Why Squarespace Users need this
Squarespace gives you very little control over the technical side of SEO. The robots.txt file and the XML sitemap are generated automatically and cannot be edited, the self-referencing canonical tags are added for you, and adding your own canonical through code injection can leave a page with two conflicting ones. Even slugs can bite: save a post before typing a title and you get a random URL that needs a redirect later. When so much is fixed, the things you do control matter more, and image descriptions are one of them. Image blocks, gallery sections and summary blocks make it simple to add forty photos to a page without ever filling in the alt text field, which is why people search for squarespace alt text in the first place. The Image ALT Text Checker takes one page URL, reads the HTML Squarespace serves, and lists every img tag with its ALT status, ALT text and file name. Use it to see how many images have nothing written, then decide which ones need a real sentence and which are decoration.
Squarespace Users specific guidance
Which pages to run first
Start with the pages that hold the most photos: a portfolio or gallery page, a blog post with a long image set, and a shop product page. Give anything published in a hurry a pass early, since blank fields are likeliest there. Paste the full address, for example https://yoursite.com/blog/spring-garden-tour, into the checker. It reads one URL per run and does not crawl, so run each gallery or project page separately. Because it fetches the HTML as served without running JavaScript, images that a script inserts after the page loads may not appear, and CSS background images, such as a banner set as a section background, are never listed. A short list therefore does not prove the page has few images, only that few img tags were in the source.
Reading the table honestly
The report shows three cards, Images, With ALT and Missing ALT, then a table with the ALT status, the ALT text and the file name. Missing means the attribute is absent or blank, so a deliberately empty alt on a decorative divider is counted alongside real gaps, and you decide which is which. The reverse trap is more common: the checker does not judge quality, so a row reading IMG_0231 or untitled still shows as With ALT. Scan the ALT text column by eye and note those rows too. Compare Missing ALT with the Images card to get a rough coverage figure, such as 11 of 40. A clean count proves attributes exist, not that the descriptions are accurate, and it says nothing about how Google Images treats the page.
Fixing gaps in editor order
Work through the flagged rows from the top of the page down. In the Squarespace editor, click the image, open its edit options and type a short sentence into the alt text field describing what the photo shows, such as black ceramic mug on an oak shelf. For a gallery, open it and edit each image in turn. Use the file name column to work out which photo a row refers to. If you have to choose, finish the pages people land on from search before old archive pages. After saving, run the same URL again and see whether the Missing ALT number fell. The tool only reads the page; it cannot write text for you or change anything on the site.
Example scenarios
1. Wedding portfolio gallery
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A photographer uploads 36 camera-named files into a gallery section on a portfolio page and never opens the alt text field for any of them.
- Input
https://yoursite.com/portfolio/weddings- Reading the result
- The cards would typically read Images 36, With ALT 2, Missing ALT 34. The table lists each file name, so you can write descriptions in the order the photos appear. Check the two rows that pass, since camera-style names would still count as With ALT.
2. Blog post saved before a title
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A restaurant owner saves a post early, gets a random slug, renames it later with a redirect, and adds 12 photos in a rush, three without alt text and four labelled only image.
- Input
https://yoursite.com/blog/summer-menu-update- Reading the result
- Expect something like Images 12, With ALT 9, Missing ALT 3. Reading the ALT text column shows four of the nine passing rows say only image, so seven photos really need a sentence. The checker does not look at the redirect or the slug.
3. Shop product page
- Situation
- Illustrative example: A store owner has a product page with 14 img tags: eight product shots, plus icons and a thin divider that were never meant to be described.
- Input
https://yoursite.com/shop/linen-tote-bag- Reading the result
- A plausible result is Images 14, With ALT 9, Missing ALT 5. Three of the missing rows are product shots that need a description; the divider and an icon can stay empty. Thumbnails a script adds later may be missing from the list entirely.
Common mistakes
- Treating Missing as a failure. Missing includes blank alt text on purely decorative images, so a nonzero count does not mean every row is a mistake. Decide per image whether it conveys information.
- Trusting the With ALT count. Text like IMG_0231, image or untitled still counts as With ALT. Read the ALT text column instead of stopping at the card totals.
- Running only the homepage. The checker reads one URL per run, and gallery, project and product pages usually hold the most images. Run each of them separately.
- Expecting background images to appear. Photos set as section or banner backgrounds are CSS, not img tags, so they are never listed. A short table does not mean the page has few visuals.
- Stuffing keywords into every description. Writing a list of search phrases instead of what the photo shows makes the text less useful to screen reader users. Describe the image in one plain sentence.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add alt text in Squarespace?
Open the page in the editor, click the image, and look for the alt text field in the image's edit options; in a gallery, edit each image in turn. Write a short, plain description of what the photo shows. After saving, paste the page address into the Image ALT Text Checker and confirm the row now reads as having ALT text. The checker only reads the page; it cannot add or change text for you, and it does not confirm that the wording is accurate.
Is Squarespace good for SEO if my images have no alt text?
Squarespace gives you the basics, including automatic sitemap and robots.txt files, but those cannot be edited, so image descriptions are one of the fields you fully control. Missing alt text will not by itself decide how your site performs, yet it leaves photos undescribed for screen reader users and gives Google Images less to work with. Run your main pages through the checker to see how many gaps exist before judging. The scan is free and needs no signup.
Should decorative images on my Squarespace page have alt text?
Purely decorative images, such as a thin divider or a texture, can carry an empty alt so screen readers skip them. The checker counts empty alt as missing, because it cannot tell decoration from content, so the decision is yours. Go through the flagged rows, give a real description to any photo that conveys information, and leave genuinely decorative ones alone. Keep a note of the ones you skipped so a later scan does not look like unfinished work.
Why doesn't the checker list the images in my Squarespace gallery?
The tool reads the HTML exactly as the server sends it and does not run JavaScript. If a gallery or lazy-load script inserts images after the page loads, they are not in that source and will not appear. CSS background images, like a section background, are never img tags either. Check the Images count against what you see on the page; if the numbers differ widely, run any separate gallery or project pages on their own URLs and compare.
Is alt text part of my Squarespace SEO checklist, and will it improve rankings?
Image descriptions sit alongside page titles, SEO descriptions and clean slugs in ordinary on-page work. Adding alt text makes a page more accessible and gives Google Images context, but nobody can promise a ranking or traffic change from it. The checker gives no score; it gives counts and a table, so judge progress by whether the Missing ALT number drops after you save and re-run the page. Treat it as one item on your checklist, not the whole list.
Reference: The Squarespace SEO checklist in the Help Center warns that saving a post, product or event before adding a title creates a random URL slug, and that you should create redirects after changing a slug.