How Do I Add Alt Tags to My Pics?

HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
edited November 11, 2011 in SmugMug Support
Hi. I have a site called www.statuemarvels.com. I post all my pics there by copying & pasting them from my smugmug account. What concerns me is my pics rankings in Google image searches. I'm noticing that folks with similar pics are getting a higher ranking and they usually have alt tagged their pics. How do I do this in Smugmug?

For example, here's a recent photo thread I did on my site...

http://www.statuemarvels.com/f87/bowen-designs-sabretooth-classic-pics-updated-12055.html

My images have no alt tag, correct? How do I change that in Smugmug? I run a site about these statues, so it's silly when I do a Google Image search on one, like Bowen Designs Sabretooth and my pics don't rank highly.

I hope someone understands what I'm asking and can help me.

Thanks!

Al
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Comments

  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited January 31, 2011
    In your smug site - you can add keywords and you can add captions.

    You can use alt tags when you refer to your photos using <img src= statements.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    And we automagically add the alt tags for you (if you have captions) when you use Share>Get a Link>Embeddable links
    Andy

    Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
  • AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,013 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Andy wrote: »
    And we automagically add the alt tags for you (if you have captions) when you use Share>Get a Link>Embeddable links
    So are you inferring that none of the site display photos have alt tags, only Embeddable links?
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Allen wrote: »
    So are you inferring that none of the site display photos have alt tags, only Embeddable links?

    Of course not, Allen, I'm inferring no such thing :)

    We are smart, we serve up a special version of your pages to Googlebot and other search engines - (you can see it by using a UserAgent switcher plugin in Firefox), there, you'd see "alt=[your caption]" when you viewed source.

    I posted the post above to show the OP that we automatically format the embeddable HTML with the alt tag in it.

    Hope this helps, Allen.
    Andy

    Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Thank you for the quick replies. Unfortunately, I am not quite understanding the process. Here's what I do currently...

    - Choose a size on smugmug for a particular pic.
    - copy & paste that pic into a post on my forum, www.statuemarvels.com

    Do I need to do something different when transporting the pics from Smugmug to Statue Marvels?

    If I enter keywords, will that create the alt tag?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    Thank you for the quick replies. Unfortunately, I am not quite understanding the process. Here's what I do currently...

    - Choose a size on smugmug for a particular pic.
    - copy & paste that pic into a post on my forum, www.statuemarvels.com

    Do I need to do something different when transporting the pics from Smugmug to Statue Marvels?

    If I enter keywords, will that create the alt tag?

    Share>Get a link. And use either a photo link or try the bbcode link under embeddable links.
    Andy

    Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Andy wrote: »
    Share>Get a link. And use either a photo link or try the bbcode link under embeddable links.

    So, copy & pasting, which works great for me, will not work if I want to include an alt tag?
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    So, copy & pasting, which works great for me, will not work if I want to include an alt tag?

    If you want the alt tag, you use embeddable links, blog links - that's the html that has the alt-tags. And yes, you can use the Copy button :)
    Andy

    Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    712993645_PMZ4X-L.jpg
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    OK. I added a caption for the above pic.

    1. I'm not noticing an alt tag when I glide my mouse over it. Am I still doing something wrong?
    2. I notice in embedded links, I don't have as many size options as I do when I just copy & paste from my gallery.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    OK. I added a caption for the above pic.

    1. I'm not noticing an alt tag when I glide my mouse over it. Am I still doing something wrong?
    2. I notice in embedded links, I don't have as many size options as I do when I just copy & paste from my gallery.
    they only come as part of the embedded html code for blog links. You can paste such a link on forums that support HTML.
    Andy

    Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Andy - Thanks for the quick answer, but could you please refer to my two specific questions?

    Thanks

    Al
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    1174146642_k7YkF-L.jpg
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited January 31, 2011
    Another try. No caption comes up as I glide my mouse over the image.

    :(
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2011
    denisegoldberg wrote: »
    In your smug site - you can add keywords and you can add captions.

    You can use alt tags when you refer to your photos using <img src= statements.

    --- Denise

    Could you explain like you are talking to an idiot, which I am. It would help A LOT!

    :)
  • gluwatergluwater Registered Users Posts: 3,599 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2011
    Hi Al,

    It doesn't look like the BBCode is including the Alt Tag. If you embed the image using HTML then it will include the Alt Tag but Dgrin and most other forums, including http://www.statuemarvels.com, do not allow HTML to be embedded. That is what Denise showed you, HTML, not BBCode. Can you give me a link to a post in that forum that has an Alt Tag in it?
    Nick
    SmugMug Technical Account Manager
    Travel = good. Woo, shooting!
    nickwphoto
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2011
    gluwater wrote: »
    Hi Al,

    It doesn't look like the BBCode is including the Alt Tag. If you embed the image using HTML then it will include the Alt Tag but Dgrin and most other forums, including http://www.statuemarvels.com, do not allow HTML to be embedded. That is what Denise showed you, HTML, not BBCode. Can you give me a link to a post in that forum that has an Alt Tag in it?

    I think the first thing I need to understand is how to create an alt tag in Smugmug. For the above pics, I added a caption. Should that have created the alt tag?
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 1, 2011
    gluwater - Here's a link to a thread on my site where I posted a pick using the embedded link with a keyword from Smugmug...

    http://www.statuemarvels.com/f218/photo-hosting-tests-12115.html#post320068
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited February 1, 2011
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    gluwater - Here's a link to a thread on my site where I posted a pick using the embedded link with a keyword from Smugmug...

    http://www.statuemarvels.com/f218/photo-hosting-tests-12115.html#post320068
    Andy's note referred to a caption, not a keyword. If your photo only has a keyword the alt tag will not be filled it. It must have a caption. I just verified that on my site - the alt & title tags (on the embedded link) come from the photo's caption, not the keyword.

    See http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_IMG.asp for <img src properties.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 2, 2011
    OK...I added a caption, copied the embedded link to the 3rd post in this thread...
    http://www.statuemarvels.com/f218/photo-hosting-tests-12115.html#post320069

    I'm still not getting an alt tag to appear when I glide the mouse over the pic. It works when I'm in the gallery on my Smugmug, but not on my forum. Am I still doing something wrong?

    :(
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 2, 2011
    denisegoldberg wrote: »
    Andy's note referred to a caption, not a keyword. If your photo only has a keyword the alt tag will not be filled it. It must have a caption. I just verified that on my site - the alt & title tags (on the embedded link) come from the photo's caption, not the keyword.

    See http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_IMG.asp for <img src properties.

    --- Denise

    I just copied your example into the 4th post of the same thread on my site. It didn't work. Sigh...

    Sorry to be such a moron.
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited February 2, 2011
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    I just copied your example into the 4th post of the same thread on my site. It didn't work. Sigh...

    Sorry to be such a moron.
    I'm not sure what you did. My posts were referring to using img src statements in html when you pull phoots into other sites. Within smug, you just need to add captions to your photos to have alt tags used. And if you want the alt tag automatically added when you use a share link you need to use one of the links on the "embedded" tab of the share page.
    HoldyourfireAl wrote: »
    I'm still not getting an alt tag to appear when I glide the mouse over the pic. It works when I'm in the gallery on my Smugmug, but not on my forum. Am I still doing something wrong?
    Hovering over a photo in a forum or a blog post doesn't show the alt tag. You would need to view the page source to see it. For example, if you hover over a photo in my blog you don't get hover help, but if you view source it is there.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • fabthifabthi Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins
    edited February 3, 2011
    Ehm...here's another "moron" seeking help about this issue! <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/ne_nau.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >
    After I read previous posts I suppose I am wrong when typing this html in my image captions, am I?

    immagine1dv.png

    More generally, my concern is about the best way to have my images indexed properly and effectively by Google and every other search engine.
    Are <alt> tags the right way?
    Also I have been suggested to use the <h> tagging in my BioBox html to improve SEO, should I?
    thanks

    Fabio
    fabiothian.com on SmugMug
    Venice PhotoBlog
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited February 3, 2011
    fabthi wrote: »
    After I read previous posts I suppose I am wrong when typing this html in my image captions, am I?

    immagine1dv.png
    alt tags are part of an <img src= statement, not standalong code. So what you entered above is just invalid html, won't do anything for you.

    An alt tag is used like this: 
    <img src="your image location here" alt="text here"/>
    Your captions should contain descriptive text - as text, no tags needed.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • fabthifabthi Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins
    edited February 3, 2011
    denisegoldberg wrote: »
    Your captions should contain descriptive text - as text, no tags needed.

    --- Denise

    Not even <html></html>? Just plain text?
    fabiothian.com on SmugMug
    Venice PhotoBlog
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited February 3, 2011
    fabthi wrote: »
    Not even <html></html>? Just plain text?
    The only reason for <html> and </html> surrounding your text is if you have embedded html in your text. That tells smug to treat it as html.

    Just plain text.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • fabthifabthi Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins
    edited February 3, 2011
    OK, and what about the use of tags?
    It would be useful a resource somewhere aroud SmugMug (forum, blog, help), about how, when and where to use Html in SmugMug websites properly and usefully.
    fabiothian.com on SmugMug
    Venice PhotoBlog
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,402 moderator
    edited February 3, 2011
    fabthi wrote: »
    OK, and what about the use of <h> tags?
    You don't need these either.

    The only time I use HTML in my album descriptions is if I want to change the look and feel of the description. It has nothing to do with SEO and everything to do with how I want the page to look.

    It you're entering a description for a photo, why would you need html? Just enter the description.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
  • Hikin' MikeHikin' Mike Registered Users Posts: 5,484 Major grins
    edited February 3, 2011
    denisegoldberg wrote: »
    You don't need these either.

    The only time I use HTML in my album descriptions is if I want to change the look and feel of the description. It has nothing to do with SEO and everything to do with how I want the page to look.

    It you're entering a description for a photo, why would you need html? Just enter the description.

    --- Denise

    FWIW, I use a <h2></h2> on the title of my photos and "regular" html for the description. Like this:

    http://mike.imagesinthebackcountry.com/Landscapes/yosemite-landscape/15036862_brFqf#1123156227_8ib9V
    - Mike
    Images in the Backcountry

    My SmugMug Customizations | Adding CSS to Your Site | SEO for the Photographer | Locate Your Page/Widget Number | SmugMug Help Desk
  • HoldyourfireAlHoldyourfireAl Registered Users Posts: 112 Major grins
    edited February 4, 2011
    So confused.
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