So many people think the Alt and title attributes for images and links are only good for SEO. It really makes me wonder, why does everything have to be about the search engines? The attributes are good for so many other reasons, number one being they help out your users.
The alt attribute is important if your image doesn’t display or if your user is using a text-based browser. The alternate text you enter will display to let the user know what was supposed to be there. On some browsers if a user mouses over an image the alt text will pop up to let them know what the image is all about.
The title attribute works in a similar way:
If the user mouses over a link with a title attribute the text may appear in a little box letting them know about the page it links to, if their browser supports it, of course.
If you mouse over that link and you see some text pop up, your browser fully supports the title attribute.
And as far as SEO goes, personally I think it helps a little bit. Google has said many times they look at content, and not code, so if it reads the alt attribute it seems like they would also read in the title attribute.
Whether or not it is a major factor is a completely different debate, however.
Please subscribe, or else I will cry. Do you really want to make a programmer cry?
Leave a Reply