Not one, two or three times that I check some site and the alt image they use is basically just hundreds or even thousands of keywords that don't make sense. It's just some janky and sloppy SEO execution that is not only poor but, I'm sorry to say, it's a damn trash.
But why? "I want to hit all the keywords pointing to my site!!"
Ok. Before we dig deeper, let me tell you what alt image tags are actually for.
Alt image tags exist for screen readers. They help visually impaired users understand what an image is about. That's the original purpose. That's the technical reason it exists.
So imagine when you put 100 keywords inside your alt image, how does your visually impaired user know what that image is? What does "best UI UX design agency Jakarta affordable creative studio branding digital" even mean to someone relying on a screen reader to navigate your site? It means nothing. It's noise. And you just made your site hostile to an entire group of people in exchange for a shortcut that doesn't even work.
You made your site hostile to an entire group of people in exchange for a shortcut that doesn't even work.
Did you get it till here?
Now here's the part that should sting even more.
Keyword stuffing your alt tags is also bad SEO. Full stop. Google's own documentation says alt text should describe the image accurately and concisely. It is one signal among many, not a keyword dump zone. When you stuff it, you're not tricking the algorithm, you're flagging yourself as someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Modern crawlers are smart enough to detect this and it can actively hurt your ranking instead of helping it.
So you lose twice. Your visually impaired users get a broken experience, and Google looks at your site and goes, yeah, no.
You lose twice. Broken experience for your users, and a red flag for Google. That's the trade you're making.
So what should you actually do?
Write alt text like you're describing the image to someone who cannot see it. One clear sentence. What is in the image, what is it for, what context does it add to the page. If the image is decorative and adds no information, leave the alt attribute empty. Yes, empty on purpose. That tells the screen reader to skip it entirely, which is the correct behaviour.
A product image of a beige linen tote bag? "Beige linen tote bag with rope handles, front view." That's it. Not "tote bag linen bag aesthetic bag minimalist bag eco bag sustainable bag shopping bag."
Your keywords belong in your copy, your headings, your meta description, your actual content strategy. Not crammed into every alt attribute like a last-minute prayer.
Accessibility and SEO are not opposites. When you do one properly, you usually get the other for free. That's not a coincidence. It's because both are asking the same question: does this page actually make sense to the person trying to use it?
Accessibility and SEO are not opposites. When you do one properly, you usually get the other for free.
Write for humans first. The rest follows.
