Alt and Title Attributes in Anchor Tags

[donationtown]

Does it hurt to use alt and title attributes inside an anchor tag?  Example:

view my website article

[oznappies]

That was a good catch Alan and Ryan, I just looked at the Alt and Title and did not even notice the example used them in an anchor. Doh! I would only ever use them in images. Since I develop on the Microsoft platfrom using it anywhere other than img flags a syntax error.

[AlanBleiweiss]

Everyone's partially correct.  Alternate attributes are for images only.  Title attributes in anchor tags can be used in links, however if you are performing SEO best practices, using title attributes in anchor tags is a first signal that you are probably spamming the search engines if not used with extreme caution.

Why?  Because the anchor text (the text you wrap the anchor tag around) should suffice to communicate what you're linking to.  Title text in anchors is best left to only be used when you're using them as a place anchor on a page, not as a link.

[AdoptionHelp]

To clarify: Alt attributes should not be used in anchor tags, but titles can be. For a full list of anchor tag attributes see: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_a.asp

[Thos003]

Agreed.

[oznappies]

Quite the opposite, these are very desirable if used for their intended purpose.

The Alt tag is for accessability handling, so it helps people with visual disabilities to understand the content of a picture.

The Title tag is used to provide tooltip information to the user when they hover over the image.

Both these enhance the user experience as thus are looked on favourably by Google.

BUT, it's an important but - seo's in the past would stuff these tags with useless spammy content. e.g. You have a automotive business so the alt tag:

'car gmh fast cars sports cars red cars porsche' that is bad.

'Our new sporty red porsche makes an easy ride through the windy roads of Denmark' - good

The title tag could say 'Porsche 911 2005 touring the roads of Denmark'

It's all about adding value to the site for the user not manipulating the search engines. So, use alt tag to describe the item in detail and the title to provide extra details. Do not have the same text in both as they have different purposes.

Hope that sheads enough light on the subject.