Text links or Buttons with alt text?

Are text links really better for SEO than a good button?

[kapow]

I have avoided using button links in navigation bars on sites for a long time. Instead I have worked on ways to make my text links attractive with CSS etc.

Does anyone have evidence that buttons with good alt text are less effective than pure text links?

[Birdman]

Maybe the best approach would be to cover both bases:

1) Nice buttons with alt

2) Text footer with the same links

>>>Instead I have worked on ways to make my text links attractive with CSS etc.

I do the same thing, kapow.

[tedster]

When the menu links contain important keywords, I can say yes. I have popped several sites to higher positions with this change alone, as the first step in a site makeover. But they've got to be good, "strong contribution" keywords.

Getting the right keywords into a user-friendly menu can be a challenge in some cases. That's the art and science of building a strong Information Architecture that works fro both Google AND for human beings.

[Robert Charlton]

>>I have popped several sites to higher positions with this change alone, as the first step in a site makeover.<<

Ditto. I've sometimes negotiated with clients by giving them whatever they want in their graphic text in exchange for a few words in the link text. The jump in ranking can be dramatic.

[tedster]

One way to think about how important text can be for menus is to think about how you would react if another site offered you a backlink, but only if it could be a graphic.

Since text menu links will appear on many pages across a site, they will be constantly reinforcing the keywords of the pages they point to, each and every time they appear.

[Powdork]

Several important points.

A three or four word phrase often won't fit in a text nav bar. It will in a buttons alt text.

If you use buttons don't repeat keywords in alt text for consecutive buttons. They will likely show up in SERP descriptions as "searchterm1, searchterm1, searchterm1" which screams 'don't click here'. Sprinkle the magic keyword dust.

If you have a home button, "home" is not a viable option for alt text!. If you have this, changing it can make the single biggest 1 time effect you can hope to have. If you see this on someone's site coming to you for help, this is the one time you can guarantee them better results. Unless you sell "home", but even then it is an extremely competitive keyword.;)

[alpine]

>>If you have a home button, "home" is not a viable option for alt text!. If you have this, changing it can make the single biggest 1 time effect you can hope to have. If you see this on someone's site coming to you for help, this is the one time you can guarantee them better results. Unless you sell "home", but even then it is an extremely competitive keyword.;)<<

How do you feel about keeping a "home" text link at the top of the page (for aesthetic design reasons), but having "wigdets home" as a text link at the bottom of the page?

[Powdork]

Thats fine if you want. However, there is no need for the "home" in "widgets home". There will probably come a time when you are looking to improve further and you will look at that top text link again.

[kapow]

My question is: Is alt text as good as a text link?
I know we all like to have text links only, I have been doing this for ages and got good results too.

I'm not talking about buttons without alt text or buttons with ineffective alt-text-key-words like: home, products, help...

I would like to know if anyone has had success with buttons that have excelent key word alt text?

[Powdork]

Welcome to ww alpine.
Kapow,
I have had large success with image links. Not buttons but I can't see why it would make any difference.

[piskie]

You can make very presentable CSS links that behave like text links as far as search engines are concerned yet look and behave just like graphic links.

I know posting URL's is forbidden, but if you go to Google and search for "wedding dresses in cornwall" and go to result #1. This type of link is the best of both worlds.

[SlyGuy]

Kapow,

I changed a site from buttons with ALT text to pure text links about 2 months ago. This was the only change I made to the site and there has been quite a dramatic increase in the SERPs. I wouldn't call this solid proof, but just an example of how text links might hold an advantage over graphics.

- Chad

[Robert Charlton]

A three or four word phrase often won't fit in a text nav bar. It will in a buttons alt text.

I think there was a discussion recently that Google is no longer looking at alt text. If they don't look at regular alt text, it's highly unlikely that they will give alt text in a graphic link the same weight as link anchor text.

I generally don't use alt text unless it will benefit handicapped users. For the images where alt text isn't really useful, I use alt="" so the code will validate.

[kapow]

> I changed a site from buttons with ALT text to pure text links about 2 months ago. This was the only change I made to the site and there has been quite a dramatic increase in the SERPs.

Thats the kind of example I'm really interested in SlyGuy. So, you didn't change the key-words, you didn't get any more incomming links, improve the titles etc?

> there was a discussion recently that Google is no longer looking at alt text.

Yep, I saw that discussion. I seem to remember that it applies to non link alt text and that someone said (I think it was ciml) that alt text on link images is still very good.

> I can't see why it would make any difference.
Me too.

I know I can make nice links with CSS but I have a few projects where the customer really wants fancy looking buttons. For ages I have been saying 'buttons will kill your rank' or 'you can have buttons if you also have a list of text links on the page'...
But, I just began to wonder - why should it make a difference. If the key words are great and the button is a link then why should it be so different to Google. I suspect that their isn't much evidence because the SEOs have avoided buttons like the plague. I have some sites with nav buttons and carefully chosen alt text and the sites do well, but I don't have any examples of real comparison e.g. the site was text links but then changed to buttons with alt text and the difference is xyz.

Does anyone else have an example of changing from text to buttons (with good alt key words) or changing from buttons (with good alt key words) to text links.

[SlyGuy]

So, you didn't change the key-words, you didn't get any more incomming links, improve the titles etc?

Nope! I used the same keywords that formally resided in the ALT text of the buttons and everything else stayed the same. A colleague and I thought it would be an interesting experiment. Sure enough, it was.

Cheers,

- Chad

[Robert Charlton]

piskie - That's a good use of CSS; but, for me, the text in many of the left-side nav "buttons" would have caused me to turn all of those buttons into graphics... and then I would have also used global text navigation at the bottom of the page.

It's a lot harder in nav buttons to avoid frequent repetitions while also including target phrases than it is to do this in the footer link text, and it's hard enough to do it there. Take a look at this thread on that subject, from about a year ago:

Avoiding excessive repetition in global text links
"Widget" really belongs in every link, but it may be seen as spam
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