Why this matters
Alt text should describe the image accurately and include the product's primary keyword where it fits naturally. For running shoes: 'Men's Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 41 running shoes in blue and white' — not 'shoe image'. WooCommerce uses the attachment title as alt text by default, which is often a filename like IMG_4721. This must be fixed for every product image.
To update alt text efficiently: use a plugin like Auto Image Alt Text to set fallback patterns, then manually refine your most important product images. In Rank Math, set global patterns for image SEO that auto-populate titles and alt text based on product name and category. Also ensure image filenames are descriptive — nike-air-zoom-pegasus-blue.jpg beats IMG_4721.jpg. Combine this with WebP conversion for full image optimisation.
Image alt text also benefits your category pages — when images on those pages have descriptive alt text, Google's understanding of the category's topic strengthens. Beyond alt text, Rank Math can add image schema to product pages, increasing eligibility for image-enhanced search results.
Expert insight — Vesa Nippala
Vesa Nippala has optimised dozens of WooCommerce stores and built the ProsperCart e-commerce platform. This advice comes from real-world experience, not theory. Learn more about Vesa →
Key takeaways
- Describe image + keyword naturally
- Fix WooCommerce default attachment titles
- Rank Math global image SEO patterns
- Descriptive filenames improve SEO