[SOLVED] H* tags, images and alt attributes

c010depunkk

I'm working on SEO for my company's home page. The contents of H* tags are always images generated by a PHP script. The code looks like so:

HTML: Select all

<h3><img src="functions/txtcreate.php?string=TECHNICAL DETAILS&amp;type=1&amp;list=true" alt="TECHNICAL DETAILS" class="i_list" /></h3>

Obviously, search engines can't read the text in the image, so I figured that if I add an "alt" attribute, then the search engines can still read the headers..... Is my assumption correct?

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alexgeek

To my knowledge this will provide no benefit.
I think it would be better to have text but make the image go over the top of the text with some CSS.
That way, the text is there in teh source but not visible as it's covered.

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aso186

I would agree with alexgeek on using CSS and raw text in a header tag. Others might say an alt tag is just as equal, but this is simply a personal preference.

Check out this article on CSS image replacement

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MikeHopley

I prefer using an <img> with alt text, because this is the most accessible option.

That method may not be good for SEO, however. Because alt text is susceptible to keyword stuffing, Google might discount it.

There are numerous text replacement solutions. All produce accessibility problems, but some are much worse than others. These methods may also be viewed as suspicious by Google. Moving text offscreen could be just as abusive as stuffing alt text.

Ultimately, we just don't know. I suspect that Google analyses the content to see whether it's abusive, rather than applying a blanket condemnation to particular code elements. In either case, all the methods are open to abuse; therefore I prefer the most accessible one (alt text).

c010depunkk

OK, tx for the responses.... I'm gunna run with alt tags, mainly because I've coded most of the pages like this already. If the rankings don't improve I'll have to experiment some more....

__________________
Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.

~ www.c010depunkk.com ~ the hang-out of a web developer