Use ALT tags for Images and Links
The ALT tag in HTML was designed to help the blind read web pages. It works like this:
<IMG src="my_picture.gif" alt="This is my Picture">
Most likely search engines use the ALT tags to get information about what the image is about. This could potentially help your page get better ranking. Even if it doesn’t help much, it is good practice to add the ALT tags to help those who can’t see well enjoy your page.
Google has a great image search tool. I am sure adding ALT descriptions to images help add your pictures to its search database. This may not seem like a great thing, but some people will browse through your site after finding a picture they like.
BTW adding an ALT, or actually TITLE, tag to a link works like this:
<a href="http://images.google.com/" title="Google's Image Search Tool">image search tool</a>
Your blogging or website building software should have a space to easily input the title as you add pictures and links. It is a good idea to get in the habit of naming your images descriptively too. Use an underscore instead of spaces since web servers aren’t very space friendly.
One last thing about using the TITLE with links. Search engines not only look at where the link is going, but what the text says for the link. So for example, “Go to this site about Antique cars” is worth more than “Go to this site“. The TITLE text is actually a part of that text. The more descriptive, the better.
