Jump to content

  • Log in with Facebook Log in with Twitter Log In with Google      Sign In   
  • Create Account

Subscribe to HRA Now!

 



Are you a Google Analytics enthusiast?

Share and download Custom Google Analytics Reports, dashboards and advanced segments--for FREE! 

 



 

 www.CustomReportSharing.com 

From the folks who brought you High Rankings!


More SEO Content

International SEM  | Social Media  |  Search Friendly Design |  SEO |   Paid Search / PPC  |  Seminars  |  Forum Threads  |  Q&A |  Copywriting |  Keyword Research   |  Web Analytics / Conversions  |  Blogging  |  Dynamic Sites  | Linking  |   SEO Services  |  Site Architecture  | Search Engine Spam  | Wrap-ups  | Business Issues |  HRA Questions  |  Online Courses

Sponsored Content

 

 
 

Photo
- - - - -

Is Text Better Than Images In The Header?

Started by Tyssen , Apr 19 2004 10:20 PM

  • Please log in to reply
11 replies to this topic

#1 Tyssen

Tyssen

    HR 2

  • Active Members
  • PipPip
  • 49 posts
  • Location:Brisbane, QLD

Posted 19 April 2004 - 10:20 PM

I've been doing a bit of reading up on XHTML, CSS, web standards etc lately which seem to suggest that valid markup has an impact on search rankings.
Some articles I've read say that you should use text instead of images wherever possible because search engines can't read images.
Elsewhere I've read that you should try and code your page so that the <H1> tag of your document, which should also match the page's <title> appears as close to the <body> tag as possible, which I would guess would involve some creative CSS positioning (when I get around to redesigning our site).
So my question is in two parts:
  • How important is it, from an SEO point of view, to have text rather than graphical elements for your navigation, company logo, website title etc?
  • Does the way your page is structured in CSS have an effect on SEO too?

#2 Haystack

Haystack

    HR 7

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,980 posts
  • Location:Minneapolis, MN

Posted 19 April 2004 - 10:41 PM

Welcome, Tyssen. :aloha:

I wouldn't worry about the structure of your page. That's overrated. But using text rather than graphics for your headers is definitely beneficial for SEO, and it can save you a ton of time wasted on creating header graphics. I'd much rather control the header formatting from the CSS file than have to make dozens or hundreds of new header images to update the site for a new color scheme.

#3 Scottie

Scottie

    Psycho Mom

  • Admin
  • 6,293 posts
  • Location:Columbia, SC

Posted 19 April 2004 - 10:52 PM

Welcome to the forum, Tyssen! :aloha:

Spiders crawl graphic links fine, but you lose the opportunity to "tell" the se what that page is about. The alt attribute may or may not replace that link text; it seems to depend on the engine or the day of the week! But the link still counts and sends it's portion of PR on to that page.

So if you like the graphics, use them! If you can lose them and replace with text, it's a good idea. Definitely use alt attributes... I recently was on a slow dial-up connection and turned off images in order to speed things up and many sites were not navigable because their links were graphics with no alts.

Also, consider adding text links in the footer to help spiders AND those people browsing from slow connections or mobile devices.

#4 Tyssen

Tyssen

    HR 2

  • Active Members
  • PipPip
  • 49 posts
  • Location:Brisbane, QLD

Posted 19 April 2004 - 11:10 PM

Thanks for the replies guys and for the tips too. :aloha:
I guess the reason I'm hesitant to use text for header graphics is become I double as a print designer for my company and like to have access to a wide collection of fonts and don't like the idea of my headers displaying differently depending on the fonts a user has installed. Does anyone know of a list of fonts that are common to all OSes?

#5 Tyssen

Tyssen

    HR 2

  • Active Members
  • PipPip
  • 49 posts
  • Location:Brisbane, QLD

Posted 19 April 2004 - 11:15 PM

Just thought of something else: does symantic/semantic markup play a part in SEO or is it purely for browser interpretation?

#6 Jill

Jill

    High Rankings Advisor

  • Admin
  • 32,313 posts

Posted 19 April 2004 - 11:44 PM

Headers as in headlines, are a great place to naturally use keyword phrases. But it's no biggie if you have yours graphical.

Just make sure you utilize the keyword phrases elsewhere on the page.

And it's fine to also use graphical navigation. The Web is very graphical, and most sites use some form of that. Obviously, since most sites use it, it can't be a problem or the engines would be excluding most sites on the Web!

Jill

#7 bkernst

bkernst

    HR 5

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 385 posts
  • Location:Cape Town, South Africa

Posted 20 April 2004 - 03:09 AM

Does anyone know of a list of fonts that are common to all OSes?

Verdana, Genevia, Tahoma and Arial seem to be available on almost all platforms. I usually test sites on a PC and Mac and the graphic designer in my office uses a Mac, he would be the first one to complain if the text doesn't look right.

Bernhard

#8 Rob

Rob

    HR 5

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 434 posts
  • Location:Brooklin, Ontario. Formerly of Plymouth, UK

Posted 20 April 2004 - 04:28 AM

and the graphic designer in my office uses a Mac, he would be the first one to complain if the text doesn't look right.

Bernhard

those Mac guys are everywhere!

#9 msdetta

msdetta

    HR 3

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 50 posts
  • Location:Northwest Indiana

Posted 20 April 2004 - 10:54 PM

Thanks for the replies guys and for the tips too. :unsure:
I guess the reason I'm hesitant to use text for header graphics is become I double as a print designer for my company and like to have access to a wide collection of fonts and don't like the idea of my headers displaying differently depending on the fonts a user has installed. Does anyone know of a list of fonts that are common to all OSes?

Here's a link to a partial list of browser-safe fonts (there are other lists available when you search "browser-safe fonts"):

http://prestwood.com...safe_fonts.html

Here's a very interesting article on how visitors perceive fonts:

http://psychology.wi...ews/3S/font.htm

Happy reading :wacko:

#10 sanity

sanity

    HR 3

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 58 posts
  • Location:Melbourne, Australia

Posted 21 April 2004 - 02:30 AM

I guess the reason I'm hesitant to use text for header graphics is become I double as a print designer for my company and like to have access to a wide collection of fonts and don't like the idea of my headers displaying differently depending on the fonts a user has installed. Does anyone know of a list of fonts that are common to all OSes?

For any body text I'd highly recommend you stick to the standard fonts mentioned here. Also keep in mind that how readable a font is on screen is very different to in printed material. Verdana was designed for screen reading because of that.

#11 Tyssen

Tyssen

    HR 2

  • Active Members
  • PipPip
  • 49 posts
  • Location:Brisbane, QLD

Posted 21 April 2004 - 04:54 PM

For any body text I'd highly recommend you stick to the standard fonts mentioned here. Also keep in mind that how readable a font is on screen is very different to in printed material. Verdana was designed for screen reading because of that.

I always use Verdana for my body text - I was thinking more about fonts for header graphics etc.

#12 sanity

sanity

    HR 3

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 58 posts
  • Location:Melbourne, Australia

Posted 22 April 2004 - 03:21 AM

I always use Verdana for my body text - I was thinking more about fonts for header graphics etc.

Do you mean for navigation options or more for logos and the like?
Back to Search Engine Friendly Design & Usability


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

  1. HRF SEO Forum
  2. → Search Engine Optimization
  3. → Search Engine Friendly Design & Usability
  4. *READ FIRST*--> Forum Rules