If you're running an online store, you know how important images are for showcasing your products. But have you considered how accessible those images are to all your potential customers? Missing or poor-quality alt text can exclude visitors with visual impairments and hurt your SEO performance.

Alt text might seem like a small detail, but for ecommerce brands, it can make a big impact—on your accessibility, SEO rankings, and even conversion rates.

Yet most Shopify stores overlook this critical step, leaving images without proper descriptions or stuffing them with keywords that do more harm than good.

To help you stay compliant, inclusive, and visible in search, we created a simple, actionable Alt Text Audit Checklist. It's perfect for busy store owners who want to clean up their image game in under 30 minutes—no tech skills required.

Step 1: Identify Images That Need Alt Text

• Product images
• Collection/category images
• Homepage hero banners
• Blog images
• Logo and brand marks
• Promotional graphics or CTAs
• Any image that conveys meaning (not decorative)

Step 2: Check Existing Alt Text

• Does every image have alt text?
• Is the text descriptive (not vague like "image123")?
• Avoids keyword stuffing or repetition?
• Reflects what's actually in the image?
• Keeps it under ~125 characters?

Step 3: Watch Out for Common Mistakes

• Alt text missing or blank
• Alt text just repeats the product name or SKU
• Decorative images don't have alt=""
• Using file names as alt text
• Including "image of" or "picture of" unnecessarily

Pro Tips for Better Alt Text

• Focus on what's important: color, product type, texture, size, and use
• Mention visible text in the image only if it's essential
• Keep it natural and readable—write like you're describing it to someone over the phone
• Make your alt text unique per image, especially for similar SKUs