Q: 'Does writing proper alt text on product images actually drive traffic?'

Q: 'Does writing proper alt text on product images actually drive traffic?'

Short answer: Through Google Images, yes — one fix added a real, trackable channel.

The longer version: A jewelry store had alt text like 'IMG_4821' or empty on 5,000 product photos. They templated descriptive alt from structured data — 'rose gold solitaire engagement ring, 1 carat' — and added the images to an image sitemap. Image search is huge in jewelry and fashion. Within 10 weeks, Google Images went from a rounding error to 9% of organic sessions, and those visitors converted at 1.8% (lower than text search, but incremental). The win came from matching alt text to how people actually describe products visually, not stuffing the main keyword.

Rule of thumb: In visual niches, alt text + an image sitemap is a traffic channel, not an accessibility checkbox. Describe what's in the photo.

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