6 replies to this topic

[steve_l]

I've been reading around about how google treats CSS image replacement, and I haven't been able to find anything recent. I found a comment from Matt Cutts that says they don't throw out sites that do it, but it was from 2005. Since you're showing search engine spiders text that the typical user wouldn't see, I recommended to the person asking me about it, to only use it sparingly. That Google will be able to tell that you're showing them something that visitors won't typically see, and that they won't be able to tell if you're using it honestly (unless you're blatently using it to spam). Is this right?

[Jill]

We've got other threads on this in our CSS forum where I'm moving this. Basically, it's fine for search engines.

[steve_l]

Does this mean I could show a search engine a page full of text for a page that is completely images for most users, and I won't get any penalty? I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with CSS image replacement because I've never done it, but this seems like it would be possible.

[qwerty]

As long as the content of the code matches the content on the images, and you provide for a way for the text to show up in case the images don't (and this is a bit more involved than just setting up alt attributes for the images), you should be fine.

[steve_l]

Does a search engine spider pick up that text and use it to determine what you're relevant to, same as text that is regularly displayed? Or do they take a gander at the style sheet and ignore it?

[qwerty]

As far as I know, they're still not looking at style sheets. What you'd be doing here would basically be the same thing as hidden text that is made visible under certain circumstances, so you run the risk of someone reporting you for spamming if they don't understand what you're doing. However, considering the fact that a lot of sites do this and it's not really hidden text, it seems the search engines are aware of it and know it's not an issue.

[chaz7979]

Has anyone seen any websites stuffing text behind images with the help of CSS at the top of the SERP's? I havent. I think Google knows. There is a huge window of opportunity for good old fashion keyword stuffing for them to ignore it.