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entrepreneur
When you're trying to create effective page content that will appeal to
both human visitors and search engine spiders, you need to get the most
out of every page element. One way to do this is to use ALT and TITLE
attributes wherever you can. They increase your site's usability level
and promotion possibilities if you clearly understand where to put
them, when to use them, and why.
Understand Their Purpose
The ALT attribute is designed to be an alternative text description for
images. ALT text displays before the image is loaded (if it's loaded at
all) in the major browsers and instead of the image in text-based
browsers like Lynx. ALT is a required element for images and can only
be used for image tags because its specific purpose is to describe
images.
In contrast, you can use the TITLE attribute for just about any page
element, but it isn't required for any page element. Use it to describe
links, tables, individual table rows, and other structural HTML
elements. They're more versatile than the ALT attribute and many search
engine ranking algorithms read the text in TITLE attributes as regular
page content.
Consider the benefits of good ALT and TITLE text:
Enhance the browsing experience of visitors with disabilities.
Increase your page's keyword density score and relevancy for your
targeted keywords. (Calculate your page's keyword density with Page
Primer and find out if you've used your keywords too little - or too
often.)
Provide valuable information to all your visitors with descriptive link
titles and descriptive text about other page elements.
Multiple Benefits From One Addition
ALT and TITLE attributes are simple to add to your code. And remember
that ALT is required for images: HTML Toolbox will alert you if your
images don't have ALT text descriptions.
Not sure how to add an ALT or TITLE to your HTML tags? Try these
examples:
<img src="cafeteria.jpg" height="200" width="200" alt="UAHC campers
enjoy a meal in the camp cafeteria">
<table width="100" border="2" title="Henry Jacobs Camp summer 2003
schedule">
<a href="page1.html" title="HS Jacobs - a UAHC camp in Utica, MS">Henry
S. Jacobs Camp</a>>
<form name="application" title="Henry Jacobs camper application"
method=" " action=" ">
Note that in each example, we used either the ALT or TITLE attribute to
provide more information about the page element. ALT describes the
image (a photo of the camp cafeteria) and the TITLE information in the
table, link, and form describe the purpose of the element while using
targeted keywords like UAHC camp and Henry Jacobs Camp.
Used this way, ALT and TITLE do double-duty and boost both your
promotion efforts and your site's accessibility. Search engine spiders
love the keywords. Visitors with images turned off or who use text
browsers, screen readers and other assistive technologies will
appreciate your effort to orient them on your Web page and explain the
purpose of elements like tables, forms, and links.
How Browsers Display Them
In the past, some webmasters have used the ALT text description as a
sort of pop-up tooltip on images, to add funny captions to family
photos, or advertise a sale on certain products. That was because the
TITLE attribute wasn't widely supported. It is now and Netscape 6.x
browsers interpret the W3C specifications rather strictly - ALT text no
longer "pops up" when you run your mouse over an image. You have to use
a TITLE attribute for that.
both human visitors and search engine spiders, you need to get the most
out of every page element. One way to do this is to use ALT and TITLE
attributes wherever you can. They increase your site's usability level
and promotion possibilities if you clearly understand where to put
them, when to use them, and why.
Understand Their Purpose
The ALT attribute is designed to be an alternative text description for
images. ALT text displays before the image is loaded (if it's loaded at
all) in the major browsers and instead of the image in text-based
browsers like Lynx. ALT is a required element for images and can only
be used for image tags because its specific purpose is to describe
images.
In contrast, you can use the TITLE attribute for just about any page
element, but it isn't required for any page element. Use it to describe
links, tables, individual table rows, and other structural HTML
elements. They're more versatile than the ALT attribute and many search
engine ranking algorithms read the text in TITLE attributes as regular
page content.
Consider the benefits of good ALT and TITLE text:
Enhance the browsing experience of visitors with disabilities.
Increase your page's keyword density score and relevancy for your
targeted keywords. (Calculate your page's keyword density with Page
Primer and find out if you've used your keywords too little - or too
often.)
Provide valuable information to all your visitors with descriptive link
titles and descriptive text about other page elements.
Multiple Benefits From One Addition
ALT and TITLE attributes are simple to add to your code. And remember
that ALT is required for images: HTML Toolbox will alert you if your
images don't have ALT text descriptions.
Not sure how to add an ALT or TITLE to your HTML tags? Try these
examples:
<img src="cafeteria.jpg" height="200" width="200" alt="UAHC campers
enjoy a meal in the camp cafeteria">
<table width="100" border="2" title="Henry Jacobs Camp summer 2003
schedule">
<a href="page1.html" title="HS Jacobs - a UAHC camp in Utica, MS">Henry
S. Jacobs Camp</a>>
<form name="application" title="Henry Jacobs camper application"
method=" " action=" ">
Note that in each example, we used either the ALT or TITLE attribute to
provide more information about the page element. ALT describes the
image (a photo of the camp cafeteria) and the TITLE information in the
table, link, and form describe the purpose of the element while using
targeted keywords like UAHC camp and Henry Jacobs Camp.
Used this way, ALT and TITLE do double-duty and boost both your
promotion efforts and your site's accessibility. Search engine spiders
love the keywords. Visitors with images turned off or who use text
browsers, screen readers and other assistive technologies will
appreciate your effort to orient them on your Web page and explain the
purpose of elements like tables, forms, and links.
How Browsers Display Them
In the past, some webmasters have used the ALT text description as a
sort of pop-up tooltip on images, to add funny captions to family
photos, or advertise a sale on certain products. That was because the
TITLE attribute wasn't widely supported. It is now and Netscape 6.x
browsers interpret the W3C specifications rather strictly - ALT text no
longer "pops up" when you run your mouse over an image. You have to use
a TITLE attribute for that.