How to Label and Add Alt Text to Images in Squarespace
Images say it all — strong photography builds trust and credibility. But how you label your visuals can make them work harder for you with a little love for SEO and accessibility. Here’s a friendly guide on how to do this correctly in Squarespace.
Align Your Images with Your Brand
Ask yourself: does this image feel like you? Choose visuals that complement your color palette, evoke the right emotion, and match the tone of your content. Skip overly generic stock photos. Go for images that feel authentic and consistent — that consistency helps create a professional and cohesive look.
Find High-Quality, Stirring Stock Images (Then Optimize Them)
Stock photo databases like Unsplash and Pexels are great for free options; Shutterstock and iStock offer paid images that are more niche. Once you’ve chosen your visuals, download them sized around 1500–2500 pixels wide and under 500 KB.
Why it matters: compressed images load faster — which makes your website perform better and helps with SEO. Use tools like TinyPNG, Canva, JPEGmini, or TinyIMG to resize. For videos, try Handbrake to compress them under 5 MB and 1080p.
Helpful size benchmarks:
Full-width section backgrounds: ~2500 px wide
Small inline landscape (less than half width): ~1250–1500 px
Small inline portrait: ~750 px
Larger inline visuals: ~1500–2000 px wide
To see performance for yourself, run your page URL through a site-speed checker — aim for total page size under 3 MB.
Label Your Image Files for SEO
Before you upload anything, rename your files to describe what the image shows using hyphens (instead of spaces or underscores).
For example:
Good:
healthy-liver-function-diagram.jpgAvoid:
healthyliverfunctiondiagram.jpg
Search engines can better parse labeled images, giving your SEO a little boost.
Squarespace also uses filenames as fallback alt text in some situations.
Write Effective Alt Text
Alt text (aka “alternative text”) is how images are described to search engines and assistive tools like screen readers. It’s important for accessibility and SEO. Squarespace lets you add alt text directly via the image block editor, with up to 250 characters allowed.
Here’s how to do it:
Insert an image block (inline, poster, card, etc.).
Click the image, switch to the Content tab.
Scroll to the Image Alt Text field and enter a clear, concise description.
Rules of thumb for writing alt text:
Keep it under 250 characters.
Describe what’s visually in the image — not “image of”; screen readers handle that.
Use sentence form and good punctuation if possible.
Focus on context and purpose, not decoration.
Alt Text Behavior Across Different Image Types in Squarespace
Squarespace handles alt text differently depending on the image type:
Image Blocks (inline, poster, card, overlap, collage, stack): You can add alt text manually. For some styles (poster/card/overlap), if you don’t add alt text, Squarespace defaults to the file name.
Gallery Section Images (v7.1): Add alt text via description, or title fields — whichever you use becomes the alt text.
Product Images: You can add alt text via Edit Metadata. If you don’t, the product’s title becomes the alt text.
Blog/Event Thumbnails: The post’s title serves as the alt text.
Cover Page Images (v7.0): You can add alt text via the media panel.
Section Backgrounds & Video Thumbnails: Unfortunately, alt text isn’t supported. If you need description for accessibility, use an Image Block with alt text as a workaround.
Is the Hidden Caption Trick Still a Thing?
Before Squarespace added alt text fields in 2021, you had to hide captions to serve as alt text—especially for inline images. That’s not needed anymore. In fact, if your site was using that trick, inline images have likely migrated to proper alt text behind the scenes. Still, if you’re unsure, it’s worth checking manually.
Labeling and alt-texting your images isn’t just a box to check — it’s an opportunity. Well-described visuals help search engines understand your content, assist users with accessibility needs, and help your site feel thoughtful and complete.
It’s small care that makes a big difference!
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Hey, if all this SEO talk makes you feel a bit desperate, we get it! If you’d like help, just send us a request and we’ll coach you through and complete your site SEO for you.