How to Fix Missing Image Alt Text on Shopify & WooCommerce

errorThe Problem

Many of your product images are missing alt text — the text description that tells search engines and screen readers what an image shows. Without it, Google can't understand your images, and visually impaired users can't access your content. For ecommerce stores, this means your products are invisible in Google Image search.

trending_upWhy It Matters for SEO

Google Image search is a major traffic source for ecommerce — shoppers often search for products visually. Images with descriptive alt text appear in these results, driving free traffic. Alt text is also required for WCAG accessibility compliance, which is increasingly a legal requirement. Beyond SEO, good alt text improves your site's overall quality signals in Google's assessment.

buildHow to Fix It

{%- comment -%} In product templates, use this for images: {%- endcomment -%}

{%- for image in product.images -%}
  <img
    src="{{ image | image_url: width: 800 }}"
    alt="{{ image.alt | escape }}"
    width="{{ image.width }}"
    height="{{ image.height }}"
    loading="{% if forloop.first %}eager{% else %}lazy{% endif %}"
  >
{%- endfor -%}

{%- comment -%}
  Key points:
  - {{ image.alt | escape }} pulls alt text you set in Shopify admin
  - Never use alt="" (empty) — either use descriptive text or omit the alt attribute
  - First image loads eagerly (above fold), rest lazy load
{%- endcomment -%}

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