Yes, yet another test, and I will return to the rest of the link development series soon, but I have been sitting on this test for some time and I thought you deserve to see the results.
The last test on the value of image optimization was limited to Google and Yahoo only and utilized the title and alt attributes in image links. This is a bit different and only utilizes these elements when the image isn’t a link and it uses four different images with these elements so we have multiple sources to test on the same page. This will give us the opportunity to see if one of these elements might have no weight whatsoever.
So, let’s get to it.
Here are the details of the of the test:
- Four pages have been built with the same four images.
- Each page was given a non-descriptive name, unrelated to the any of the four targeted keywords or any topical relevance and a topically relevant H2.
- Each of these pages have the same parent page, this was given a topical name, related to each of the targeted keywords by topical relevance only.
- Hotels – H-Parent
- Each of these pages contain four images and they have been named for their respective keyword along with a H3 tag with the same keyword.
- Each of the images contain the following elements:
- Alpha – no alt, no title
- Beta – alt, no title
- Charlie – no alt, title
- Delta – alt, title
- The parent of these pages will be located on a rarely visited page (my html sitemap) by users and crawled regularly by search engine spiders.
- These page will target the following keywords:
- Ramada
- Radisson
- Marriott
- Hilton
- Each of these pages were set to publish at the same time in the future, schedule for: Feb 23, 2009 @ 00:01, to ensure each page was available at the same time.
- When cached by all major engines, we will conduct a site search for the priority of pages in the SERPs across all engines for each of the targeted keywords. This will measure the impact of alt and title elements by seeing which of the pages ranks higher with no external impacts.
This being said, here are the results:
| Ramada | |||
| Position | Yahoo! | Bing | |
| 1 | Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
| 2 | Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
| 3 | Charlie – |
Delta – Alt, Title | Delta – Alt, Title |
| 4 | Delta – Alt, Title | Charlie – |
Charlie – |
| Radisson | |||
| Position | Yahoo! | Bing | |
| 1 | Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
| 2 | Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
| 3 | Charlie – |
Delta – Alt, Title | Delta – Alt, Title |
| 4 | Delta – Alt, Title | Charlie – |
Charlie – |
| Marriott | |||
| Position | Yahoo! | Bing | |
| 1 | Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
| 2 | Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
| 3 | Charlie – |
Delta – Alt, Title | Delta – Alt, Title |
| 4 | Delta – Alt, Title | Charlie – |
Charlie – |
| Hilton | |||
| Position | Yahoo! | Bing | |
| 1 | Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
| 2 | Alpha – |
Beta – Alt, |
Alpha – |
| 3 | Charlie – |
Delta – Alt, Title | Delta – Alt, Title |
| 4 | Delta – Alt, Title | Charlie – |
Charlie – |
My initial assumption was that the title element has little, if not no value, however, based upon the results of this study, it appears that this is not the case.
Digesting the Results
First, one of the first things to recognize is that results were consistent for each keyword in each engine. This let’s us be sure (at least within this test) that each engine values each element and combination differently. Each use of alt and title element have a value (even if it is minimal).
Ranking in order:
– Alt Only
– None
– Title Only
– Both
The alt element definitely has the most weight, but it looks like the title element might have a negative affect on ranking and it appears (to me) that use of both may get an over optimization penalty. Interestingly, Google ranked the use of both elements in the last test (which were image links) as it’s first result and alt only as second, so, it is reasonable to say that if you are trying to rank better in Google, then using the alt element for your images will be the best behavior.
Yahoo
Ranking in order:
– None
– Alt
– Both
– Title Only
The most interesting of all of the search engine’s results, Yahoo ranks the use of alt and title elements below the no use at all, but the title element ranked lowest. So, it is reasonable to say that the alt element has the most weight and the title element might have a negative impact on rankings. Even better, Yahoo ranked differently in the previous test, as did Google, using the title only ranked first before and fourth in this test; however, using the alt element ranked second for both tests. If you are trying to rank better in Yahoo, then using the alt element will have the best affect, ranking second in both tests.
Bing
Ranking in order:
– Alt
– None
– Both
– Title Only
Again, the alt element shows to have the most weight, and, once again, it appears that the use of the title element may have a negative value from Bing. Unfortunately, we don’t have details from the previous testing because Live Search failed to crawl and index all of the pages for the first test.
Outcomes
The first thing to consider is users, as it always should be. 508 Compliance is an extremely important thing to understand and adhere to, for more information go to Section 508. Basically, use of alt elements and accurately describing the image is the right thing to do.
Second, based upon the results of both tests combined, the alt element has the most weight in all engines. Using the alt element only will give you top rankings for non-linked images in Google and Bing and second in Yahoo. For linked images, it ranks second in Google and Yahoo.
If you are trying to get the most from your images, linked or not, here is the order of value:
ALT only – Average Position 1.60
None – Average Position 2.4
Both – Average Position 3.00 tie
Title only – Average Position 3.00 tie
If you are trying to get the most from your non-linked images, here is the order of value:
Alt only – Average Position – 1.33
None – Average Position – 1.67
Both – Average Position – 3.33
Title Only – Average Position – 3.67
If you are trying to get the most from your linked images, here is the order of value:
Alt only – Average Position – 2.00 tie
Title only – Average Position – 2.00 tie
Both – Average Position – 2.50
None – Average Position – 3.5
My thought is to include the alt element and forget about trying to add more value by using the title element, it looks like it is more effort than it is worth (which is little).
What are your thoughts?
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I would have to agree that in most cases the alt tag should be enough. There are a lot of other factors that could play in to this though. For example; in an experiment Ive done in the past I noticed that image placement can have an impact. Images that are placed closer to the top of the page (within the source code) seemed to get crawled more often.
Also, in that experiment I played with the alt and title tags. I noticed that in some cases if the alt and title tags were exactly the same the image wouldn’t rank well at all. I also noticed that if the two tags were about completely different things the image wouldn’t rank well. However, if both tags are short, direct to the point, and focus on a similar keyword (but not the same keyword) then the image did very well.
If you know what you’re doing use both tags for the extra boost but if you’re not sure I would just stick with the alt tag.
Thank you for taking the time to settle a question the correct way. If we all did a little more testing and a little less arguing, the SEO world would be a far less contentious place. I look forward to seeing the results of more tests.
–Timonthy M. Scutchfield
Great thanks for this article. This is very useful information that I didn’t know before.
In near future I’ll go to take some test with the Yandex search engine, maybe it’s will be interesting for somebody.
Nice article, thanks for the test. The alt tag shoudl be always used because it helps a great lot if someone is using a text-based browser. I know there isn’t many people that still do, but it’s very little work and could pay off greatly.
Take care, Julie
Interesting test. It’s good to know that the extra time spent optimizing images is actually helping. I have one site that we spent a lot of time in that area, they get hundreds of visitors from google image searches each day. They sell products, so for them that is great.
This was an awesome test. Now I’d be interested in seeing how using the title attribute on links affects results. (hint, hint..because I’m too lazy)
That is a really interesting piece, exactly the sort of stuff that makes the difference and not just the usual news and views, you have actually done some proper analysis. I have to say (to my shame now I guess) that I never really bother with alt tags for my images as all my sites have so much content anyway but your results show that I am missing a trick. Nice work and food for thought.
I use Flash for many of my projects, and use swfobject to embed – which allows alternate content. I was instructed by my old employer to fill in the alternate content with all of the text from the flash files for flash based sites. Would this be counted as spam now that Google crawls Flash?
Also – it strikes me that in man y cases image tags, if they are really going to be about the photo are often going to have limited effect – “picture of car at trade show” – unless you pad it with keyword phrases – which is not good right?
Hello Pitfall,
I suddenly landed in your website from Google while searching with the keyword “seo at server level” and after visiting your website I found it very useful.
Well Pitfall I have one question.How can I get rid of the localization problem which Google has introduced recently(as I have heard it from some of my friends.) For eg. I’m in India and I want to target clients of USA then how can I optimize my website?
It appears as though the big G is trying to give the smaller website owners who may possibly be doing their own website design and maintenance an edge by giving weight to the Alt tag (which most web design software packages allow for) and not giving much weight to the actual picture title. Most people who do their own sites usually name their pictures fred.jpg and bob.jpg – not exactly great keyword matching.
I have been following what Matt Cutts has been saying, and they seem to be constantly evaluating how to reward people who don’t try to game the system and who have quality content on their sites.
I think if you’re serious about this you should really just use the alt tag, and the title, and the name of the file itself. I think we can all agree that the extra things won’t hurt, and it doesn’t take that much time.
Yeah – I totally agree here – No one really knows how Google’s algorithm works.
I usually just go with the alt tag for images but I never imagined that throwing in a title as well would hurt it. I guess ill keep on just using alt
As well as I understand from this article it is better to use alt and do not use title. From one hand is very strange, but these experiments clearly shows this. I think further experiments are needed…
Thank you for this article.
Thx for sharing of your experiment. This phrase is very impressive:
“that use of both may get an over optimization penalty”. But as John Knolik said, further experiments should be good.
I like that you put so much effort into this experiment. It’s so weird that images with no alt text or tittle would rank better in Yahoo, but at least alt text is second on the list. It’s good to know that alt text is pretty much the most important factor in optimizing images. This should save a lot of time in the future.
An interesting piece, the sort of thing that makes a difference and not just the usual stuff, you have done some verry good analysis. I have never really messed with alt tags for my images. But your results show that I should give it a go. some verry good information keep up the good work.
Wow you have a very nice and informative blog. So many great tips here. Thanks. web host
Great testing. I love that information which is based on facts. Mostly I did “alt”-ing images before without using the title-tag. Although your test will not push my sites, you did a great research and wrote an interesting article. Thanx for that.
interesting experiment.. I tend to use alt elemant on non linked images & both alt & title on image links, alt to describe the image & title to explain the link.
I am not an SEO guy at all, but an artist. Obviously, my images are my life blood and learning a bit about how they might be optimized through this experiment was inordinately helpful.
The bulk of my generic traffic from image searches.
I must say you guys and girl are very thorough, and it is mighty nice of you to share your findings.
Thank you.
Very interesting results, thanks for the effort. Considering the results it seems thatthe best choice is to go for ALT tag alone. But things change all the time, so there are never enough tests..
i wanna say thanks you you for a complicated article, this article 2thumb for you. This is very useful information that I didn’t know before. i hopeyou will share more next post.In near future I’ll go to take some test with the Yandex search engine, maybe it’s will be interesting for somebody.
Very interesting results indeed. Curious as to if the results were simply a coincidence based on some other factor (name etc.)
Thanks for taking the time to conduct the test itself and post the (very indepth) results for us.
Ryan v.
The alt tag is very useful cos it helps the site owner
in using a text-based browser.
Your test is very helpful.
Thank you for the great article, that is very useful research . Saves me the time from trying to figure out what is best for images. Thanks again!
Sacramento Property management
Thanks you very much for sharing this test and the results. They are really interesting and probably deserve more looking into them. Now I know what works best for images and can try it out in my own site-
I can see google weighting the alt tag more importantly because it relates to usability (for those with text based browsers and screen readers) however I can’t see why they would possibly punish webmasters for using both tags. Theoretically you should be using both tags when creating sites (not that they are needed, but you know) .
I’ll have to rethink my seo strategy when it comes to title tags on images.
Ottawa Website Design
Thanks for the blog post, and the information. I love how you’re one to design tests and actually figure stuff out rather than just mumble on about it in a forum all day
yes, most people who make their own web sites usually name their pictures Myname.jpg and Myname1.jpg – this results into dull search, because SEO can’t get exactly great keyword matching, again The alt tag is very useful because it helps the site owner in using a text-based browser, there are many other, Alta vista,Who’s Next, but haven’t reviewed them, hope will proceed in near future, anyways, thanks for such a beautiful article dear
Thanks for doing the work and sharing some results, every little piece of knowledge comes in handy!
This is a great article, especially for the ever changing elements of web design. I never knew about the title element to images at all! Thanks
This is a great article. I never knew about the title element to img tags, related to web design. Thanks!
A very well written article with handy information . Look forward to more.
Absolutely useful information. Just as Farayi said, I’m already looking forward for more.
Its a revelation! I never expected Yahoo and Google to behave this way. Something Odd. But anyway it was really helpful to have this being tested. I will follow suite for some of my websites.
Good to know, how search engines handle those tags for images. I gonna need to have a look at all my websites to correct this error.
A very informative post on how search engines tags a page, yes the Alt is the most useful one but one thing that struck me was the page rank..how come you got so high page rank result of all the four web pages?but again yours is a very interesting post which reveals such vital info.Great way of optimising images:)
This is fascinating and instructive. I guess the alt tag is the way to go from now on. Now, the question for me is whether to go back and eliminate title tags on old pages. Thanks for your work. Cheers!
That is some excellent, well thought-out, and well-executed research!
Thanks for taking the time to do this and for sharing it with us.
My only comment is that Firefox users see Title attributes but not Alt attributes. Perhaps FF needs to fix this?
I have heard about the Search engine optimization, but this image optimization seems interesting enough, you given a great detailing in your project, very educative it is regarding the tagging of the pages, Alt tag seems to be best option to go by.Its really amazing to see how this result come up so differently on various search engines.
It is just a bit effort to include both alt and title to be safe. Nonetheless, very interesting comparisions. Great work.
Pretty useful article.
So here’s a question… If Title and Alt text together can suggest over optimisation, can we be sure that it was this dual effect that caused the surprising result or whether the overoptimisation only existed because the rest ofthe pages were optimized? In other words – the Title tag might not have an over optimizing effect of (say) the page did not have any other signd of optimisation.
Interesting article, I think I will add some image testing to my sites, as I wonder if this could be true. One would think the spiders would prefer to see additional information and I agree with the first commenter that slight varied alt and title text might produce the best image results, but SEO= testing, testing testing.
I have bookmarked your website, first time visitor.
Thanks
Nice job done,
Earlier i was doing title and alt both but now i will go for alt only. Though one thing i did differently. I didn’t gave the alt and title the same words. Thanks
Excellent, and super-interesting study. I find it funny that the images with alt tags alone posted better results than both alt and title. One would think that supplying more relevant information by utilizing the title tag would be a good thing, but apparently it may be considered over-optimization by Google. I would be interested to see this same study done again to verify results.
Cheers,
Chris
How do the search engines determine the relevance of the alt tags? Since alt tags are typically hidden from the average user (unless they cover) overzealous SEO folks could just do a lot of alt tag stuffing. At least with text link that is usually visible to the reader and stuffing wouldn’t happen (because the content would be removed).
This is realy great post. I’m usualy building web sites that includes a lot of product images. Until now I used to use both title and alt tag.
I jnow about over optimization penalty but I didn’t think it goes also for title and alt tags.
Thanks for this info.
Your post only proves that the Alt element differs in every search engine. Other search engines weigh it as number one while some disregard the use of this Alt element.
I normally try to make my alt tags descriptive to the image and page using relevant keywords. You have to keep in mind to keep your alt tags short and specific. Not all that long ago alt tag stuffing with keywords was a popular way to increase rank but that soon went way of the buffalo and doing so now can get you penalized. One short keyword phrase per image should suffice.