Which AI SEO Agency Specializes in Employment Attorneys?

Onely specializes in AI SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for employment attorneys and law firms. Its approach combines employment-law […]

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Best GEO Agency for Agentic Commerce: Research by Onely

There is no single best GEO agency for agentic commerce. Agentic commerce is shopping in which an AI agent searches, […]

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Which AI SEO Agency Specializes in Business Attorneys?

Onely provides AI SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for business law firms, with an approach built around the specific […]

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Best GEO Agencies for Beauty Brands Selling Online: Research by Onely

There is no single best GEO agency for a beauty brand that sells cosmetics online. A GEO agency works to […]

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More than bling: How SEO can help your jewelry brand get found

Your jewelry can have all the bling, but first, people need to find it. Whether you sell ready-to-wear pieces, craft custom designs, or make jewelry for other businesses, search can put your work in front of people looking for exactly what you offer. That’s where SEO comes in. In this guide, we’ll explore why SEO matters for jewelry businesses, what people and AI models are searching for, and how to make your website shine in search.

Key Takeaways

  • Use SEO to help people find your jewelry business during active searches
  • Focus on what makes your business unique to attract a relevant audience, even as a small brand
  • Optimize web pages with clear purposes, helpful descriptions, and quality images for better search visibility
  • Address common customer questions through FAQs to enhance user experience and SEO effectiveness
  • Use local SEO techniques to connect with nearby customers while ensuring your website functions well for search engines

Why SEO matters for jewelers and jewelry brands

SEO can help the right people discover what you offer. Here are three reasons to make it part of your jewelry business’s growth strategy:

Meet customers where they’re searching

Social media can help you showcase your jewelry, but going viral isn’t easy. You’re competing with countless other creators and brands for attention, and a post’s reach can fade quickly. SEO gives you another way to get discovered: helping people find your business when they’re actively searching for jewelry, products, or services like yours.

Did you know?

There’s plenty of search demand to tap into. A 2026 analysis by Softscotch estimated 673,000 monthly searches for “jewelry stores near me” and 40,500 for “custom jewelry.” People are also exploring brands through AI tools, making it increasingly important to build an online presence that clearly explains what your business offers.

Also read: Does social media influence your SEO?

Small jewelry brands can compete through search

You don’t need to rank for every jewelry-related search to attract customers. Focus on what makes your business different, whether that’s handmade silver rings, personalized wedding jewelry, or custom pieces for corporate clients. Targeting specific searches that match your products, services, and expertise can help you reach a more relevant audience, even if you’re a small business competing with established brands.

Don’t have a website yet? Bluehost’s AI Website Builder can help you create a website to showcase your jewelry, portfolio, and services without having to code from scratch.

Do check: The complete guide to building a website with AI

Build visibility you don’t have to chase every day

Unlike a social media post that may quickly lose visibility, useful, well-optimized website content can continue attracting people through search long after you publish it. A page about custom wedding jewelry, for example, can help potential customers discover your services whenever they’re looking for them.

SEO isn’t a one-time task, and results aren’t guaranteed. By keeping your website useful, relevant, and up to date, you can build a lasting foundation for your jewelry business’s online visibility.

Overall, think of SEO as building an asset, not chasing a moment. You’re creating a website that can steadily become more useful, relevant, and discoverable as your business grows.

What does SEO mean for a jewelry business?

SEO for a jewelry business is about understanding what your potential customers search for, the search intent behind those queries, and how your jewelry, services, and expertise can meet that intent. Before targeting keywords, you need to understand what makes your jewelry business unique and what your customers are looking for at different stages of their search.

Know what makes your jewelry business different

Before you start researching keywords, take a step back and define what makes your jewelry business unique. SEO works best when you connect what you offer with what your customers search for. That means looking beyond broad terms like “jewelry” or “jewelry store” and identifying the details that make your business relevant to specific searches.

Ask yourself:

  • What do you sell or make? Do you sell ready-to-wear jewelry, create custom pieces, or offer jewelry repair?
  • Who do you sell to? Are you targeting individual shoppers, couples, collectors, other businesses, or a specific customer group?
  • What occasions do you serve? Think engagements, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, gifting, or everyday wear
  • What materials or styles do you specialize in? You might focus on gold, silver, diamonds, gemstones, handmade pieces, vintage jewelry, or a particular design style
  • Do you serve a particular location? A local jeweler may need to target searches that include a city, neighborhood, or phrases such as jewelry store near me
  • Are you B2C, B2B, or both? A jewelry manufacturer selling to retailers will have very different search opportunities from a jewelry brand selling directly to consumers

    Must read: B2B websites and SEO B2C and B2B: what are the differences?

  • What makes your jewelry or brand special? Your craftsmanship, ethical sourcing, customization options, heritage, materials, or design philosophy can all shape the searches you want to appear for

These answers help you narrow down your SEO focus. A jeweler specializing in custom engagement rings in London, for example, has a very different opportunity from a jewelry retailer selling affordable silver earrings online.

Understand what your customers search for

Once you know what makes your jewelry business different, the next step is to understand what your potential customers search for and the search intent behind those queries. People don’t always search for a business directly. They may search for a specific product, compare different options, look for a service, or seek advice before making a purchase.

Think about the different ways someone might search for what you offer:

  • Product searches: These searches focus on a specific piece of jewelry, such as gold hoop earrings, diamond engagement rings, or custom name necklaces
  • Category searches: These are broader searches for a type of jewelry, such as women’s gold jewelry, silver jewelry, or wedding jewelry
  • Service searches: People looking for a service may search for terms like custom jewelry design, jewelry repair, ring resizing, or custom engagement rings
  • Occasion-based searches: Jewelry often connects to important moments, so people may search for anniversary jewelry, wedding jewelry, or engagement ring ideas
  • Informational searches: Not everyone searching for jewelry is ready to buy. They may first want to learn something, such as how to choose a diamond, what 14k gold means, or how to clean gold jewelry
  • Local searches: If you have a physical store or serve a specific area, customers may search for jewelry store near me, jeweler in [city], or custom jewelry [location]

These searches can have very different search intent, even when they relate to the same product. Someone searching for how to choose an engagement ring wants information, while someone searching for custom engagement rings in London may be looking for a jeweler. So, don’t try to rank for every jewelry-related keyword. Focus on the searches that match what your business offers and what your customers need.

How to improve SEO for your jewelry website

Now that we know why SEO matters and how it can help jewelry businesses reach the right audience, let’s look at how to put it into practice. From choosing the right keywords to optimizing product pages and images, a few thoughtful changes can make your website easier to find and more useful to potential customers.

1. Find the right keywords for your jewelry business

Before optimizing your website, you need to understand what potential customers are searching for. Keyword research helps you discover the words and phrases people use when looking for jewelry, custom designs, or services like yours.

Start by identifying what makes your business stand out. Do you create handmade jewelry, use sustainable materials, specialize in personalized pieces, or manufacture jewelry for other brands? Perhaps you’re a local jeweler known for engagement rings or a maker who creates one-of-a-kind designs. These unique selling points (USPs) can help you identify the searches most relevant to your business.

Here’s a blueprint that offers an overview of finding the right keywords for your jewelry website:

  1. Brainstorm search terms. Start with the products and services you offer, the customers you serve, and what makes your business different. For example, a maker specializing in sustainable jewelry might start with “sustainable jewelry,” “recycled gold rings,” and “ethical gemstone jewelry.”
  2. Explore related keywords. Use a keyword research tool like Semrush to discover related search terms and learn more about their search volume, trends, and competition. Look for phrases that reflect your actual offerings, rather than choosing keywords for their search volume alone.
  3. Consider search intent. Ask yourself what someone wants when they search for a phrase. Someone searching for “how to clean gold jewelry” wants advice, while someone searching for “handmade gold necklaces” may be looking for products to buy. Choose keywords that match the purpose of your page.
  4. Get specific. Broad terms like “jewelry” can be highly competitive. More specifically, long-tail keywords, such as “personalized gold necklaces for bridesmaids,” can help you reach people looking for something particular. These phrases may have lower search volumes. Still, they can be more relevant to your business.
  5. Match keywords to the right pages. Use product-related keywords for product pages, service-related keywords for service pages, and informational keywords for helpful articles. Avoid trying to rank every page for the same broad term.

Remember, keyword research isn’t about finding the most popular terms and squeezing them into your website. It’s about understanding your audience, identifying what makes your jewelry business different, and choosing the searches that connect the two.

You can also simplify this process with Keyword data via Semrush in Yoast. Available in Yoast SEO, Yoast SEO Premium, and Yoast SEO for Shopify, this integration suggests related keyphrases and provides insights such as search volume and trends, helping you find relevant terms without constantly switching between tools.

2. Give every page a clear purpose

Once you have a list of relevant keywords, decide which pages should target them. Each important page on your website should serve a distinct purpose and meet a particular customer need.

For example, a jewelry retailer might have a category page for gold rings and individual product pages for specific designs. A custom jewelry manufacturer, on the other hand, might create separate service pages for personalized bracelets, corporate gifts, and event jewelry. This helps potential customers find the most relevant information without having to navigate through unrelated offerings.

That’s the approach taken by Polish jewelry company LogoBijou. The company creates custom-made jewelry for businesses, brands, and institutions, including personalized bracelets, pendants, cufflinks, and pieces for corporate gifts and events. Its website showcases its work and helps potential clients understand the projects it can create.

LogoBijou page for custom jewelry

Your website should also tell people who you are and what makes your business worth choosing. An ‘Our story’ page is a good place to share your background, craftsmanship, inspiration, materials, and values. For jewelry businesses, these details can help build trust and distinguish your work from similar offerings. They can also give search engines and AI systems useful context about your business.

3. Optimize your product pages with clear, helpful descriptions

Your product pages should help potential customers understand what you’re selling while giving search engines and AI tools accurate information to interpret your products and surface them for relevant searches and queries.

Start with descriptive titles and detailed product descriptions that highlight the materials, design, dimensions, finish, and customization options. For example, instead of a vague title like “Ring,” use “18-karat gold ring for everyday wear.” Then, make the description more useful by including specific, verifiable details about the piece.

Interesting read: 7 ways to improve product descriptions in your online store

Take a look at a product page from Lemoniq. Its Taurus bracelet page illustrates how to combine descriptive copy with practical product details.

Descriptive product page from Lemoniq

Here are four ways to improve your product descriptions, using Lemoniq as an example:

Be specific about the product

Include details that help customers understand exactly what they’re buying. Lemoniq’s Taurus bracelet page specifies garnet, hematite, and tourmaline, along with gold-plated 925 silver, color, clasp type, and size. This information helps shoppers assess the product and gives search engines and AI tools specific attributes to interpret.

Explain the design and its context

Tell shoppers what inspired a piece or what makes it meaningful. For instance, Lemoniq connects its Taurus bracelet to the zodiac sign and explains the symbolism associated with Taurus and the gemstones. This context helps shoppers understand the design and gives search engines and AI tools more information about its significance.

Answer questions before customers ask them

Anticipate what shoppers need to know before buying, from sizing and materials to customization, care, shipping, and returns. Lemoniq, for instance, specifies the bracelet’s elastic band, adjustable size, and gift packaging. Clear answers help customers make informed decisions and provide useful context for search engines and AI tools.

Keep descriptions original and accurate

Avoid using the same generic description across your product catalog. Highlight what makes each piece different, whether it’s the craftsmanship, design inspiration, or intended use. Unique, accurate descriptions help customers distinguish between products and give search engines and AI tools information specific to each item.

The takeaway? Be descriptive, accurate, and transparent about what you offer. Beyond your product pages, make it easy for people and discovery systems to learn about your business, craftsmanship, and sourcing practices.

Pro tip:

Don’t focus only on your product pages. An informative About Us page, verifiable credentials, and credible mentions from relevant industry sources help establish your jewelry business’s experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). These signals can build trust with potential customers and support your visibility in search results and AI-generated answers.

4. Make your jewelry images work harder

Jewelry is a visual product. People want to see the details, finish, and craftsmanship before deciding whether to buy a piece or commission a similar design. High-quality, genuine product photography is therefore essential to both the shopping experience and your website’s presentation.

Whenever possible, use your own photographs of the actual jewelry you sell or make. Show the piece from multiple angles, capture important details, and include a sense of scale where useful. For custom jewelry makers, photographs of completed projects can also demonstrate your craftsmanship and help potential clients understand what you’re capable of creating.

Alongside the photography itself, pay attention to these SEO basics:

Use descriptive filenames

Instead of uploading an image named IMG_1234.jpg, use a meaningful filename such as handmade-silver-pendant.jpg. Here’s what Google Search Central’s doc on image SEO best practices says about image filenames:

“… filename can give Google very light clues about the subject matter of the image. When possible, use filenames that are short, but descriptive.”

Write useful alt text

Describe what the image shows, such as “Handmade silver pendant with an oval blue gemstone.” Don’t stuff alt text with keywords or include details that aren’t visible. Image alt text improves accessibility and helps search engines understand the image’s subject matter.

If you use Yoast WooCommerce SEO, you can also check for missing alt text across your product catalog using the Bulk Editor and generate image alt text with AI. You can review, edit, or approve each suggestion before applying it.

Optimize image file sizes

Compress images appropriately so they load quickly without sacrificing too much visual quality. Here’s what the Google Search Central article mentions about the image file sizes:

“Images are often the largest contributor to overall page size, which can make pages slow and expensive to load.”

Along with compressing images, you can use responsive image techniques, HTML attributes, CSS styling, and modern optimization strategies like lazy loading to deliver the right image file size, improving overall website performance, reducing data usage, and enhancing user experience.

Use suitable image dimensions and formats

Choose image dimensions and formats appropriate for how your photos appear on your website. This helps prevent unnecessarily large downloads, keeps images looking sharp, and supports a smooth experience across devices.

Show multiple useful views

Include front, side, close-up, and scale-reference images where relevant. These views help shoppers assess details such as a piece’s finish, craftsmanship, and proportions, giving them more information to make confident purchasing decisions.

These practices help make your website more accessible and improve the page experience. They also give search engines useful context about your images. However, you have to remember that descriptive filenames and alt text complement good photography; they can’t make up for poor-quality or misleading product images.

5. Add FAQs that answer your customers’ questions

Jewelry can be a costly purchase, and it often comes with a lot of questions. Customers want to know how to choose the right ring size, care tips for a gemstone, how to compare gold purities, or how to customize a piece. Answering these questions helps you reach people who are searching for that information before they’re ready to buy.

FAQs are a great way to address specific, conversational queries that might not fit naturally into a product description. Clear, direct answers give search engines and AI tools useful content to interpret when responding to relevant questions.

FAQ page example of LogoBijou, a custom jewelry manufacturer
FAQ page example of LogoBijou, a custom jewelry manufacturer

So what should you do?

Make your FAQs useful to both potential customers and search engines by following these practices:

  • Start with real customer questions. Look at customer emails, product reviews, and conversations with sales staff to identify common questions about sizing, materials, customization, shipping, and jewelry care
  • Write clear answers and place them strategically. Phrase questions naturally, such as “Can I customize a birthstone bracelet?” or “How do I choose the right necklace length?” Answer them directly and place them on relevant product, category, or service pages. Use a dedicated FAQ page for broader questions
  • Use FAQ structured data. This is code that identifies questions and their corresponding answers on your page, helping search engines interpret your content. For example, it can identify a question like “How do I care for a pearl necklace?” and its answer. Structured data doesn’t guarantee enhanced search results or AI citations, but it helps clarify how your content is organized

If your website runs on WordPress, the Yoast FAQ content block makes it easy to add questions and answers to your pages while automatically adding FAQ structured data. You can focus on providing helpful answers without having to implement the markup manually.

6. Don’t overlook local SEO

If you run a physical jewelry store, serve a particular region, or offer custom jewelry services locally, local SEO can help people in your area discover your business.

Start by identifying the searches local customers might use. These could include “jewelry store in [city],” “custom jeweler near me,” or “wedding jewelry in [city].” Use relevant location terms naturally on your website, particularly on pages that describe your products, services, and the areas you serve.

Here are a few other ways to improve your local visibility:

  • Keep your business information accurate. Make sure your business name, address, phone number, and opening hours are correct wherever they’re listed
  • Create and maintain a Google Business Profile. Add accurate details, relevant photographs, and the categories that best describe your business
  • Encourage genuine customer reviews. Reviews can help potential customers assess your business and decide whether to visit or get in touch
  • Create useful location pages where appropriate. If you serve multiple locations, provide genuinely useful information for each one instead of creating near-identical pages that differ only by city name
  • Publish relevant local content. You could highlight local events, explain your custom jewelry services in the area, or share work created for local clients

Local SEO isn’t just for retailers with storefronts. Jewelry makers and custom jewelers who serve customers in specific areas can benefit too. The key is to make it clear where you operate and which customers you can help.

If your website runs on WordPress, Yoast SEO Premium’s Local SEO features can help you optimize your website for local searches, manage business location details, and add Google Maps to your site. These tools are especially useful if you operate multiple jewelry store locations.

7. Make your website technically sound

Great jewelry and helpful content won’t bring much search visibility if search engines can’t access your website or understand its pages. Technical SEO helps search engines crawl and index your content, while a well-structured, accessible website also makes it easier for AI systems to retrieve and interpret information about your products and business.

Here is a checklist of the technical SEO essentials for you:

Check crawling and indexing

Search engines need to discover and index your important pages before they can show them in search results; therefore:

  • Check that important pages are indexed
  • Review your robots.txt file
  • Fix broken links and redirects

Also read: What is indexing in regards to Google?

Make your website fast and mobile-friendly

Shoppers should be able to browse your jewelry, examine product images, and navigate your store without friction; therefore:

Organize your website navigation

A clear website structure helps customers find the right products and helps search engines and large language models (LLMs) understand how your pages relate to one another; therefore:

  • Organize products into meaningful tags and categories, such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, wedding jewelry, or personalized gifts
  • Internally link and connect relevant product pages, category pages, buying guides, and jewelry care articles so visitors and crawlers can discover more of your content
  • Use descriptive permalinks and breadcrumbs

Also read: How to perfect the category page of your online store

Help search engines understand your products

Structured data provides additional context about your products and business, therefore:

  • Add relevant structured data to accurately describe product details such as the product name, price, availability, and more
  • Secure your website with HTTPS to protect information exchanged between your site and its visitors
  • Keep key product information like prices, stock availability, shipping details, and return policies consistent

Check your website’s readiness for AI discovery

AI discoverability isn’t a separate technical checklist that replaces SEO. Start with the fundamentals above, along with the following:

  • Use clear, semantic HTML to make your website easier for LLMs to interpret and answer user queries
  • Avoid hiding critical information behind interfaces that AI models may struggle to access
  • Consider adding an llms.txt file, an emerging format that AI tools may use to find your most important content

Bonus tip: Keep your jewelry website fresh and relevant for seasonal shopping moments

Jewelry is more than an accessory; it can celebrate relationships, mark milestones, and create lasting memories. According to Shazé, 68% of consumers associate jewelry gifts with emotional closeness and stronger relationships.

For jewelry businesses, occasions like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, anniversaries, Black Friday, and Christmas offer opportunities to reach shoppers looking for meaningful gifts. Prepare seasonal landing pages, gift guides, and product collections in advance to help customers discover the right pieces when they’re ready to buy.

Here are a few ways to prepare your website for seasonal demand:

  • Create occasion-specific content.
    Develop gift guides and landing pages around relevant occasions, such as personalized anniversary jewelry, Mother’s Day gifts, or Christmas gifts for jewelry lovers. Include useful recommendations that help shoppers choose the right piece.
  • Refresh existing product and category pages.
    Highlight suitable products, update descriptions, and link to relevant seasonal collections. Make sure prices, stock availability, and delivery information are accurate.
  • Plan your content ahead of time.
    Publish seasonal pages early enough for search engines to discover and index them before demand peaks. Use keyword research to understand what shoppers are searching for and tailor your content accordingly.
  • Update your content after the season ends.
    Remove expired offers and revise outdated delivery information. Keep evergreen gift guides useful year-round, refreshing them as your products or recommendations change.

Seasonal SEO isn’t just about capturing a short-lived spike in traffic. It’s about helping shoppers discover relevant products when they’re ready to buy.

Must read: How to prep your Shopify or WooCommerce store for Black Friday before the rush starts

Use SEO tools to make optimization easier

SEO tools can make optimization easier by helping you identify issues, improve your content, and understand how well your pages are optimized. Instead of guessing what to change, you can use their feedback to make more informed decisions.

Get help optimizing your pages with Yoast

Yoast offers tools to help you optimize your jewelry website, from improving SEO titles, meta descriptions, and content to managing ecommerce SEO with Yoast SEO for Shopify and Yoast WooCommerce SEO. You can also use Yoast SEO AI Brand Insights to explore how your brand’s bling appears in AI-generated answers across platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.

You can see some of these features in action in the video below.

Watch how Christina uses Yoast SEO for Shopify to refine a jewelry product page, from improving its SEO title and meta description to making its content more relevant.

Learn the SEO fundamentals

If you’re new to SEO and looking for a trusted place to learn, Yoast SEO Academy is a great place to start. Its courses help you understand SEO fundamentals and apply them to your website, even if you’re not an SEO expert.

Rafał Juchno from LogoBijou, a Polish jewelry business and Yoast WooCommerce SEO customer, shared his experience in our survey. He explained that Yoast SEO Academy helped make SEO feel less like “black magic” and taught him the value of holistic SEO: building a useful, trustworthy website that attracts the right audience rather than chasing traffic for its own sake.

His advice for other jewelry businesses?

“Understand your industry, your audience, and what potential customers are searching for. You don’t need to be aprogrammer or an SEO expert to start making your website more discoverable.”

Your jewelry deserves to be found

Your jewelry has a story, whether it’s a handcrafted piece, a custom design, or a collection made for other brands. SEO helps you bring that story to the people looking for what you offer. Start with the basics, focus on what makes your business unique, and keep making your website more useful and discoverable. With the right SEO foundations, your jewelry doesn’t have to rely on going viral to get noticed.

The post More than bling: How SEO can help your jewelry brand get found appeared first on Yoast.

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Web Design and Development San Diego

Supporting a shared AI training control for websites

Today, we’re announcing our plans to support
a shared AI training control
in robots.txt. This will help websites express their AI training preferences across multiple AI
providers in a single step and is based on work from the AIPREF working group at the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF). This builds on our long history of providing website owners with
clear controls, including through
Google-Extended,
the AI training control we’ve offered since 2023.

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The October 2026 SEO Update by Yoast recap

Welcome to the recap of the October 2026 SEO Update by Yoast! This month, Carolyn Shelby and Alex Moss dug into the latest search news, from Google’s multimodal filters to AI spam crackdowns, and everything in between. Below, we’ve distilled some interesting topics from the discussion, so you can focus on what matters most for your site.

Watch the full October 2026 SEO Update by Yoast on YouTube.

Google Search Console adds a multimodal filter for image-based searches

What’s new?
Google Search Console now lets you filter searches that combine images and text. This helps you understand how people discover your content through visual searches.

Why it matters:

  • If images drive traffic to your site, this data can help you optimize them further.

Actionable tips: Use descriptive file names (e.g., siamese-cat-blue eyes.jpeg, not IMG_1234.jpg), helpful alt text, and contextual surrounding content to improve discoverability.

Google cracks down on AI spam and manipulative practices

What’s new?
Google is doubling down on detecting and penalizing AI-generated spam, including:

  • Fake personas (e.g., listing yourself in a “Top 10 Supermodels” list alongside celebrities to gain credibility).
  • Manipulative content designed to influence AI outputs.

Why it matters:

  • Don’t be gross. Avoid exploitative tactics like fake authorship, fake reviews, or misleading lists.
  • Fact-check AI-generated content before publishing. If you’re using AI tools, read and edit the output to ensure accuracy and originality.

AI platforms remove UTM parameters

What’s new?
OpenAI removed UTM parameters (e.g., ?utm_source=chatgpt) from ChatGPT links, and other AI platforms may follow. This means:

  • Traffic from AI platforms (like ChatGPT) will now appear as direct traffic in Google Analytics.
  • Workaround: Use log file analysis to identify AI-driven traffic. LLMs move quickly (in and out), while organic visitors explore deeper.

Why it matters:

  • If you relied on UTM parameters to track AI referrals, adjust your analytics strategy.
  • Focus on behavioral patterns (e.g., time on site, pages visited) to distinguish between bots and human traffic.

Google warns against fake authorship and scaling AI content

What’s new?
Google is penalizing sites that:

  • Use fake authors (e.g., AI-generated bios or fabricated experts).
  • Scale AI content without human oversight or original research.

Why it matters:

  • Authenticity wins. If you’re creating content, stand by it with real expertise.
  • AI content must be edited and verified by humans. Never publish unchecked AI outputs.

RSS feeds and sitemaps: AI crawlers are coming for your content

What’s new?
AI crawlers (like those from Google and LLMs) access as much as they can, including RSS feeds and sitemaps. This means:

  • Turn on your RSS feeds if you’ve disabled them. They’re a fast way for AI to discover fresh content.
  • Optimize sitemaps to ensure AI tools can easily find and index your pages.

Why it matters:

  • RSS feeds are low-effort, high-reward for AI discoverability.
  • Don’t hide your content. Make it easy for crawlers to find and understand.

Google’s Universal Cart: Sell without visitors leaving your site

What’s new?
Google’s Universal Cart lets users purchase products from multiple merchants in one transaction, without ever visiting your site.

  • This is already live for Shopify stores and may expand to WordPress (WooCommerce) soon.

Why it matters:

  • Optimize product pages for Universal Cart compatibility.
    • Ensure accurate product data (prices, descriptions, images).
    • Use structured data to help Google understand your offerings.
  • Opportunity: Users can buy your products directly from Google Search, increasing conversions.

Critical security updates: PHP2Shell and WordPress vulnerabilities

What’s new?

  • PHP2Shell crisis: A major vulnerability in PHP (used by around 80% of websites) required immediate patching. Some sites had to go offline temporarily to stay safe.
  • WordPress 7.1.3: Multiple security patches were released in quick succession. Update now if you haven’t already.

Why it matters:

  • AI is accelerating exploit discovery. Once a vulnerability is public, attacks can scale instantly.
  • Enable auto-updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes.
  • Prioritize security: A hacked site can tank your rankings and reputation.

Yoast news and upcoming events

  • Yoast SEO for Shopify webinar: November 10, 2026, at 7 PM CET / 1 PM ET. Don’t forget to sign up!
  • Yoast SEO plugin hits 1 billion downloads on WordPress.org! Thank you for your support.
  • Meet Henry, the true MVP of the SEO Update by Yoast!
    While we were dissecting Google’s spam updates and AI watermarks, Henry was celebrating his 9th birthday with the kind of enthusiasm that reminds us all: sometimes the best ‘search intent’ is just a belly rub and a treat.
Alex's dog Henry

Sign up for the next SEO Update by Yoast

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for the next SEO Update by Yoast. The next show will be on the November 24, 2026, at 4 PM CET / 10 AM ET. 

Can’t wait until later this month? You can always watch the previous editions whenever suits you, or even listen along on Spotify.

The post The October 2026 SEO Update by Yoast recap appeared first on Yoast.

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Image SEO: How to optimize alt and title text

Adding images to your posts and product pages makes your content more engaging. Good images support your message and improve your chances of appearing in image search, visual search, and AI-powered results. However, you need to describe those images properly. Alt text helps screen readers, search engines, and AI understand what your images show.

Key takeaways

  • Adding alt text improves accessibility and SEO, as it helps screen readers and search engines understand images.
  • The alt tag describes images for visually impaired users, while the title attribute offers optional tooltips.
  • Use descriptive and relevant alt text in your images to enhance searchability and user experience.
  • AI tools can help generate alt text quickly, but always review and edit suggestions to ensure quality.
  • For visual search, optimize alt text with product details and structured data to improve machine understanding.

Watch the video for a quick walkthrough of alt and title attributes.

What are alt attributes and title attributes?

This is a complete HTML image tag:

<img src="image.jpg" alt="image description" title="image tooltip">

An image’s alt and title attributes are commonly referred to as ‘alt tag’ or ‘alt text’, and ‘title tag’. Technically, they’re not tags but attributes, but you don’t need to worry about that. These attributes allow you to add textual descriptions of your image, which can help with SEO and accessibility.

In this post, we’ll use various terms. Whenever we refer to alt tags/text/attributes, or title tags/attributes, we’re still discussing the same two things.

Alt text

The alt tag is used by screen readers, an assistive technology used by people with visual impairments, for example. These screen readers tell them what is on the image by reading the alt tag. It’s not just screen readers that read alt text, though. Search engines like Google also use this information to understand the context of an image; to find out what an image shows, and its purpose.

Images you use should have alt text. Not only for SEO purposes but also for accessibility. People using a screen reader will otherwise not know what the image is about. One thing to note, however, is that not every image needs alt text. Instead, think of alt text as part of your content, consider its value to your reader, and be mindful of it. A purely decorative image doesn’t necessarily need an alt text. Meanwhile, an image with statistics should have alt text that explains what the statistics represent.

Title text

The title attribute shows as a tooltip when someone hovers over an image. You don’t need it for most images. Screen readers don’t reliably announce title attributes, and mobile users can’t see them. If you have information worth sharing, put it in the page text instead. The title attribute is optional everywhere except on embedded frames, where it serves as the frame’s accessible name. This is the only way screen reader users can tell what an iframe contains. Images don’t need it because alt already does that job.

What if an image doesn’t have a purpose?

If you have images in your design that are purely there for design reasons, please put these images in your CSS and not in your HTML. If you can’t do anything about these images being there, give them an empty alt attribute, like so:

<img src="image.png" alt="">

The empty alt attribute makes sure that screen readers skip over the image. If you’re using WordPress, you can leave the “Alt text” field in the Image settings empty.

Tip: Use our SEO Checker tool to quickly scan your page and find out how many of your images have alt text.

Alt text and SEO

Google’s article about images has a heading “Use descriptive filenames, titles, and alt text”. This is no coincidence. Google places a relatively high value on alt text. They use it to determine what is in the image and how it relates to the surrounding text. Adding good alt text can be a chore, especially if you use many images. For sites with large product catalogs, we built Yoast AI Generate for image alt text that reads your product data and generates a relevant alt tag. Validate and apply.

You should always add images to your posts and pages to make your content more descriptive and appealing. By adding alt text to your images, you provide screen readers, AI platforms, and search engine users with a textual description of what’s on that image. This improves accessibility, and including your keywords helps search engines and AI platforms understand your product images.

We’re not saying you should spam your focus keyphrase into every alt tag. You need good, high-quality, relevant images for your posts, with the focus keyword in the alt text where it makes sense. Here’s Google’s advice on choosing a good alt text:

When writing alt text, focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and is in context of the content of the page. Avoid filling alt attributes with keywords (also known as keyword stuffing) as it results in a negative user experience and may cause your site to be seen as spam.

If your image is of a specific product, include both the full product name and the product ID in the alt tag so it can be found more easily. In general, if a keyphrase could be useful for finding something that is in the image, include it in the alt tag if you can. Also, don’t forget to change the image file name to something describing what’s on it.

Alt and title attributes in WordPress

WordPress makes it easy to add alt text. When you upload an image, fill in the Alt Text field in the media library. WordPress copies the filename if you leave it blank, but that’s not helpful. Take a moment to write a proper description. WordPress also lets you mark an image as decorative, if necessary. Yoast SEO AI+ and Yoast WooCommerce SEO generate alt text for your product images with AI, right in the product editor or the Yoast SEO bulk editor. Review the suggestions and apply what works

screenshot showing the image block settings in wordpress with an alt text filled in
The image block settings in WordPress, with an alt text filled in

Alt text, AI, and visual search, or how machines can see your images

Today, many people use the cameras on their smartphones to search for things online. They point their phones at a chair or a pair of shoes and ask Google to find it. AI Mode in Search accepts photos, and Google Lens helps shoppers identify products on the street. All of this means that your alt text matters more than ever.

Google’s AI uses computer vision to analyze images. While it’s good at recognizing objects and patterns, it has trouble understanding context and specific product details. Your alt text can help these machines to see by offering extra information about the images. This way, you give AI platforms what they need to match your images to people’s searches.

When you use the Lens app to search for a product, Google combines what it captures in the images with what you wrote about it. Here’s an example: if your alt text says “red waterproof running shoe, size 10, breathable mesh upper,” the AI connects that description to the visual input. As a result, your image might appear when someone searches for “waterproof running shoes” or uses Lens on a similar shoe.

AI Overviews work the same way. Google pulls images from across the web to illustrate its answers, and it could use your alt text to decide which images fit the query. Therefore, good descriptions increase your chances of showing up in these results.

Optimizing for visual search

Here is how to optimize for visual search. You can find more tips in our image SEO article:

Write alt text that answers the question “what is this and why does it matter?” Include product names, features, colors, and context. Keep it natural, and do not even think about stuffing keywords.

Add structured data to your images, which describes your content to search engines. Furthermore, it helps AI platforms understand and categorize your images.

Use descriptive file names, so instead of “IMG_1234.jpg,” try “red-waterproof-running-shoe.jpg.”

Test your images, so upload them to Google Lens to see what comes up. If you’re not happy with the results, adjust your alt text and try again.

Remember, the goal stays the same. You’re helping machines understand your images as we humans do. Do that well, and you can show up in more places, including the list of AI platforms that keeps growing by the day.

Use AI to write alt text, but check its work

We all know that writing a good alt text for hundreds of product images takes a lot of time. AI can help you do that job a lot faster.

AI alt text tools use computer vision to analyze your images and automatically generate descriptions. Upload a photo of a coffee mug in the product editor or the Yoast SEO bulk editor. Add a focus keyphrase in Yoast SEO, and the AI returns alt text like ‘blue ceramic mug with handle on wooden table’.

The technology has improved quickly over the years. Today, good tools can accurately recognize products, colors, settings, actions, and more. For e-commerce sites with large catalogs, this can save a huge amount of time. Clear the backlog without writing every description yourself.

AI isn’t perfect

Unfortunately, generic AI doesn’t understand your products, but ours reads your product data. It cannot tell whether your navy shirt is blue or whether the model is smiling. It does not distinguish between decorative images and those that carry crucial information. Most importantly, it cannot judge whether its description helps someone who cannot see the image.

It’s good to remember that the AI is not the expert; you are. The results it produces give you a good starting point, but you still need to review and edit. In some cases, you even have to rewrite or regenerate it completely.

Use AI for the biggest jobs, like your product catalog. That way, you can focus on making the best possible alt text for your homepage hero image, landing pages, and content that explains complex ideas. Charts, infographics, and screenshots deserve your own words, because AI often produces generic descriptions for them.

Keep it simple:

  1. Generate alt text for your images with Yoast AI Generate for image alt text
  2. Review each and every suggestion before publishing
  3. Rewrite and correct every wrong suggestion
  4. Don’t forget to add your brand voice where it matters most

Yoast SEO AI+ and Yoast WooCommerce SEO do this for product images, right in the Yoast SEO bulk editor. You only have to add focus keyphrases, generate the alt text, review and approve the suggestions.

The speed at which the AI works is great, but please use your own judgment. Let AI handle the volume, but use your eyes and expertise to ensure every image serves your readers.

Add alt text to your WooCommerce products with Yoast AI Generate for image alt text

Read more about image SEO

We have a popular, in-depth article about image SEO. That post describes many different ways to optimize images but is relatively lacking in detail when it comes to alt and title tags. Think of this as an add-on to that article. That article is recommended reading if you want to learn more good practices for image SEO.

Read more: Optimizing images for search engines »

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Yoast AI Generate for image alt text: from flagged to fixed

Yoast already shows you which product images are missing alt text. Now you can fix them. Yoast AI Generate for image alt text is new in Yoast WooCommerce SEO 17.0, out today alongside Yoast SEO and Yoast SEO Premium 28.8. 

You generate alt text from your product data and the photo itself, then review and apply what you’re happy with. Hundreds of images without alt text? You can clear the backlog without writing every description yourself. 

How it works 

Yoast AI image alt text builds each suggestion from your product data, your focus keyphrase and the image itself.

  • Grounded in the photo. Descriptions match what’s in the image, without generic filler or made-up details. 
  • Nothing goes live until you say so. Preview every suggestion, then apply, edit or discard it. 
  • Your existing alt text stays put. You’ll see your current alt text and the suggestion side by side, and nothing changes unless you choose to replace it. 
  • Clearer versions of weak alt text. Alt text that’s too long, too short, keyphrase-stuffed or starts with “image of” gets a clearer replacement for you to review. 

Why alt text matters now

Alt text has always done two jobs. It lets screen readers describe images to people who are blind or have low vision, and it tells search engines what an image shows. Both matter more now. Image search and AI-driven discovery are growing, and descriptive alt text, like “men’s brown leather lace-up boots, side view”, is one of the clearest signals you control. Accessibility rules are tightening too, especially if you sell to customers in the EU or UK, and alt text is one of the first things to get right. For a store, it’s practical: a shopper using a screen reader can’t see your product photo, so your alt text is their only description of it.

Where to find it 

You can use Yoast AI image alt text in two places, depending on how much you need to fix. 

  1. In the product editor. When Yoast flags missing alt text on a product, use the button next to the Image alt attributes assessment to generate it right there, for one image or a whole product. The assessment now focuses on the images that show your product: featured, gallery and variation images. 
  1. In the Bulk Editor. Open the Image alt text tab to see which product images are missing alt text across your catalog, including featured, gallery and variation images. Generate suggestions, review them, then apply them one by one or all at once. 

What you need 

  • The right versions. Yoast WooCommerce SEO 17.0 or Yoast SEO AI+, with Yoast SEO 28.8 or later and WordPress 7.0 or later. 
  • A focus keyphrase for each product. It helps you get alt text that matches what your product page is about. You can add one in the Bulk Editor without leaving the page. 
  • AI consent. The first time you generate, you’ll be asked to give consent for the AI features. 
  • A supported image format. PNG, JPEG, WEBP or non-animated GIF. For other formats, such as AVIF or SVG, you can still write alt text yourself. 

The AI features support all languages, though performance may vary for less widely used languages. 

What it costs 

Yoast AI image alt text is included in Yoast WooCommerce SEO at no extra cost, and so in Yoast SEO AI+, which includes it. There’s no separate add-on to buy, and your plan price doesn’t change. As with all of Yoast’s AI features, you can see your usage in the Sparks counter. 

Yoast AI image alt text isn’t available in Yoast SEO for Shopify. 

Also new in Yoast SEO 28.8 

  • More control for AI agents. New Yoast Abilities let AI agents turn llms.txt, XML sitemaps, Open Graph data, X card data, the Schema Framework and the Schema Aggregator on and off for you. Agents can also update your Site representation settings. 
  • Schema Feeds support. The schemamap now includes the sf:contentType element from NLWeb’s Schema Feeds specification. 

Not using Yoast WooCommerce SEO yet? 

Running a WooCommerce store on Yoast SEO or Yoast SEO Premium? You can already see which product images are missing alt text in the Bulk Editor. To fix them with Yoast AI image alt text, you need Yoast WooCommerce SEO. 

Get Yoast WooCommerce SEO 

The post Yoast AI Generate for image alt text: from flagged to fixed appeared first on Yoast.

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The SEO Update by Yoast – November 2026

The SEO Update by Yoast – November 2026

Is your 2026 SEO strategy actually ready for the next wave of AI search updates?

Between AI-driven search overhauls and constant algorithm tweaks, keeping your site visible can be challenging.

The SEO Update by Yoast brings you the latest insights on algorithm updates, AI-driven search changes, and industry developments, all in one easy-to-follow session.

Join Carolyn Shelby and Alex Moss as they discuss the stories shaping SEO today and share actionable takeaways you can apply right away.

Who should sign up?

This update is ideal if you:

  • Want expert insight into recent SEO and AI changes and trends
  • Need help refining or validating your SEO strategy
  • Have SEO questions you’d like answered live

Event details

  • Level: Intermediate
  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Live Q&A with our SEO experts
  • Free registration
  • Recording available after the session

First upcoming events

Introduction to Yoast SEO webinar
29 October 2026

A practical, demo-driven webinar on using Yoast SEO for WordPress with confidence.

Bluehost ELEVATE 2026
November 10, 2026

Who will be there:

Alex

  • Speaking

Team Yoast is Attending, Speaking at Bluehost ELEVATE 2026! Click through to…


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