The New Feature ALT Text on Instagram Explained

Congratulations!It’s time to rejoice. Instagram has finally introduced a feature we’ve all been waiting for (well, kinda). The social media platform has just introduced the ability to add ALT Text to new and existing photos. It doesn’t matter if you have a personal account or a business account. This new feature is an attem pt to make them more accessible to search engines and visually impaired users.

Here’s a quick break down to explain what ALT Text is.

“ALT” means alternative in the internet world. Hence “ALT text” means “alternative text.”

An ALT Text is basically what shows up if an image fails to load. Instead of the photo showing, you would see the description of the photo. The followers of that specific profile will read the alternative text in place of seeing the picture. It helps the reader or viewer in knowing the content of the photo in case it fails to load. Let’s say you fail to add alternative text to your photos and some of your photos don’t load, not only will your followers not see the photo, but they won’t know what it’s about. Can you imagine that?

Why should you use ALT text in your Instagram photos?

Instagram is a visual platform. On top of being a placeholder for unloading images, ALT Text is also used by screen readers and visually impaired users. When an ALT text is written, people who are visually impaired can imagine what’s going on with your photo without seeing it. Crazy right? The smartphones can read the ALT text for them. In this way, you can give people more content to understand not just the caption but also the account and everything related to it.

Is ALT Text the same thing as the caption?

Negative ghost rider. The caption is a place where your goal is to enhance your photo with a clever quote or a way to generate conversation. The ALT Text again is used to describe what’s going on within the photo in case it fails to load or a visually impaired user is utilizing a screen reader.

What are the main benefits for Instagram growth?

Your Instagram growth gets a boost from an ALT text as it adds even more content for people and search engines to find. You are making your Instagram post accessible to more people in the Instagram community and even online through search engines like Google and more.

Previously, Instagram used image recognition technology to know what’s going on in photos. It helped Instagram’s algorithm to show media to more people. With ALT text, the Instagram algorithm has become more useful and your images become more powerful for growth.

If you’re looking to grow your account’s visibility. Then utilize ALT Text to get your photos and videos ranking higher not only on Instagram but through Google and other search engines. ALT Text is vital to getting more keywords into your posts outside of just hashtags and your captions. With a combined strategy of search engine keyword research and hashtag generation, you’ll be well on your way to ranking high.

How to add ALT text to a new Instagram post:

• Upload a photo
• Click on “Advanced Settings” on the Instagram caption
• Click on “Write ALT text.”

A maximum of 100 characters can be used to describe the context of the photo.

• Write the ALT text
• Press “Done”

How to add ALT text to old Instagram posts

So, if you are interested in adding an ALT text to your older posts, do the following:

• Select the photo
• Press the three dots “…”
• Choose “Edit”
• Press this “Add ALT text.”
• Write ALT text

Here are a few tips on writing Instagram ALT text captions:

While writing the ALT text, remember that you’re writing it for both the visually impaired and for ranking purposes. So paint a nice story along with stuffing some of those keywords you’re targeting.

Note. Maximum character limit is 100.

To summarize the power of ALT text.

• People with visual impairments can see your photo
• Instagram photos can be seen on Google
• Instagram’s beautiful algorithm can see what’s going on in the photo and will in turn get you ranking higher and growing.