ALT TEXT ON IMAGES. THE 5-SECOND SEO FIX YOU'RE SKIPPING.

There's an SEO trick hiding in plain sight on your plumbing website.

It takes 5 seconds per image. It's completely free. And almost nobody does it.

It's called alt text. And if your images don't have it, you're leaving rankings on the table.

Let's fix that.

What Is Alt Text?

Alt text (short for "alternative text") is a description you add to every image on your website. Google's SEO Starter Guide specifically recommends descriptive alt text for all images. It lives behind the scenes in the code. Visitors don't see it unless the image fails to load.

But Google sees it. Every time.

When Google crawls your website, it can't "see" images the way humans do. It's not looking at your photo of a water heater installation and thinking "oh nice, a Rheem tankless unit."

Google reads the alt text to understand what the image is about.

If your alt text is empty (which it probably is), Google has no idea what your images show. It's like handing someone a box with no label. Could be anything. Probably nothing useful.

But if your alt text says "tankless water heater installation in Denver kitchen by Smith Plumbing"... now Google knows exactly what that image shows. And it can rank it accordingly.

Why This Matters for Plumbers

Two reasons.

Reason 1: Google Image Search. People search for images. "Water heater installation" or "clogged drain before and after." If your images have proper alt text, they can show up in Google Image results. And those image results link back to your website.

It's free traffic you're not getting because your images have no labels.

Reason 2: Page relevance. Alt text helps Google understand what your page is about. A drain cleaning service page with images labeled "drain cleaning in Phoenix" reinforces to Google that this page is about drain cleaning in Phoenix. It's one more signal that says "hey, rank this page for drain cleaning."

Every SEO signal helps. And alt text is one of the easiest ones to get right. It's also a key part of website accessibility.

What Bad Alt Text Looks Like

Here's what I see on 90% of plumbing websites:

1. alt="" (empty... the image has no description at all)
2. alt="IMG_3847.jpg" (the file name... tells Google nothing)
3. alt="image" (thanks for clarifying it's an image)
4. alt="plumber plumbing plumber near me plumbing services plumber" (keyword stuffing... Google actually penalizes this)

All of these are wrong. None of them help your SEO. Some of them actually hurt it.

What Good Alt Text Looks Like

Good alt text is simple. Describe the image in a natural sentence. Include your location and service when relevant.

Here are examples for a plumbing website:

1. Before/after photo: "Before and after drain cleaning service in Austin TX by ABC Plumbing"
2. Water heater photo: "New Rheem tankless water heater installed in Scottsdale home"
3. Team photo: "ABC Plumbing team standing in front of service van in Dallas"
4. Work photo: "Licensed plumber repairing copper pipe under kitchen sink"
5. Review screenshot: "Five-star Google review for ABC Plumbing emergency service"

See the pattern? Natural. Descriptive. Includes the service and/or location.

Not stuffed with keywords. Not a sentence fragment. Not a file name. Just a clear description of what the image shows.

How to Add Alt Text (Step by Step)

This is embarrassingly easy. Which makes it even more frustrating that nobody does it.

On WordPress: 1. Go to your Media Library 2. Click on an image 3. On the right side, you'll see a field called "Alt Text" 4. Type your description 5. Save

That's it. 5 seconds per image.

On Squarespace or Wix: 1. Click on the image in your page editor 2. Look for an "Alt Text" or "Image Description" field 3. Type your description 4. Save

On any platform:

If you can't find the alt text field, right-click the image in your page editor and look for "Image Properties" or "Edit Image."

The 15-Minute Alt Text Audit

Here's your game plan. Set a timer for 15 minutes.

1. Open every page on your website
2. Look at every image
3. Check if it has alt text (right-click > Inspect > look for alt="")
4. If it's empty or generic, add a proper description
5. Move to the next image

Most plumbing websites have 20-40 images. At 5 seconds per image, you can audit and fix your entire site in 15 minutes or less. Add it to your annual website checkup list.

That's 15 minutes for an SEO boost that lasts forever.

You spend more time than that scrolling Facebook every morning. This is a better use of your time. I promise.

Alt Text Best Practices (The Short Version)

Keep it simple. Follow these rules:

1. Be descriptive. Describe what the image actually shows.
2. Include location. When relevant, mention the city or area. "Water heater repair in Plano TX" is better than just "water heater repair."
3. Include your service. If the image relates to a specific service, mention it.
4. Keep it under 125 characters. Alt text shouldn't be a paragraph. One clear sentence.
5. Don't keyword stuff. "plumber plumbing plumber near me best plumber" is spam. Google knows it. Don't do it.
6. Don't start with "image of" or "photo of." Google already knows it's an image. Just describe what's in it.
7. Every image needs alt text. Even decorative ones (those can have alt="" which tells Google to skip them, but they should have the attribute present).

The Bonus: Accessibility

Here's something most SEO guides don't mention.

Alt text isn't just for Google. It's for people too.

Visually impaired users use screen readers that read alt text aloud. When your images have proper descriptions, those users can understand your site. When they don't, those users get nothing.

This is actually a legal requirement in many cases (ADA compliance). Websites without alt text can get hit with accessibility lawsuits. It's rare for small businesses, but it happens.

So alt text helps your SEO, helps your users, and protects you legally. Three birds, one stone.

Don't Overthink This

I've seen plumbers spend 30 minutes agonizing over the "perfect" alt text for one image.

Don't do that.

Just describe the image. Include your city. Include your service. Move on.

It doesn't have to be poetic. It has to be accurate. That's it.

Get your free website audit and we'll check your alt text (along with 50 other SEO factors) and tell you exactly where you're leaving easy wins on the table.

This is one of those things that takes almost no effort but makes a real difference. Don't skip it.

---

P.S. Every website we build comes with optimized alt text on every single image. It's one of those "invisible" things that nobody sees but Google definitely notices. Check our pricing and get a site where nothing is left to chance.