How to Fix: Alt includes keywords

Alt includes keywords is an important SEO check in the Image SEO category. This is a medium-priority issue. While not urgent, fixing it will improve your overall SEO health.

What this check is really about

This check looks at whether your images carry alt text that meaningfully describes them — and, where it fits naturally, includes the relevant keyword. Alt text has two jobs. It is the description a screen reader speaks aloud to a visually impaired visitor, and it is the primary way a search engine understands what an image shows. A good alt attribute serves both. The key phrase in this check is “where it fits naturally” — the goal is accurate description first, with the keyword woven in only when it genuinely belongs.

Why this matters for SEO

Alt text is one of the highest-value, lowest-effort image SEO signals you have:

• It helps your images rank in Google Images, a real and often overlooked traffic source
• It gives search engines context about the image and the page it sits on
• It is a WCAG accessibility requirement, so it widens your audience and lowers legal risk
• Descriptive alt text also shows when an image fails to load, keeping the page usable

How to check where you stand

1. Crawl your site and pull a report of images with missing or empty alt attributes.
2. Spot-check the alt text you do have — is it descriptive, or is it a filename like IMG_4021.jpg or a bare keyword?
3. Review your most important pages first: hero images, product photos, and images inside your top-ranking posts.
4. Run the SEO Roadmap audit to see which images this check flags.

How to Fix This in WordPress

Difficulty Level: EASY – This fix is straightforward and can typically be completed by anyone with basic WordPress knowledge.

Estimated Time: varies

WordPress makes editing alt text trivial; the discipline is doing it well and consistently.

Step 1: Write alt text that describes, then includes the keyword if it fits

Open an image in the Media Library or the block editor and fill the Alternative Text field with a plain, accurate description of what the image shows. If your target keyword describes the image truthfully, include it — “blue ceramic pour-over coffee dripper” is better than either “coffee dripper” alone or a keyword-stuffed string. Describe it as you would to someone who cannot see it.

Step 2: Prioritize and work through the backlog

Start with your highest-traffic and highest-converting pages, then work down. For large catalogs, a bulk alt-text plugin can help you spot and fill gaps at scale, but review the output — automated descriptions still need a human eye for accuracy. Purely decorative images should get an empty alt attribute so screen readers skip them, not a keyword.

Step 3: Verify

Clear your cache, re-run the SEO Roadmap audit to confirm the check passes, and re-crawl to confirm the missing-alt count has dropped. Over time, watch Search Console’s Google Images performance to see the traffic these descriptions attract.

Recommended Tools & Plugins

These tools can help you fix and prevent this issue:

• Yoast SEO – Comprehensive SEO plugin with built-in checks
• Rank Math – Feature-rich SEO plugin with detailed analysis
• Google Search Console – Free tool to monitor your site’s search presence
• SEO Roadmap – Complete SEO audit and action plan tool

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Stuffing keywords into alt text instead of describing the image — search engines and screen-reader users both penalize it
• Leaving alt text as the raw filename like DSC_0093.jpg
• Adding keyword-heavy alt text to purely decorative images that should have an empty alt attribute
• Writing the same alt text for every image on a page

Need More Help?

If you’re still having trouble fixing this issue, consider:

• Consulting with a WordPress developer or SEO specialist
• Checking the WordPress support forums for similar issues
• Reviewing your theme and plugin documentation
• Running a complete site audit with SEO Roadmap for a prioritized action plan

This guide is part of the SEO Roadmap knowledge base – your complete resource for WordPress SEO optimization.