Yet another way to use the alt tag - ask your readers to load the images
November 7th, 2008 by Jim HitchPart five in a multi-part series on alt tags (read parts one, two and three and four)
I kind of thought four posts on alt tags was approaching overkill, but when this email came in, I knew number five needed to happen. I realized that sometimes the images aren’t just part of the message, they are the message. Did you just breathe a sigh of relief? If so, this post is for you.
For NerdyShirts, no branding, styling or calling to action in the alt tag would quite do the trick. People only buy t-shirts after they’ve seen them (of course!), so they’ve dedicated the alt tag to encouraging just that - ‘Enable Images to View Pictures!’, it says.
I think they could take it to the next level, too. Something like, ‘NerdyShirts is having a sale! Enable images to see the featured t-shirts.’ Take a look at the before and after screenshots….
Powered by FireStats
November 11th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
[…] Part 5 - Ask your readers to load the images. Through your alt tag you can help increase your images loading by requesting the recipient to enable images to view pictures. Jim notes that he realized that sometimes the images aren’t just part of the message, they are the message. […]
March 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I’m loving this tip, I’m forever trying to convince companies using image-only emails to use better alt tags! Glad I found your blog, will be sending a few of my clients the link
March 5th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Glad to hear it, Anna, and thanks for letting us know. Cheers!