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How to add alt text to Shopify product images

Updated 22 October 2026 · 4 minute read

The short answer

In the Shopify admin, open a product, select an image and fill in its alt text, then save. For many images, a product CSV has an Image alt text column with one row per image. Ecomsync can write alt text for every image that has none and show each one beside its image for review before it is saved.

Why alt text matters

Screen readers read it aloud to shoppers who cannot see the image. Search engines use it to understand what an image shows, which helps it appear in image search. A product page with bare images loses on both.

One image at a time, in the Shopify admin

  1. Go to Products and open the product.
  2. Select the image in the media section.
  3. Fill in the alt text field.
  4. Save, then repeat for the product's other images.

Many images at once, with a CSV

  1. Export all products as a CSV and keep an untouched copy.
  2. Each image is its own row, with the product's URL handle, the image address in Product image URL and its alt text in Image alt text.
  3. Fill the Image alt text cells, leaving Product image URL exactly as it is.
  4. Import with the option to overwrite products with matching handles, then check a few products.

With Ecomsync

  1. Ask: Write alt text for every product image that has none.
  2. Ecomsync lists every image with an empty alt text and stages a description for each, under its product and with its position on the product page.
  3. Review each one beside its image, edit any, and approve.

Writing good alt text

  • Describe what is in the picture: the product, its colour, the angle and anything else in the shot.
  • Keep it to a sentence. Most are clear in under 125 characters.
  • Make each image's text different. The back view is not the front view.
  • Do not start with "image of" and do not stuff keywords. Write it for a person.

Questions

Does alt text help Shopify SEO?

Yes, for image search above all. It tells search engines what the image shows, and it is also an accessibility requirement in many markets.

Should every product image have alt text?

Every image that shows the product, yes. A purely decorative image can have empty alt text, but product photos are never decorative.