Image above or below content?

[owillis]

For my site every article I post has an associated image - as it is now I post the image above the story, but I'm wondering if having the graphic below the story might work better. Also, in addition to alt tags I write "Foo picture" under each image as a caption.

[Essex_boy]

How about embedding the image to the left or right of the text ? If its integral to the story above the fold is a must, else id place below the fold

[travelin cat]

I agree with Essex-boy, move it to the left of the article.

[pageoneresults]

I agree with Essex_boy, move it to the left of the article.

I agree with Essex_boy and travelin cat. I'll go one step further and suggest something like this...

<p><a title="" href=""><img src="" width="" height="" alt="" style="float: right; margin:0 0 .5em .5em;">Keyword Phrase</a> is an article that discusses...</p>

The goal here is to refine each and every one of the above elements to the nth degree. Provide your users with all the clues you can using the elements and attributes you have available to you. And, only do that based on the HTML spec. It doesn't work if you try to do it any other way. ;)

In the above example, we have quite a few things taking place. We have a linked image that is inline and in context. No need to do anything else with it unless you want to add a caption at which time you'll float a <div> to the right or left and do some styling to achieve the desired effect. I don't think the caption is needed in this scenario and I even believe it would detract from the initial float of the image inline using the various attributes available.

You may need to change your writing style a little bit to accommodate the new inline, in context, image links. Think about Front Loading, Inverted Pyramid Writing, etc.

[ken_b]

I put the image(s) on the right side of the main text on most of my pages. But the images are the main focus of most of my pages.