Choosing Between Alt and Title IMG Tags?
-
I'm in a bit of a conundrum.
My client uses BigCommerce for their E-Commerce shop. Basically you are only allowed to either have:
1) Same alt and title IMG tags.
2) Only alt IMG tags.
3) Only title IMG tags.
So far I understand that the hierarchy is alt > file name > caption > title? In this case should I get rid of the title tag and use only alt? Or if I use both should I make the tag like an alt or title tag?
It's not ideal but I need to come up with the best solution possible.
-
I agree with DC1611 and would reiterate you shouldn't just stuff your keywords into both tags.
Google's penalized keyword stuffing for some time now and they are always emphasizing user experience. Remembering that alt tags are designed to help visitors who are visually impaired and given the space constraints of title tags, I'd err on the side of using language that succinctly and accurately describes the image.
-
I think you may find this post interesting - http://www.searchenginejournal.com/image-alt-text-vs-image-title-whats-the-difference/
Note the following:
"Include your main keywords in both, but change them up. Keyword stuffing in alt text and title is still keyword stuffing, so keep them relevant and meaningful"
If possible I would populate both title and alt tags for images but make them different variations rather than having them as the same. I know this is a challenge and as Dirk mentioned as you may be limited go for identical but try and be as relevant as possible. Depending how your site is setup you could potentially custom code your template to populate the two elements from slightly different but relevant data on the page.
Again I think you might find this on-page SEO post by Rand interesting -
"For search engines, the image's title, filename, surrounding text, and alt attribute all matter from a ranking perspective. In particular, those doing SEO should know that when an image is linked, the alt attribute is treated similarly to anchor text in a text link."
http://moz.com/blog/visual-guide-to-keyword-targeting-onpage-optimization
-
We have a site which generates 90% of it's traffic via image search. On this site we use both Alt & Title tag - and they are identical (and quite similar to the name of the image). Under the current circumstances (it could indeed be considered as keyword stuffing), not sure if I still would go for identical alt/title for this site. Traffic continues to grow, and even increased after Panda update last year, so (until now) we experience no negative impact.
Normally the alt should describe the image, the title should more or less contain the same content but more focussed on call to action - see also: http://blog.raventools.com/alt-title-text-optimized-images/
In your case, as your choices are limited, I would still go for identical alt/title - but take care that you keep the content to the point & don't exaggerate with the use of keywords. If you don't want to take any risk - stick with the Alt & drop the Title.
rgds,
Dirk
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Not using alt tags for decorative images?
Hi everyone, My coworker recently stumbled across this article that instructs you to not to alt text for "decorative images" as you might get penalized you for over optimization https://www.shopify.com/blog/7412852-10-must-know-image-optimization-tips Has anyone heard of this or have any thoughts?
Image & Video Optimization | | AliMac260 -
How much can our page title, URL and alt-tag differ without negatively affecting SEO?
We are a bridal store selling wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses. We are wanting to know how much our URL and page title can differ, whilst still optimising SEO. For example, for the category Wedding Dresses, the URL contains wedding dresses, so can we use " the best wedding dresses in Sydney" in the page title? For the bridesmaid dresses (URL is /bridesmaiddresses/) can we use " buy best bridesmaid dresses online in Australia"? Can we use terms such as "buy best black dress in sydney", "buy online in australia" or "shop online in sydney" in the alt-tag, additional from the page title .i.e. adding extra keywords in the alt-tag that do not appear in the title? Would this be classified as keyword stuffing? In our main categories .e.g. Wedding Dresses, can we add "best wedding dress store", "buy wedding dresses from best wedding store in sydney" in the alt-tag? Thank you.
Image & Video Optimization | | CostumeD0 -
Video Title length
Hi, I was wondering if there is a limit that anyone puts on Video Titles or descriptions? This is for video that is hosted on our server and not on Youtube.
Image & Video Optimization | | mattdinbrooklyn1 -
Choosing a video hoster for a website
Hi guys, I would love to hear your opinion about which video hoster is recommendable for embedding videos on a website and why? So far, I can't decide between Youtube, Vimeo and Wistia. Youtube: + large community, snippets in Google - advertisements Vimeo: + appealing look - small audience Wistia: + easy to customize, statistics - no community, no snippets in Google Thanks in advance for any input! Benjamin
Image & Video Optimization | | ghostwriter0 -
Repeated alt tags
So my client red about SEO and now he needs alt tags for each image on website. There is like 200 products and each product has 20 images, i know he will not write alt text for each and there isn't that much to write (them are selling bricks). So can all 20 images with in product page contain the same alt tag (product name)? Example: alt="red brick". Wount google ban website for that? Mybe better way would be alt="red brick 1", alt="red brick 2" and so on.
Image & Video Optimization | | regolv0 -
Optimizing title tags for a different town then the business is located in.
I'm looking for a little help, because I'm stuck. I was taught that when doing geo specific title tags you must include the city the business is located in. For example,Dentist North Springfield, even if there is nobody searching for dentists north boulder because everyone is searching for dentists boulder. As in they are considered one in the same. Can I optimize for Springfield or will I be penalized. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | kevinp30 -
Tag clouds and leaking link juice
We have a popular blog, but SEOmoz analytics is telling us that theblog homepage has greater than 100 links and this needs to be addressed. One very big source of links on the blog homepage is the tag cloud. Can tag clouds be a source of link juice dilution? If so, is should we consider either removing the tag cloud altogether (not essential to the site) or consider doing no-follows? Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | ahw0 -
Alt text in combination with images from another source / url
I have a feed that is parsed on my website. All images do come form another source( and url that differts from my site). However I can change the alt text. I concerns hotel mages worldwide. In order to relate the images with the different language I want to add a small phrase "airport hotel" translated in the laguages that are present on my site Example alt text will be alt="airport hotel: Mercure Schiphol Terminal" or in German alt="Flughafen hotel: Mercure Schiphol Terminal" Will this have a positive effect on my SEO despite the url of the images are not related to my site?
Image & Video Optimization | | fctexel0