Image Maps vs. Normal Images
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Hey Mozzer's, quick question:
Does anyone out there have any opinions / research on whether the use of image maps is an effective way of linking to other pages on a site as opposed to using seperate images?
Does Google read alternate text from an image map in the same way as a regular image?
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Image maps present links in a very standardized way that the search engines definitely index so it's more of a question of how you want your information presented in results. If I'm presenting a cluster of results for a barbershop search in a local area with an image map, I wouldn't want that broken up until it got to the individual page for a specific location, as one example.
As for the alternate text tag, it's the same "alt" so it'll be read the same way. A good practice for usability, regardless.
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