The Overlooked SEO Essentials
When it comes to SEO, many website owners focus heavily on content and keywords—but often overlook the importance of optimizing images and meta descriptions. Properly using image titles, alt text, and meta descriptions can significantly improve your website’s search engine visibility, user accessibility, and click-through rates.
This guide will help you understand what each element does, why it’s important, and how to implement them effectively using Athena SEO AI or your WordPress site.
Image Titles
What is it?
The image title is a short label you can give to an image. It typically appears as a tooltip when users hover over the image.
Why it matters:
- Provides context for images
- Enhances user experience
- Can support your SEO strategy (although it has minimal direct SEO impact)
How to use it correctly:
- Use descriptive, relevant keywords
- Keep it concise (3–7 words)
- Don’t repeat the same title across multiple images
Example: Instead of “IMG123.jpg”, use “Downtown Albany Street View”
Alt Descriptions (Alt Text)
What is it?
Alt text (alternative text) describes the image content for users who can’t see it, including screen readers for visually impaired visitors and search engines.
Why it matters:
- Crucial for accessibility compliance
- Helps search engines understand image content
- Can help your images appear in Google Image Search
- Affects page SEO indirectly
How to use it correctly:
- Clearly describe what’s in the image
- Include relevant keywords naturally
- Avoid keyword stuffing
- Don’t use “image of…” or “picture of…”
Example: “Albany SEO expert reviewing performance analytics on laptop”
Meta Descriptions
What is it?
A meta description is a brief summary of a page’s content. It appears in search engine results under the page title.
Why it matters:
- Influences click-through rates
- Tells users what to expect
- Helps search engines understand page context (though not a ranking factor, it impacts engagement)
How to use it correctly:
- Aim for 150–160 characters
- Write compelling copy that encourages clicks
- Include your main keyword naturally
- Make each description unique
Example: “Learn how to use image titles, alt text, and meta descriptions to improve your SEO, boost accessibility, and increase traffic.”
How Athena SEO AI Helps
When using Athena SEO AI, many of these fields can be suggested or generated automatically:
- Alt text and image titles can be generated during content creation if you’ve uploaded media files
- Meta descriptions are auto-suggested based on your keyphrase and page summary
- You can review and tweak all AI-generated fields before publishing for full control
Pro Tips
- Always preview your meta description in search engine snippets
- Test different alt texts for image-heavy pages to see what drives more traffic
- Review your site for missing alt tags using accessibility tools or SEO plugins
Wrap-Up
Optimizing image titles, alt descriptions, and meta descriptions is a simple but powerful way to strengthen your website’s SEO and accessibility. With Athena SEO AI, much of this work is streamlined, saving you time while boosting your online presence.
