Key takeaways
- For product images: Products > select product > click the image > edit alt text.
- For theme images: Theme Editor > click the image block > alt text field in the settings panel.
- Alt text improves Google Image Search rankings and is required for accessibility compliance.
- Keep alt text descriptive and specific - include the product name, colour, and key detail.
To add alt text to images in Shopify, open the product, click the image in the Media section and type a description in the Alt text field. Theme and blog images have their own fields, covered below. Alt text tells search engines what the image shows and gives users who can’t see it a text alternative.
Why you can trust us
We’ve built and customised hundreds of Shopify storefronts. We also built Fudge, the AI operator for Shopify stores, with a 4.9 rating on the Shopify App Store.
How to add alt text to product images
Step 1. Go to your Shopify admin > Products.
Step 2. Click the product you want to update.
Step 3. In the Media section, click on the image you want to edit.
Step 4. A panel opens on the right (or a modal, depending on your Shopify version). You’ll see an Alt text field.
Step 5. Write your alt text and click Save.
Repeat for each image on the product. Each image should have its own unique alt text describing what that specific image shows.
How to add alt text to theme images
Theme images - banners, hero images, background images added through the Theme Editor - have their alt text set differently.
Step 1. Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
Step 2. Click on the section or block containing the image.
Step 3. In the settings panel on the right, find the image selector. Below it, you’ll usually see an Alt text or Image alt text field.
Step 4. Enter your alt text and save.
If you don’t see an alt text field for a particular image in the Theme Editor, that section may not expose it as an editable field. In that case, the alt text would need to be set in the theme code.
For bulk editing, see how to add alt text in bulk below.
How to add alt text to blog and page images
For images added to blog posts or pages via the rich text editor:
Step 1. In the page or blog post editor, click the image.
Step 2. Click the edit image icon (pencil icon) that appears.
Step 3. Enter the alt text in the field provided.
Step 4. Save.
How to add alt text to collection images and files
Collection images. Go to Products → Collections, select the collection, click the collection image, edit the alt text field and save.
Files. Images in Content → Files have their own alt text field. Click the file to edit it.
How to add alt text in bulk
Editing alt text product by product is slow on a big catalog. Three ways to do it at scale:
Ask Fudge. Fudge reads each image alongside the product’s title, description and tags, then writes specific alt text for every product image in your catalog in one pass. For example: “Write alt text for every product image that’s missing it, describing what each image shows.” You review the changes before they go live.
CSV export and import. Export your products to CSV, fill in the Image Alt Text column and re-import. This is the free route, but you write every line yourself.
SEO apps. Apps like TinyIMG and SEO Image Optimizer include bulk alt text tools, usually built from templates such as [Product Title] - [Store Name].
How to write good alt text for Shopify
Be specific. “White ceramic mug” is better than “mug”. “Women’s navy blue running shorts - front view” is better than “shorts”.
Include the product name. For product images, always include the product name as it appears on your store. This helps Google understand what you’re selling and improves ranking for product-specific searches.
Describe what’s actually shown. If the image is a lifestyle shot with the product in use, describe the scene: “Person wearing red hiking jacket on mountain trail.” If it’s a product-only shot, describe the product.
Don’t stuff keywords. Alt text should read naturally. “White mug white mug ceramic mug gift mug” is bad alt text and may be flagged as spam by Google.
Don’t start with “image of” or “photo of”. Search engines already know it’s an image. Just describe the content directly.
Keep it short. One clear sentence is usually enough. If an image needs a long explanation, such as a size chart, put the detail in the page text.
Leave decorative images empty. Background patterns, dividers and icons that sit next to a text label should have empty alt text (alt=""), so screen readers skip them.
Why alt text matters for SEO
Product images can rank in Google Image Search and drive incremental traffic. Relevant alt text helps images rank for relevant searches.
To see how much of your catalog is still missing it, run the free Shopify catalog data audit — alt text is one of the product-data fields it grades.
Why alt text matters for accessibility
Alt text is a core requirement of WCAG accessibility standards. Screen readers used by visually impaired users read the alt text aloud when they encounter an image. Without it, they hear “image” or nothing at all - which makes your product information inaccessible.
For e-commerce, accessibility matters both ethically and legally. Several major retailers have faced ADA lawsuits over inaccessible websites in the US.
To change the images themselves, see Update Product Images in Shopify.
How do I add text over an image in Shopify?
Visible text over an image is a different job from alt text; for that, see Change the Hero Image in Shopify.
FAQ
Can I use AI to auto-generate alt text for my Shopify images?
Yes. Several SEO apps (TinyIMG, SEO Image Optimizer, AVADA SEO) include AI-generated alt text via image recognition. Fudge, the AI operator for Shopify stores, does this with more context: it reads the product title, description, and tags alongside the image, then drafts alt text that incorporates the specifics (fabric, model, use case) rather than generic "navy shirt" output. An SEO audit you run from Fudge can also find the images that are missing it in the first place. Either route, review top-selling product alt text by hand — that's where generic AI output costs the most.
What happens if I don't add alt text to my Shopify product images?
Three things: screen readers can't describe the image to visually impaired shoppers (accessibility failure, potential legal exposure), Google has less signal to rank the image in Image Search, and most themes fall back to the product title, which rarely describes the specific image.
Do alt text changes affect Shopify SEO immediately?
No - search rankings update on Google's recrawl schedule, which is typically days to weeks for product pages. Image Search results can take longer. The change is logged immediately in the page's HTML, so the technical update is instant; the ranking impact is gradual.
Do all images need alt text?
No. Decorative images (background patterns, dividers, icons next to labels) should have empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers skip them. Functional images (product shots, hero images, infographics, anything that conveys meaning) need descriptive alt text.
Should I include my brand name in alt text?
Sparingly. The first image on each product (the featured image) is a fine place for the brand name combined with the product name. Repeating the brand on every gallery image, lifestyle shot, and variant becomes noise that screen reader users hear over and over. Vary the descriptions to focus on what each image actually shows.
How is alt text different from a meta description?
Alt text describes a single image and lives on the <img> element. A meta description describes the whole page and lives in the <head>. Alt text affects Image Search and screen reader output; meta descriptions affect how the page appears in regular Google search results (the snippet under the title). They serve different surfaces and shouldn't be reused.
