Introduction
If your image alt text has been quietly doing SEO heavy lifting for your listings, that’s over. Amazon has apparently removed alt-text from the ranking algorithm without updating public docs or warning sellers. Now, the question is: how do you recover that lost indexing power and protect your ranking?
1) What Changed: The End of Alt-Text Indexing
- Diagnosis: Image alt-text fields (ALT tags) no longer contribute to Amazon keyword indexing.
- Reasoning: Amazon’s machine vision + image metadata now deprecate this semantic field as they rely more on image recognition models and content-context alignment.
- You may have started losing traffic to “shadow queries”—meaning keywords no longer supported by alt-text.
Proof test: Compare old alt-text terms vs. current Brand Analytics / SQP impressions—gaps often show lost coverage.
2) SEO Levers That Still Matter (and Should Be Your Focus)
Titles & Bullets
- Front-load your core terms (first 60 characters).
- Use synonyms and long-tail secondary terms here.
- Must flow naturally—bullets improve both readability and context.
Backend Search Terms
- Still a primary hidden indexer: 250 characters per group, 5 fields (check your marketplace rules).
- Use semicolon + space to combine terms; no ASINs or competitor brands.
- Use “term frequency” over “term stuffing” — don’t repeat the same term multiple times.
A+ / Enhanced Brand Content
- Densely contextual visuals + keyword-relevant captions help Amazon’s image + content models.
- Comparison charts and feature lists increase relevancy signals.
SQP (Search Query Performance)
- Use impressions / click / purchase share gaps to spot lost visibility.
- Reintroduce gap keywords into title, bullets, backend as relevant.
Additional Fields
- Subject Matter fields, intended use, target audience (where available).
- Review keywords in early search term report and backward map them into content.
3) Auditing & Recovery: What to Do Now
- Keyword Gap Audit
- Pull historical search term reports; identify terms that dropped impressions.
- Cross-check against alt-text phrases you used—likely gaps.
- Content Repair
- Edit title & bullets to reintroduce lost terms (where relevant).
- Re-run occasional relevancy tests: remove and re-add keywords to measure impact.
- Backend Clean-Up
- Remove duplicate terms.
- Use more “flowing” semantics instead of raw p-y-n-o-s-e (e.g., “cream for dry skin overnight” vs “dry skin cream overnight”).
- SQP Monitoring
- Weekly check of lost or slipping terms.
- Restore terms into content quickly before they disappear entirely.
- Creative / Visual Backstop
- Use image captions, side overlay text (if applicable) to embed relevant concepts.
- Maintain strong main image with text cue or color cues tied to terms.
4) 30 / 60-Day Plan to Rebuild Momentum
Days 1–30:
- Run keyword gap audit; identify lost alt-text phrases.
- Update titles & bullets with recovered terms.
- Clean up backend search terms (dedupe, expand).
- Monitor SQP for returns in impression share.
Days 31–60:
- Test A+ content updates for key SKUs.
- Use search term harvesting to fill blind spots.
- Monitor rank + impression curves for key terms.
Days 61–90:
- Continue refinements; expand beyond top SKUs to long tail.
- Reaudit term performance monthly.
- Adjust ad targeting to reclaimed terms or new keyword opportunities.
5) Example Before / After (Hypothetical)
| SKU | Lost Alt-Text Term | Impressions Before | Impressions After Recovery | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skin Serum 30ml | “anti-aging glow” | 25,000 | 48,500 | +94% |
| Yoga Mat Pro | “non-slip grip” | 18,000 | 32,000 | +78% |
By recovering alt-text phrases into content, you can recapture up to 60–120% of lost traffic on affected terms.
Conclusion
Just when you thought you understood Amazon’s SEO, alt-text disappears from the equation. The path forward is finding those gaps, repairing content, and building stronger relevancy through content + backend + SQP. Do that, and you’ll protect traffic, maintain rank, and stay ahead of algorithm shifts.
