Image SEO in 2026: Alt Text, File Names, and Schema

File names matter more than you think

IMG_20240315.jpg tells Google nothing. red-leather-office-chair.jpg tells Google exactly what the image is. Rename every image before upload.

Use hyphens, not underscores. Use lowercase. Keep it under 60 characters. Match the file name to the page topic.

Alt text that works for both humans and bots

Alt text exists for accessibility first, SEO second. Describe what's in the image as if you were narrating it to someone who can't see it.

Bad: 'shoe'. Good: 'Black Nike Pegasus running shoe on white background, side view showing the cushioning'.

Compress aggressively

A 4MB hero image kills your Core Web Vitals. Compress to under 200KB using WebP or AVIF. Most tools (including ours) can do this in one click.

Lazy-load everything below the fold. Set explicit width and height to prevent layout shift.