Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to our support.
Regarding your question about “image file names,” from an SEO perspective, the most crucial element is the ALT attribute assigned to images. This attribute provides information to search engines, helping them understand the image and indirectly associate it with the page’s theme.
Having an appropriate image file name is more of a general best practice on the web and is particularly relevant when using our plugin (although it’s also a part of SEO best practices in general). This is because, depending on how our plugin is used, the ALT tags may not necessarily match the file names.
Here’s why:
Our plugin, Bialty, will inevitably generate entirely different ALT tags for the same images based on the specific information available on the page where the images are used, such as the page title, focus keywords, and more. Using the image file name, even though it’s an option our plugin offers, in these circumstances, is more related to web accessibility than SEO.
With our plugin, there are two “schools” of usage. One prioritizes ALT tags based on where the image is used (independent of its file name), and the other prioritizes web accessibility over SEO by using the image file name as the ALT tag, regardless of where the image is used.
It’s worth noting that there are situations where an image may not necessarily have different meanings, such as in an online store where it’s a product photo. In such cases, the image file name takes precedence because the ALT tag for the image will likely be the same. However, in a corporate-oriented website, where images are more for “decorating” a page, it’s better to use an ALT tag that corresponds to the page’s theme rather than the image file name (as the file name might be very generic or commonplace).
I hope this information helps. Thank you.
