| A highly talked about topic is the SEO world is, "Do Alt | | | | was an image with an alt attribute and a link to a |
| and Title Attributes Help with SEO?" Well to help shed | | | | completely other site, that other site was also indexed |
| a little light on this topic, I did some research and came | | | | by Google when searching for the text within the alt |
| up with a few good conclusions. I'm not suggesting | | | | attribute. It was difficult for me to verify this multiple |
| these are 100% accurate but from my initial research | | | | times but I definitely verified it in one testing scenario. |
| they seem to be right on target. I welcome all other | | | | I also took this one step further and analyzed my |
| SEO experts to share their opinions on this topic by | | | | results with what Google Images was displaying. I |
| posting their comments - because as we all know, | | | | immediately noticed that Google sometimes takes the |
| every little bit of information can help us all. | | | | alt attribute text and provides this text as the |
| Well to start, I want to provide a brief introduction of | | | | description for the image in Google Images, something |
| each attribute to help you understand their "intended" | | | | that is very valuable to know and understand when |
| purpose. | | | | doing SEO for your website. |
| The alt attribute is, popularly and incorrectly referred to | | | | In all of my testing scenarios, the title attribute do not |
| as an alt tag and is commonly misunderstood to | | | | seem to be picked up by Google and adding a link to |
| provide a tool-tip for an image. Both of these are | | | | that element did not seem to affect this result at all. If |
| incorrect. First of all, the alt attribute is an attribute and | | | | you really think about it, this makes complete sense. |
| not a tag. The alt attribute was always intended to | | | | Since you can place title attributes in almost every |
| provide alternative information about an element and is | | | | element of a website, it would be very easy for a |
| generally required for image and image maps and is | | | | user to affect the search engines by keyword stuffing |
| not meant to be used to display a tool-tip. The alt | | | | throughout their web pages, something that Google |
| attribute, can be used for the img, area, and input | | | | and the other major players do not want, hence why |
| elements to help provide alternative information to | | | | title attributes do not help with SEO. |
| users who cannot display that element in their browser. | | | | In my opinion, you should use the title attribute to help |
| As an example, here is how you would define an alt | | | | with your user's experience and not with SEO. Since |
| attribute for an image: <img src="imagepath.gif" | | | | tool-tips provide more useful information to the user |
| alt="this is our company logo">. If the image is not | | | | about images, links, fields and much more, you will help |
| displayed the text, "this is our company logo" will be | | | | your users to understand what is happening around |
| displayed in the place of the image. | | | | the web page. |
| The title attribute, on the other hand, is meant to | | | | So from my testing I've determined that a title attribute |
| provide additional information about an element, which | | | | is meant to provide tool-tips to the user for user |
| is displayed as a tool-tip by most graphical browsers. | | | | experience, whereas the alt attribute is helpful in terms |
| The title attribute can be used to describe any HTML | | | | of providing alternative information to the user when |
| element except for base, basefont, head, html, meta, | | | | their browser cannot display an image or input element |
| param, script, and title. | | | | and helping to increase the SEO of a website. My |
| An excellent use for the title attribute is to provide | | | | recommendation is to pay close attention to when, |
| descriptive text within an anchor tag to let the users | | | | where and how you are using your alt attributes. If |
| know where the link will direct them if they click on it. | | | | they help with SEO, then you should pay close |
| When the user places their mouse over the link, it will | | | | attention to what you are adding. |
| display a small tool-tip displaying the title text that | | | | When adding images always be sure to add an alt |
| you've provided. An example would be | | | | attribute to the code of each image. If you do not |
| So as you can see the alt and title attributes have | | | | have one, then just specify a blank one, such as alt="". |
| different purposes but how do they affect SEO? This | | | | Also, be sure to add alternative text that is relevant to |
| is the true question we all want to know and | | | | that image, the content on that page and be sure not |
| understand. Do they help with SEO or are they simply | | | | to specify an alt attribute greater than 100 characters |
| ignored by the search engines? I tested several | | | | in length, as this may be perceived as spamming. |
| different scenarios, all in Google, and after my | | | | I hope you find my brief overview on the topic of, "Do |
| research I've come to the following conclusions. | | | | Alt and Title Attributes Help with SEO?" to be |
| Alt attributes seem to be picked up by Google, | | | | beneficial for you and your business. I'm sure one could |
| whether or not there was a link within that element. | | | | dive deep into this topic, spending weeks determining |
| Some SEO experts have mentioned that if there is no | | | | the differences between how Google, Yahoo! and the |
| link, then the alt attribute would not be indexed... from | | | | other major search engines handle title and alt |
| my research I've found this to be false. | | | | attributes with regards to SEO for a website. |
| Going further, I noticed in one testing scenario, if there | | | | I welcome all comments and/or feedback. |