ALT tag, maximum length?

I want to optimize a website with many images. I am thinking about adding text in the ALT tag of each images listed, however I am wondering how much text I can use for SEO.

Can I include many paragraphs? Over 2000 characters? Can I be penalized for including too much text?

There is few text on the page, so I thought that could help by adding longer description in the ALT tag. What is your opinion on this?

 

No definitely don't include paragraphs of text in the alt text. That would be considered keyword stuffing and could get your site penalized. It is best to stay under 4 or 5 words. Search engines also give less weight to alt text compared to regular text. So you would be better off to try to add a few paragraphs of text somewhere on your page in regular text.

 

As with any pushing the limits of SEO, there are major risks. Although there is no real limit, 255 characters seems to ring a bell. (length of a string). But a paragraph with multiple images, all SEs will bust you.

 

i would suggest you for not adding much text in ALT tags because google will see it in other way, i mean keywords insertion and can ban your site too...instead create more reference and backlinks for your site...you will increase your traffic automatically...

 

Use just enough text to describe the image

 

I would say don't include too many words, just few important keywords.

 

The longer the alt text is, the lesser the relevance of the words inside it. So better limit the search terms on it! On my perspective, 3-4 targeted keywords are the best numbers.

 

just one or two keywords in alt tag

 

The HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) specification does not define a maximum length for "alt" attributes. Current versions of the leading screen reader programs have no limits on the amount of alternate text they will read.

Also, keep in mind that "alt" attributes additionally benefit sighted users who have images disabled in their browser settings, perhaps in order to minimize download time. For these users, if the height and width of an image is specified, both Internet Explorer and Mozilla truncate the alternate text to fit within the size of the image placeholder. If no image width is specified, Internet Explorer displays the entire "alt" attribute on one line, which may result in a web page that is extraordinarily wide and disorienting.

Normally I suggest people not to exceed the limit of 125 characters for an Alt attribute. The shorter the better. Though there is no such specification for the maximum length of alt attribute.

 

mostly use main keywords in alt tag. don't use more than 3 keywords

 

Concise description of the image is enough, don't use too much keywords on alt attribute.

 

Usefull sharing..Thanks all

 

alt tag length around 5 to 7 words

 

Thanks for the answers. It seems hard to get a precise answer, but I think the most important it to keep it short in one sentence. I thought there could be a limit like the title metatag at 80 characters. The problem is that I cannot add too much text on the page to describe the image and for SEO. I will probably use the page title of the pages where the images are linking.