How do I get the HTML to paste?

Right-click anywhere on the page you want to audit → click "View Page Source" → Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to copy everything. Or right-click a section → Inspect → right-click the element in DevTools → Copy → Copy element.

Does missing alt text trigger a Google penalty?

Not a direct penalty. Missing alt text means missed opportunity — Google can't read the image, so it contributes nothing to your rankings. Pages with well-described images outperform pages with missing alt, all else being equal.

What about background images (CSS background-image)?

CSS background images don't need alt text — they're purely decorative by definition (they can't be added to the DOM as content). This tool only checks HTML img tags, which is the right scope.

Should I add alt text to all 200 images on my product pages?

Yes, but efficiently. Write a template: '[Product Name] — [color/variant] — [context]'. "Nike Air Max 90 — white/red — side profile on grey background". It's 15 seconds per image and the SEO benefit compounds across thousands of product images.

SEO Analysis

Image Alt Text Checker

Paste any HTML and instantly audit every img tag. Finds images with missing alt attributes, empty alt text, decorative alt (alt=''), and properly described images — with a score and fix list.

How to use this tool3 quick steps

Get the page HTML
View Source on the page (Ctrl+U) and copy. Or paste a single block of HTML containing <img> tags.
Paste below
We extract every image tag and check for missing or empty alt attributes.
Fix the flagged images
Missing alt = accessibility blocker AND lost SEO context. Empty alt is OK ONLY for purely decorative images.

InputHTML to audit· Page source or img-tag fragment

OutputImage alt audit· Awaiting input

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Image Alt Guide

Alt text: one field that does two jobs

Alt text simultaneously serves two masters: Google's image crawler (which can't see images) and screen reader users (who rely on alt text to understand page content). Getting it right on both fronts is one of the easiest SEO and accessibility wins on any page.

Missing vs empty alt

Missing alt (no alt attribute at all) tells search engines nothing — they may or may not crawl the image. Empty alt (alt="") explicitly tells screen readers to skip the image — correct for decorative images, wrong for content images. This tool distinguishes between the two.

How Google uses alt text

Google reads alt text to understand image content and context. It contributes to the page's overall topical relevance. Images with good alt text appear in Google Images — another traffic source. Images without alt text are essentially invisible to the indexer.

Screen reader behavior

Missing alt causes screen readers to announce the filename ("image-2847374.jpg"). Empty alt (alt="") causes them to skip the image entirely — correct for decorative images. Descriptive alt causes them to read the description — correct for content images. Each case needs different handling.

What makes good alt text

Describe what's in the image, not what the image is. Bad: "image of a laptop". Good: "MacBook Pro open to a spreadsheet showing Q1 sales data". Include the keyword if it's relevant to the image content — don't force it.

Keyword stuffing in alt text

Don't add alt text like "seo tools free seo tools best seo tools online". This is keyword stuffing and Google treats it as spam. Write natural descriptions. If your target keyword appears naturally because it's genuinely in the image, great — but don't force it.

Decorative images

Pure decorative images (separators, background textures, generic stock photos that add no information) should use alt="" — explicitly empty, not missing. This correctly signals "skip this for both screen readers and search engines".

Pro Tips

Get your HTML from browser DevTools

Right-click any section of a page → Inspect → copy the HTML from the Elements panel. Or View Source (Ctrl+U) and find the section you want to audit. Paste it here to audit all images at once.

100-125 character sweet spot

Alt text over 125 characters gets truncated by most screen readers. Keep descriptions under 100 characters for full compatibility. For complex images, use a longer description via aria-describedby instead.

Don't prefix with "image of" or "photo of"

Screen readers already announce "graphic" before reading alt text. "image of a cat" becomes "graphic, image of a cat" — redundant. Just say "a grey tabby cat sitting on a keyboard".

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get the HTML to paste?: Right-click anywhere on the page you want to audit → click "View Page Source" → Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to copy everything. Or right-click a section → Inspect → right-click the element in DevTools → Copy → Copy element.
Does missing alt text trigger a Google penalty?: Not a direct penalty. Missing alt text means missed opportunity — Google can't read the image, so it contributes nothing to your rankings. Pages with well-described images outperform pages with missing alt, all else being equal.
What about background images (CSS background-image)?: CSS background images don't need alt text — they're purely decorative by definition (they can't be added to the DOM as content). This tool only checks HTML img tags, which is the right scope.
Should I add alt text to all 200 images on my product pages?: Yes, but efficiently. Write a template: '[Product Name] — [color/variant] — [context]'. "Nike Air Max 90 — white/red — side profile on grey background". It's 15 seconds per image and the SEO benefit compounds across thousands of product images.