Can you rank in Google with image alt text?
Yes, you can.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=goofy+SEO+photographer
That phrase is the alt text I used in this post from one week ago. Some folks say Google ignores image alt text. Some say Google ignores it unless it’s a linked image. Ignore ’em. (Google does ignore the image “title” attribute: I used “title=daslkdj tksbnfdfkde” on that image, and that phrase comes up empty.)
For the record, both Yahoo and MSN have that post indexed, but both are ignoring the alt text.
Interesting stuff, this could be useful when targeting misspelled words.
Yep. misspellings, additional city/town names that are applicable, etc. Already today I’ve found myself adding an extra keyword into my image alt tags on some photos … but still making sure it describes the photo correctly. 🙂 You know, accessibility and all that. No black hat keyword stuffing here! Hehehe….