![\"Abandon](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.evolutionarydesigns.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/abandonedcarroute66.jpg\" "\\"Abandon")
<\/a> To add an image to a website you have to use HTML. The code needed to insert an image is<\/p>\n[xml] <img src="http:\/\/yourdomain.com\/image.jpg" alt="" \/>[\/xml]<\/p>\n
The code above is the basic code to insert an image. But this code won\u2019t help the search engines. The crawlers will just pass the images by as if they weren\u2019t there. In order for the search engines to read the images, you will need to add additional code. You will need to add the ALT tag and description tag to the line of code.<\/p>\n
So it should look like this.
\n[xml]<img title="add description" src="http:\/\/yourdomain\/image.jpg" alt="add description here for search engines" \/>[\/xml] <\/p>\n
As you can see we added two additional parts to the code (called attributes). For those that are interested in what each part does in the code, I will explain.<\/p>\n
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title \u2013 is called the title attribute. This where you can add a description of the image. This description will show up when a reader hovers the cursor over an image. This tag isn\u2019t mandatory, but it\u2019s helpful for the readers, and it gives a little more text for the search engines to read. <\/code><\/li>\nsrc \u2013 called the source attribute. This tells the browser where it can find the image file.<\/code><\/li>\nalt \u2013 is the alternative attribute. Sometimes referred to the alt tag. The alt tag is the text version of an image and is used when an image can\u2019t load and this is what the search sees. <\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAlthough all you need is the src attribute to display an image with HTML, your code is considered incorrect or invalid when you do not use the alt tag. So always add an ALT tag.<\/p>\n
Best Practices for the Alt and Title Tags<\/h2>\n
I learned early on that adding descriptions and alt tags to your images is a great way to add SEO value to your articles. This is the perfect way to craft your descriptions and alts for your article keywords (DO NOT KEYWORD STUFF!). Just like your article descriptions (meta descriptions), write something catchy with your major keyword or two. Try and keep them closer to the beginning of the description.<\/code><\/p>\nIf you are doing printscreens for a tutorial or example of the project, write a very descriptive description of what the reader is looking at. Also, you could add at least one image that is the title of your article. <\/code><\/p>\nIf you like to add images that might seem random but if has some sort of relation to the article, then add a description that explains the image, but make it short. <\/code><\/p>\nTake a look at the example image above. Hover over the image to see the description. If I were writing about abandoned cars or Route 66 this would be a great alt and description tag. Its explains what the image is and who took the picture (you don\u2019t necessarily need to add the author name). <\/code><\/p>\nFinal Thoughts<\/code><\/h2>\nAdding images is another way that SEO consultants use to help rank sites. Even if your site only has a small amount of images, always add at least the alt tag to each and every image. Every legal step you do towards SEO will help your search engine rankings. <\/code><\/p>\n