing

Etsy:

1. Listings → click listing → scroll to photos → click "Add alt text" under each photo
2. Etsy supports alt text for all listing images
3. Etsy also reads embedded IPTC metadata from uploaded images

WooCommerce:

1. Media Library → click image → fill "Alternative Text" field
2. Or edit directly from the product page
3. Yoast SEO plugin provides alt text analysis in the SEO panel

How many characters should alt text be?

• Minimum: 10–15 words
• Optimal: 15–25 words
• Maximum: 125 characters

Scaling alt text across a large catalog

1. Prioritize high-traffic products first. Start with your best sellers and most-visited product pages.

2. Use a template for similar products. If you sell 50 variations of the same item, create a template and adapt it.

3. Use AI-powered tools. Tools like ImgSEO analyze the actual image content and generate accurate alt text automatically.

The bottom line

Alt text is the most direct signal you can give Google about what your product images show. It takes minutes per product, scales with the right tools, and most of your competitors haven't done it.

Start with your top 10 products. Write accurate, specific alt text for every image. Check your Google Search Console impressions two weeks later.