Images - more important to accurately describe Alt info or add kw?

It's best to accurately describe the image and, if at all possible, work in something SEO related - even if it is not the exact keyword phrase you are going for.

In your example, something like "clogged shower drain that might need a drain cleaner service" would work.

Really, though, even if it just said "clogged shower drain" that, in itself, is extremely related to the targeted keyword phrase.

I place keywords anywhere I can, including how I name the image.

So the image would be named drain-cleaner-service-near-me.jpg

IDK if it helps anything, but I do it anyway.

I do local SEO work at professional marketing agencies for a living, so my insight may be helpful.


I believe you should accurately describe the image in the ALT tag. The intended purpose of the tag is for accessibility screen readers or if the image doesn't display - the text should be able to replace the image.


Image ALT Tags & SEO


Now to talk about the SEO aspect. Whenever possible, I'll try to match the image to the keyword I'm targeting. Let's say I'm going for "atlanta limo service". By showing a picture of a stretch limo in front of the Atlanta skyline, I can technically describe and name the picture with "atlanta limo service" and still be accurate.


For your example, trying to include a city-based keyword in the image can't be done while remaining accurate and without spam. In these situations, I'll concentrate on semantics. A picture described as a "clogged shower drain" is still semantic to "drain cleaning services". Although you're not getting your exact keyword targeted with that description, it still works and at least cannot be viewed as keyword spam. As long as the actual keyword is somewhere in the page content, you can still rank this way.


Instead of describing the picture as "clogged shower drain", you can get more descriptive and actually include a larger portion of your targeted keyword phrase. As an example "clogged shower drain that badly needs a drain cleaning service to fix" is also an accurate description and is more relevant.


Near Me Keywords


One more thing I wanted to say has to do with "near me" keywords. This is something that I've discussed with clients and fellow specialists ad nauseam. On a weekly basis, I will run into a new client website that they worked on or was previously worked on by another agency. I always chuckle when I see the phrase "near me" attached at the end of an obvious keyword phrase.


With most keyword phrases, you obviously want to have the exact phrase and/or all of the words in the phrase somewhere in your page content. I firmly believe this is NOT the case with "near me" phrases.


I believe that phrase has special meaning in the Google algorithm. For example, if you go to Google Maps and search "attractions near NYC", it shows you attractions in the city and nearby areas.


Now on Google Search (not maps), search the keyword phrase "attractions near me". You should see a city listed on the right side of the search results. As long as you've allowed Google to detect your location, this should be the city where you live or possibly the city where your ISP is located.


Keep the "attractions near me" search page open and begin a new tab in your browser. Make another Google search this time for the same keyword phrase but replace "near me" with the city you saw on the previous page. So if I lived in Atlanta, I would be searching for "attractions Atlanta".


Now flip back and forth between those two tabs. The pages should be almost identical, with possibly some minor variations in images at the top and/or variations in sponsored ads.


Here's my point: Google views "near me" in a keyword phrase as purely the name of a city.


With that said, to rank for "drain cleaner service near me" keyword searches, you have to actually target the keyword phrase "drain cleaner service Atlanta" or whatever city you're targeting.


This means that you'll never actually tap into all of the potential traffic for "near me" phrases because your content won't target every possible city name. You can technically use Google Keyword Planner in Google Ads, refine the search location to target a specific area, and then see what volume is provided for a "near me" phrase. That traffic number would be more accurate of the potential from targeting it.


Personally, I usually just ignore "near me" keywords during research and instead just focus on the city based terms. In most cases, if a lot of people search for "drain cleaner service near me" in the Atlanta area then there will also be a lot of traffic for the direct keyword "drain cleaner service Atlanta".


Hopefully this info is helpful for your situation, especially the "near me" info.

Thanks a million for all of this help guys, I now have a much clearer strategy to implement for all of my images! So I am thinking like:

Clogged shower drain with hair and soap scum. Call for professional drain cleaning services in Atlanta GA

Would that work please?

it is best to mention alt tag rename image and convert to webp

The image should be described as specific as it can.The surrounding text of the image you can target the related keywords.