Does adding alt text to Etsy listing photos improve SEO and sales?

Question

I run an Etsy shop and I’m trying to focus on small SEO improvements that might help my listings get found. I recently heard that adding alt text to every listing photo can boost SEO, but I’m not sure how much Etsy actually uses photo alt text for search.

Is it worth spending time writing alt text for all my listing images, and does it impact Etsy search ranking or sales in any noticeable way?

Answer

Hi! Yes, it’s worth doing **some** alt text on your Etsy listing photos—but not because it’s a magic boost for Etsy search. Etsy’s alt text is mainly an **accessibility** feature (for screen readers), and Etsy has said the goal isn’t to help you rank higher in Etsy search just by stuffing keywords there. Where it *can* help is **outside Etsy** (like Google understanding your listing page/images better), plus it can improve the shopping experience for buyers who rely on image descriptions.

A practical way to think about it:
- **Etsy SEO / Etsy search ranking:** don’t expect noticeable movement just from adding alt text.
- **Sales impact:** indirect. Better accessibility + clearer context can reduce confusion and increase confidence, but it’s usually a small, long-term improvement—not a quick conversion hack.
- **Offsite traffic (Google):** this is the more realistic SEO upside.

If you’re deciding whether it’s worth your time, here’s the “high ROI” approach:
- Start with your **best-selling listings** and your **top 1–3 photos** per listing (especially the main photo).
- Add alt text anywhere the photo shows something meaningfully different: scale, size reference, color variation, personalization example, packaging/gift wrap, close-up detail, what’s included, etc.
- Don’t copy/paste your title/tags into alt text. Write it like you’re describing the image to a person who can’t see it.

Also, heads-up: Etsy may **auto-generate alt text** for images if you don’t add your own, and you can edit it. So even if you don’t do every single image today, adding your own on key photos helps ensure it’s accurate (and not awkward or wrong).

If you tell me what you sell (and whether you get much traffic from Etsy vs. Google/Offsite Ads), I can suggest exactly how much time to spend on alt text vs. higher-impact Etsy SEO tasks (titles, tags, first photo, pricing, conversion rate, etc.).