The tool warns me that the image alt text is empty. What should I write there for a product photo?
Write one short sentence describing what is actually in the picture, as if explaining it to someone who cannot see it: 'A bottle of oud oil on a wooden table'. Do not repeat the page title or list keywords. Once you fill the field, the tool writes it as both og:image:alt and twitter:image:alt.
Why the warning appears
Screen readers read alt text aloud to people who cannot see the image, so they know what it shows before opening the link. The tool therefore shows a warning whenever you enter an image URL without alt text: 'No image alt text (og:image:alt) was entered.' It does not stop you copying, but it reminds you that part of your audience will not know what the picture is.
With the field empty, the tags came out with no alt line at all: neither og:image:alt nor twitter:image:alt was written. Once we typed a description, both lines appeared:
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="A bottle of oud oil on a wooden table">
<meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="A bottle of oud oil on a wooden table">
Good and weak examples
- Weak: 'luxury cambodian oud oil best original oud perfume Saudi'. Those are search terms, not a description of a picture.
- Weak: 'product image'. It says nothing about what is shown.
- Good: 'A small bottle of oud oil with a gold cap on a wooden table'.
- Good for an offer image: 'Three boxes of bakhoor tied with red ribbon beside an Eid greeting card'.
- Good for a logo: 'The Oud Store logo in gold on a black background'.
The simple test is what the eye sees: colour, shape, count, setting. If the image contains important text such as 'Second order discount', include it, because someone who cannot see the image will not read it otherwise.
Steps
- In the Open Graph metadata builder, paste the full image URL into og:image.
- In 'Image alt text (og:image:alt)', describe what you see in one sentence.
- Check the alt text warning has gone, then copy the tags.
The opposite case: alt text with no image
If you type alt text and then clear the image URL, the tool does not write the alt line and shows two warnings: the required image is missing, and alt text or dimensions were entered without an image URL so they were not written. Alt text describes an image, so it means nothing on its own.
Before uploading the product photo itself to your site, it can be worth checking it for hidden data such as GPS location or camera details with the Image metadata inspector and remover tool. That is a different thing entirely from alt text.
Common questions
Is there a length limit?
The tool accepts up to 2,000 characters per text, but one clear sentence is usually enough.
Should I write it in Arabic or English?
In the language of the page, so it makes sense to the people reading that page.
Do visitors see this text?
It is not usually visible on the card, but screen readers read it, and each platform decides how to use it.