Why nobody talks about image alt text in 2025

So we looked at her competitors who were ranking. They weren't better designers. But their alt text actually described what was in the images. Like instead of "logo-design" they wrote "minimalist coffee shop logo with geometric mountain shape." Specific. Visual. Useful for both screen readers and search engines.

She spent one afternoon rewriting alt text for her 40 portfolio pieces. Described the design style, the colors, what problem each project solved. Three weeks later, her image search traffic went from 12 visits per month to 180. By December 2025, images were driving 40% of her total organic traffic.

The thing about alt text is it serves two audiences. People using screen readers get actual descriptions instead of filenames. Search engines understand image context instead of guessing from surrounding text. Both matter for ranking, but most students never think about it.

Here's what actually works: describe the image like you're explaining it to someone on the phone. Include relevant keywords naturally, but focus on accuracy first. For product images, mention color and style. For diagrams, explain what they show. For decorative images, you can leave alt empty—seriously, that's better than forcing keywords into meaningless descriptions.

She also learned to check her alt text in browser inspector tools. Lots of CMS platforms have alt text fields that students skip because they seem optional. They're not optional if you want the traffic.

Small change. Real results. That's the pattern with on-page stuff nobody emphasizes enough.