Article Image Alt Text and Stock Image Licensing

Adding an image to an article brings two separate responsibilities: describing it to readers and search engines who cannot see it, and being able to show that you have the right to use it. Article image alt text covers the first, and the stock image license covers the second. Both are often rushed on publishing day and cost more to fix later.

This guide explains how to write alt text, what to do with decorative images, how to read stock image licenses and how to prepare image files. The license sections give a general framework only; this content is not legal advice and does not state a final ruling for any particular stock site.

Why Article Image Alt Text Matters

Alt text is a short written description that stands in for an image. A reader using a screen reader learns about the image from it. When an image fails to load, the browser shows the alt text. So alt text is first of all accessibility information.

Google describes alt text as the most important piece of image metadata and uses it together with the page content to understand what an image shows. Well-written alt text therefore gives the reader and the search engine the same information. The key point is that alt text should be written for the person who cannot see the image, not for a search engine; the search engine benefits anyway.

Alt text does its work in two places:

• Accessibility: Blind and low-vision readers understand what the image shows and its role in the article.
• Image search: Alt text helps establish which topic an image relates to.

It would be wrong to expect alt text alone to raise rankings. It can contribute to visibility in image search, but its real value is giving accurate, useful information.

How to Write Good Alt Text

Good alt text is short, specific and fits the context of the page. Google's own examples move in the same direction: no alt text is poor, alt text stuffed with keywords is worse, and a concise sentence that describes the image is the right approach.

Follow these steps when writing:

1. Say what is in the image in one sentence: who, doing what, where.
2. Tie it to the topic of the article; the same image can get different alt text in different posts.
3. Do not start with "image of" or "photo of"; readers already know it is an image.
4. Keep it brief; one sentence, often under about 125 characters, is enough.
5. If the image contains text that matters, carry that text into the alt text.

On keywords the measure is simple: if the image really relates to the topic, the phrase can appear naturally. Filling alt text with a keyword list is something Google's guidelines discourage, and it harms the reader experience.

Here is a fictional comparison. In a coffee machine guide, "coffee machine espresso price cheap coffee machine buy" is keyword stuffing. "Semi-automatic coffee machine pulling an espresso on a kitchen counter" describes the image. The second is both accessible and clean. For the wider discipline of writing the text itself, see the SEO article writing guide.

Decorative Images and Empty Alt Text

Not every image carries information. Some are only ornament: a thin divider, a background pattern or a flourish that adds nothing to the text. For these, the right method is to keep the alt attribute but leave it empty (alt=""), rather than removing it. Empty alt text tells a screen reader to skip the image.

A missing attribute and an empty attribute are not the same thing:

• No attribute: Some screen readers may read out the file name, and the reader hears noise.
• Empty attribute (alt=""): The image is treated as decorative and skipped silently.
• Filled attribute: The image carries information and is described.

To decide, ask yourself: if I removed this image, would the reader lose any information? If the answer is no, it is decorative. If the answer is yes, as with a chart, diagram or product photo, the image carries content and needs alt text.

A cover image is often a middle case. If it supports the topic emotionally, a short description is reasonable; if it is purely ornamental, leave it empty. What matters is making a conscious choice for each image.

Reading a Stock Image License

A stock image is a ready-made picture offered to many users under set conditions. A free image is not automatically usable in every situation; the permitted use is written in the license. Reading the license comes before choosing the image.

Licenses generally fall into these groups:

• A platform's own license: Platforms such as Pexels and Unsplash publish images under their own license texts. These texts define allowed uses and restrictions, and they can change over time.
• CC0 (public domain dedication): The rights holder waives their rights to the widest extent possible. There may still be separate matters for people, brands or logos visible in the image.
• CC BY (attribution license): Use is allowed, but you must credit the rights holder in the specified way.
• Paid licenses: These may limit the field of use, print run or duration.

This list is a summary; the details differ for each platform and each license version. Read the license on the page you download the image from, page by page. Two images on the same platform can have different conditions.

Attribution, Commercial Use and Edit Permissions

Every license sets conditions on three main points: attribution, commercial use and modification. Check them one by one.

Attribution

If attribution is required, the license determines what to write, where it appears and whether a link is needed. The usual format includes the image title, the rights holder, the license and a link to the source. Where attribution is not required, crediting the source is still a courtesy, but it is not mandatory.

Commercial use

A company blog, a page with advertising or an article tied to product sales may count as commercial use. If the license says commercial use is allowed, that mostly holds, but a "non-commercial" restriction means the image cannot be used on a business site.

Editing

Check whether cropping, color correction or adding text over the image is allowed. Some licenses do not permit derivative works.

For images with recognizable people, brands, logos or artworks, a copyright license alone may not be enough; personality and trademark rights are a separate matter. When in doubt, the simplest path is to choose an image without people or brands. Image choice in promotional articles is covered separately in the guide on images and video in sponsored posts.

File Name, Size and Format Preparation

Image file preparation happens before publication and covers three things.

• File name: Google says file names give only a weak signal about the subject of an image. Even so, use a short, descriptive name such as "espresso-machine-counter.jpg" instead of "IMG00023.JPG", and separate words with hyphens.
• Format: Google Search supports formats such as JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, SVG and AVIF. Matching the extension to the real file type is recommended.
• Size: Prepare the image at a resolution close to the size it will be shown at. An unnecessarily large file slows the page.

Place the image near the relevant text as well. Google advises putting images close to text that fits their subject, so the page context strengthens the meaning of the image.

Captions and Alignment With the Text

A caption is text shown under the image that everyone reads. Alt text is an invisible description for someone who cannot see the image. They do not replace each other.

The difference can be summarized like this:

• Alt text: Says what the image shows. It serves readers who cannot perceive the image.
• Caption: Says why the image is there or adds information. All readers see it.

Making them the same sentence is repetition for the reader; a screen reader user hears the same thing twice. Let the caption carry context and commentary, and the alt text carry description.

Alignment with the text matters too. The image should support the subject of the paragraph beside it. An image unrelated to the topic misleads the reader however well it is labeled.

For the general framework of site copy, see our guide on website content writing for business pages. At the final quality gate, the content quality checklist before you publish also reminds you of image checks.

Keeping a Record of Image Licenses

A license seems relevant only at the moment of use, yet problems usually surface months later. When a rights holder or a platform objects, you need a record showing where the image came from, under which terms and on what date.

Keep this information in the record:

1. The address of the page where the image was found and the download date.
2. The platform, the rights holder and the link to the image's own page.
3. The license type and the license page as it was that day (a screenshot or saved text).
4. Whether attribution is required and the attribution text used.
5. The address of the article where the image is published and any edits made.

Because license texts can change, saving the version from the day of download matters.

The suggestions here are good practice, not legal advice. For a specific dispute or a high-risk use, verify the license text from an authoritative source or with legal counsel.

Sample Template: Image and License Record Table

Imagine a fictional travel blog that uses three images in a new article, and the editor wants to hold the alt text and license decisions in one table. The table below does that job. All entries are fictional and do not represent a real platform.

Sample template: image and license record table

The table is filled in once per article and kept in the editor's archive. At the brief stage, you can decide which images are needed in advance with the help of our guide on how to write an SEO content brief.

Frequently Asked Questions

Must alt text contain a keyword?

No. If the image genuinely relates to the topic, the keyword can appear naturally. Filling alt text with keywords, however, is something Google's guidelines discourage, and it damages accessibility.

Does every image need alt text?

Every image that carries information does. For decorative images the alt attribute is left empty (alt=""), so screen readers skip them. What matters is making a conscious decision for each image.

Can free stock images be used commercially?

Not always. Being free does not mean commercial use is open; the license decides. Read the license on the image's page and check for attribution or editing conditions. This content is not legal advice.

Is a caption the same as alt text?

No. A caption is context text visible to everyone under the image; alt text is the description in the code for readers who cannot see the image. Making them the same sentence repeats information for the reader.

What if an image license disappears?

First try to find the source and the license again. If you cannot verify it, the safest route is to remove the image and replace it with one whose license is clear. Use the record table to avoid the same problem in the future.

Does the image file name matter for SEO?

Google says the file name is only a weak signal. Still, a short, descriptive name helps both your own organization and the understanding of the image subject. Avoid camera-generated names made of numbers.

Conclusion and Next Step

Article image alt text and stock image licensing may look unrelated, but they rest on one principle: choose images deliberately and document why. Write alt text that is plain and descriptive, leave decorative images empty, read the license page by page and keep a record of it. File name, size and caption complete the framework.

When image preparation is done, the quality of the text comes next. If you want to see how a finished promotional piece comes together, read how to write a sponsored post that ranks, and to have an article written by an expert, take a look at our content writing service page.