How to fix images missing alt on Shopify Plus

Add descriptive alt text to every product and content image so search engines and screen readers can understand what the image shows.

Steps for Shopify Plus

  1. All steps are identical to standard Shopify (see Shopify above).
  2. For large catalogs at Plus scale, use the Shopify Admin API (REST or GraphQL) to bulk-update image alt text programmatically — query all productImages, filter where altText is null or empty, then send a productImageUpdate mutation with the correct altText value.
  3. Alternatively, use a Shopify Plus-approved bulk-edit app such as Matrixify (Excelify) — export products to Excel/CSV, fill the 'Image Alt Text' column, re-import.
Official Shopify Plus documentation ↗

What is images missing alt?

Every `<img>` tag in HTML has an `alt` attribute — a short written description of what the image shows. When an image is missing its alt text (the `alt` attribute is absent or empty), search engines like Google cannot "see" what the image depicts, and screen-reader software used by visually impaired shoppers reads nothing aloud. Writing good alt text means filling in that attribute with a clear, specific description: for a product photo you might write `alt="Red leather crossbody bag with gold buckle clasp"`.

Google explicitly uses alt text to understand images and rank them in Google Images — a significant free-traffic channel for ecommerce stores. Missing alt text means your product photos are invisible to Google's crawler and cannot appear in image search results, cutting off a stream of high-intent shoppers. On the conversion side, assistive-technology users (screen readers) rely on alt text to understand your product imagery; missing it creates a poor shopping experience and in many jurisdictions exposes you to accessibility-law liability (ADA in the US, EN 301 549 in the EU, AODA in Canada). Even a handful of untagged images on key product or landing pages is enough to suppress rankings and fail an accessibility audit.

See the complete Images missing alt guide for every platform and the full background.

Not sure if your Shopify Plus store has this?

Run a free SEOLZ scan — we’ll find images missing alt and every other issue across your whole site.

Scan my site free

Fix images missing alt on another platform