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they are not as important as in the gold old days but I still use em ;)
I don't see any problem in using a keyword rich, but descriptive ALT tag - it can only help.
The problem arises when you start stuff bullets and minor graphics with dozens of keywords. I can't see that helping at all.
:)
Scott
Steve
Some say, it's a short term strategy - but short is relative and can be (in some cases IS) more than 12 month.
I don't do this because in general patience is a good thing. May be i do it next month because "in general" also is relative.
I heard that was spamming?
Scott
i never use dirty tricks....
<snip>
[edited by: ciml at 12:23 pm (utc) on April 11, 2003]
[edit reason] No specifics please. [/edit]
Yah, it is spamming. So what?
Your question was "Do keywords in alt tags count?" My answer was, yes they count. Allthough i don't suggest you to spam, i observe that spamming is successfull in many cases.
It is safe to use transparent 1x1 pixels, but I wouldn't push it by identifying it with an Alt tag.
Steve
[edited by: ciml at 5:28 pm (utc) on April 11, 2003]
Honestly, i can't see that keyword stuffing is just dodgy and not successfull with google.
There is an alt attribute added to <img> and other tags.
Is that what y'all on about.
1) You use the keywords once or twice (depending on the number of images per page).
2) You only use them for keywords on jpg's and navigation gif's (very important)
3) If you close off any images (such as spacers) with alt="" if you are not putting text in.
4) If the alt text matches the image name (overlooked too often)
5) If the image is part of a hyperlink (like a navigation image) you also use the title="same keywords" in the href.
6) They are natural and read well (also really important) - don't make them just keywords, make the keywords surfer / user friendly.
Also, be sure to use the Title attribute not only on images but also links. Engines read the text close or near to the link for additional info. Also, new browsers use the Title attribute if present but older browsers only read the ALT attribute.
If you stuff these attributes with unrelated keywords, it can adversely effect your page rankings. If you use them to aid your viewer, you will have better overall results.
...close off any images (such as spacers) with alt="" if you are not putting text in.
I checked my site with an HTML validator and it gave an error for every alt="" on the page, shrugged my shoulders and replaced them all with alt="mycompanyname".
It sounds like I need "find & replace" everything back to alt=""?
I would use the keyword in the beginning of the phrase since it make sense that the algo could limit the amount of character for it. Somehow make the phrase so that it make sense for different browser compatibility, specially in an image link. Describe the page that you are linking to with your keyword in it.
Dave
Don't believe all html validators. I use CSE to knock the dust off a page, then I use [validator.w3.org...] to do the real stuff. Often, I will see W3 approval, yet CSE still shows errors. I contacted CSE and to their credit, said they would include changes to stop this in their next update.
One problem I have is that "absmiddle" is NOT W3 approved. But I need to use it a lot on a number of sites otherwise some images look daft in IE5+ with just "middle". Also, I found that CSS can not handle multiple use of certain fonts I use to great effect on one particular site. So I use individual font tags (which is not w3 compliant).
But I do not think Google penalise you for this. Although I suspect they like good nearly W3 compliant html ;-). And alt="" is there!
It should not do that, alt="" is the recommended usage. Additional, in lists, for the bullet point images alt="*" is preferable.
