14 replies to this topic

[scalerockets]

I've hear some information on title tags for graphic objects. Which I take it is different than the page title.

I've populated all the graphics with alt tags. How is a title tag used and will it help with keyword relevancy.

[OldWelshGuy]

The alt tag displays when people have graphics off or in special browsers for the partially sighted. They do absolutely nothing for your SEO unless the image is a link.

Stuffing them with keywords though is not a good idea.

[Scottie]

The title attribute is typically used for links to give users that same little pop-up explanation that you get from an alt attribute when you mouse over an image.

It's great for usability but does nothing for SEO, as far as I know.

[gili]

In response to a recent post of mine, Jill wrote:

Meta Tags are Dead

Does this mean that meta tags don't work at all and are no longer relevant? Why bother with keywords?

Keywords are major topics of discussion on this and other boards - what's the point then?

I think I might have missed something here big time!

Teensy weensy bitsy confused...

[SearchRank]

The only meta tag that is worth optimizing is the meta description tag as Inktomi still uses this to form the description that appears in the SERPs. Alta Vista also uses it. The others, meaning Google, All The Web and Teoma index it but will only use it as your description if no html text exists on the page they index.

[Jill]

When people here or elsewhere are discussing keywords, they're not talking about the Meta keyword tag.

They're talking about how you use your keywords phrases within your visible page copy, your Title tag, and within the links to your site, for the most part.

Keywords are not dead. But the Meta keyword tag is dead, and quite frankly was never very alive once the Internet starting growing to the general population.

Jill

[OldWelshGuy]

But the Meta keyword tag is dead,

I dont agree Jill, I get told at least once a week from someone that to get good rankings all you have to do is put some keywords in your keyword Meta tag, and submit constantly to the 10,000 search engines and directories.

All those people, and the bloke down the pub, can't be wrong, can they?

<EDIT FOR CLARITY, this is my Welsh sarcastic humour coming out, I am not serious>

Edited by OldWelshGuy, 26 January 2004 - 08:41 PM.

[gili]

Was/Is OWG jokin or is that true? Doesn't sound right.

[Jill]

He's joking.

Jill

[amabaie]

But the Meta keyword tag is dead, and quite frankly was never very alive once the Internet starting growing to the general population.

Jill, until recently I subscribed to that view. But as I have been [url=http://www.highrankings.com/forum/index.php?showforum=21]Submitting to Directories[/url] over the past few weeks, I've noticed that some of the smaller hybrid directory/engines call for them. I know the keyword meta tag won't help with Google, but it seems there is a place for it. I am returning to placing small keyword meta tags on my site.

The only meta tag that is worth optimizing is the meta description tag as Inktomi still uses this to form the description that appears in the SERPs. Alta Vista also uses it. The others, meaning Google, All The Web and Teoma index it but will only use it as your description if no html text exists on the page they index.

SearchRank, this, too, I was believing until I recently stumbled across a couple of my pages and those of a client in the Google SERPs that used the description from the meta tag. All the pages in question were filled with content, including the keywords from the search. This blew my mind, but it is what I saw.

To what degree the keywords in the description meta tag count toward ranking for those keywords, I do not know. But I advise everybody to be really careful what they place in that tag, since it might be the text that searchers see when the SERP comes up.

[scalerockets]

So I should title tags in links and alt tags in graphics, right?

On the page where I want to get a good rank in model rockets, I used the alt tags to discribe each model with the phrase model rocket after each type. Such as:

Apex Model Rocket
Apollo Model Rocket
etc...for about 25 graphics

If it does not help, it shouldn'nt hurt should it?

[Nathan Malone]

I still use keyword, discription, and robot meta tags but I agree with Jill, I don't think they do much as far as the major search engines are concerned.

[Kev]

So I should title tags in links and alt tags in graphics, right?

From an accessibility point of view you should use a mixture of 'alt' 'title' and 'longdesc'.

An image should have attributes depending on its purpose. For an image which is just logo, use an empty alt attribute and a title attribute:

<img src="images/logo.jpg" width="200" height="45" alt="" title="The company logo which is an upright clam shell in yellow with a red border" />

For an image which is a link use both like so:

<a href="index.php" title="Go back to the home page"><img src="images/homelink.jpg" width="200" height="45" alt="Home"  /></a>

For a text link use the above but obviously substituting text for imagery.

You may also want to use title attributes on particular layers/table cells to help identify their use to the user.

longdesc attributes should be used when describing complex ideas like so:

<img src="images/piechart" width="500" height="400" alt="Pie chart for september" longdesc="desc/piechart1.html"  />

Note how the longdesc attribute links to another page. This will be viewable to users with a visual disability as screenreaders read text from a browser window. These users who would have trouble interpretting a piecharts data can then go to a text page that describes the piechart in detail.

[qwerty]

I know the keyword meta tag won't help with Google, but it seems there is a place for it.  I am returning to placing small keyword meta tags on my site.

Inktomi appear to have some interest in the keyword meta tag. They say it's not very important, but they also specify that it should be unique and they tell you how to format it. See http://www.inktomi.c...mpolicyfaq.html

Q: What's best to do with the Keywords meta-tag?
A: This line is not as important as is commonly believed. Put phrases that relate to this page in the Keywords line, separated by commas. Don't bother including very common phrases, such as "expert" or "rock and roll". The Keywords line should always be tailored for the particular page; if it's the same for every page on your site, you are really better off not using the Keywords line at all. Don't overload the Keywords line; as a rule of thumb, if you're putting things in the Keywords line that aren't in the rest of the page, you're probably putting too much in.

Does that mean that they use it for ranking? No, but it also doesn't mean that they don't, and it at least implies that it could cause you a problem if you don't make the tag unique for each page.

I'm not trying to scare anyone who hasn't been using the tag, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

[BrianR]

From a copywriting perspective, I use the keyword tag to help me keep the page's copy focused on the three or four keyword phrases that I'm targeting. IMO, this is even more important if Google is moving towards assessing a page's relevance on a thematic basis, because this tactic also encourages me to use more synonyms for the terms I'm targeting.

BrianR