Add alt text to your website images

Alt text is a short description of an image. Screen readers read it aloud, so guests who cannot see a photo still know what it shows, and search engines use it to understand your images and show them in Google Images. You can add alt text to the images on your Lodgify website.

💡 Note: Alt text is not generated for you. You write it yourself, which means you decide exactly what each image says.

Add alt text to an image

To describe an image on your website, follow these steps.

1. Go to your left-hand menu and select Website builder.
2. Open Pages and click the image in the body of the page that you want to describe.

3. Type your description in the Alt text field. Your description saves on its own, so there is nothing else to click here.

   

4. Click Publish website to make the change live.

💡 Note: Repeat this for each image you want described.

Which images can have alt text

The Alt text field does not appear on every image on your site.

• Images in the body of a page. These have the Alt text field, as described above.
• Slideshow and hero images. These do not take alt text. They have a headline instead, which is visible text on the page rather than a description of the picture.
• Images inside a Content block. A Content block handles images its own way. Click the image, then click Edit, and you can set a Title, a Caption, a Position, and a Link. That dialog has no Alt text field, so to describe one of these images, you open the block's HTML with the code brackets and add an alt attribute to the img tag yourself.
  

💡 Note: If you want alt text without touching any HTML, add the picture to the page as an image rather than inside a Content block.

Write alt text that helps

Describe the photo for someone who cannot see it. Keep it short and specific, and name what is actually in the picture rather than listing search terms.

🔎 Example: Sea-view terrace with sun loungers, Villa Mar, Tenerife.

A few things worth knowing:

• One clear sentence is plenty. Screen readers read the whole thing aloud.
• Skip phrases such as "photo of" or "image of". Screen readers already announce that it is an image.
• Write for a guest, not for a search engine. Strings of keywords read badly aloud and add nothing for search.

Frequently asked questions

Will alt text improve my Google ranking?

Not directly. Alt text helps your images show up in Google Images, which is a different thing from your website's position in web search results. It works alongside your page titles, descriptions, and content.

Does alt text make my website compliant with accessibility laws?

On its own, no. Describing your images is one baseline accessibility requirement, and a compliant website needs more than alt text. Alt text gives you the tool to describe what your photos show.

Is alt text added automatically?

No. You need to write it yourself for each image.