H1 Tag in Image - Does it has importance

I recently noticed that w3.org uses H1 tag in image (logo) and its exactly same as title.

I've never seen h1 tag in image and I'm left with questions like:

1) Why W3.org is using h1 tag in image
2) H1 represents Heading, so whats the relevance
3) What importance search engine will give to these kind of tags

I think its worth discussing this and I'll welcome anyone who has experimented with this and has a feedback.

Regards

 

In terms of SEO it's better to have your H1 tag in text format.

Josh

 

Given w3.org has used it, I'm sure it has some SEO importance. As an SEO Professional I cannot ignore it. And its important for me get the update from other SEO Experts.

Regards

 

well the idea is very simple.

they are most probably using some offpage SEO techniques. This might be one of their idea to increase the traffic, but what is important is the keywords used.

regards

 

it's intresting.

i did not noticed it before

 

another thing you should look is the structure of the page.

especially look for the keywords and try to find a pattern how they are used and referenced.

regards

 

What are you talking? I don't see any relevance of what you are talking vs. whats the thread about.

regards

 

A nice trick you can do to achieve the above affect, but use text is this (copied from my site):

<h1 id="logo"><a href="http://www.coffeesh0p.com" title="Cheap Salvia Divinorum Extract and Cannabis Seeds | The Coffeesh0p">Cheap Salvia Divinorum Extract and Cannabis Seeds | The Coffeesh0p</a></h1>

Code (markup):

Basically a text link inside <h1> tags. But if you look at http://www.coffeesh0p.com all you'll see is a banner that's clickable, even though no image tags are there. I used this css to do it:

#logo a {
	display: block;
	width: 100%;
	height: 100px;
	background: #BBDDBB;
	background-image: url(../img/banner.png);
	background-repeat: no-repeat;
	text-indent: -9000px;
}

#logo {
	display: inline;
}

Code (markup):

 

Well you might want to go back and check on your SEO diploma

AN h1 tag in an image is likely to have no effect and would be filtered by the search algo.

W3C has been online a very long time...is a bit outdated in their practices and do not seem to do any SEO work at all....

Probably not the best site to use as an example...

 

This might have nothing to do with SEO. Remember the purpose of alt tags is to make text display when the image doesn't. I use header tags around my images so that the "alt" text displays as a heading if the image doesn't load.

Accessibility--the other white meat. And at least as important as SEO.

 

alt image tags are used by text to speech programs for those with vision impairments.

Since speech to text readers only read the words in the tag, capitalization and the use of heading tags is a waste of time.

Heading tags are to be used for organizing a document.....not stupid tricks that don't work.

From the W3C

No where does it say to include these in or near images....

 

Why are you assuming that w3.org will have the latest greatest SEO stuff? They are not a SEO company.

 

First of all, the img tag is in the h1 tags at w3.org, not the other way around.

And second, this isn't a "stupid trick that doesn't work," to use your rather rude phrase. The rudeness is all the more surprising since you are incorrect. Alt text isn't just for the blind.

Sometimes images just don't load. And if you're on a dialup connection, images might not load until several seconds after you've loaded the text. In these cases, the "alt" text will display until the image loads.

Try it. Disable images in your browser. If you're a developer, you probably know how to do that. If you don't, an easy way is to use Firefox with the "Web Developer" extension. Now, go to w3.org. You'll see that they have applied styles to that heading to make it look good for users who don't view images.

Not a stupid trick; a genuine accessibility issue. If they didn't use the h1 tags, their site would look really stupid to those who don't see the images. Admittedly, this is a small minority; I was just venturing a guess as to why they did that.

 

First if it needs to display text, it does not need an H1 tag for the image.

I go by what authority sites have to say on the matter ,and nowhere does it say to use h1 tags in image text.

If you can prove it does, I will admit I am wrong but I know it doesn't.

Next don't take things so personal such as the stupid trick comment.....that is meant for all stupid tricks as noted in these threads.

If what you are doing is meant well then that is how things are. I never said your idea was a stupid one.

Lastly from research we know that pages that take to long to load are left in the dust and nobody is waiting to read what images that did not load have to say.

Proper marketing advice!

 

Just one comment: take a look at w3.org's source. The h1 tags are not in the image text. And you've rather ignored the existence of dial-up users and people who deliberately turn off images in their browsers.

But I'm remembering why I seldom visit forums...

 

I did not ignore anything.

In addition my statement regarding slow loading pages is directly related to dial up users since they are the ones who typically will leave a slow loading page.

80.81% Percentage of users using a highspeed connection to the internet in the US

I didn't look at the images in W3C as my point is the H1 tag has nothing to do with images.

A heading tag is used to help describe the paragraph of TEXT that follows

Sorry that you feel you should not use forums, because you feel your opinion is the only one that is correct.

Its a place to discuss and argue points.....

 

Rather presumptuous to conclude that you know the reason I seldom visit forums. It's more that I find them a poor means of communication. It's easy to come off as ruder than one intends.

This is the bit of code (from w3.org) in question:

<h1 id="logo"><img alt="The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)" height="48" width="315" src="/Icons/w3c_main" /></h1>

Code (markup):

To a user not viewing the images (for whatever reason), that code is equivalent to this, which strikes me as perfectly valid XHTML:

<h1 id="logo">The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)</h1>

Code (markup):

But really, you're quite adamant about proving that you are correct. If you are convinced that this is a misuse of code, then let's agree to disagree.

I'm still a little baffled as to why you've made such an issue of my original comment. My goal was only to suggest a possible reason that w3.org had used h1 tags around an image. I don't claim to know their true reasons. Let's let it stand at that.

 

h1 tags are used to emphasize the keyword. Remember, robots are like humans too.

 

I don't need to check my diploma because you said so. If you think W3C is outdated than I'm wondering your knowledge as SEO. I don't think you are someone who reads or has any knowledge of Guidelines given by W3 for webdesigning. I've so many evidences where I can prove that we've increased our clients ranking by using there guidelines. And there guidelines are upto date and respected by Search Engines.

I really feel it was not worth for me to start this threat, I was looking at professional SEO discussion.

Regards

 

hi rishimodi

my point was that you have to use h1 tags, preferably at the top and at the bottom of the page, but it's not the tag that will attract the traffic, but it's the keyword inside the tag.

The h1 tag will only increase the chances that someone will click your keyword.

Because of the above I was discussing about keywords.

P.S. concerning W3, I do agree up to an extent that they do not need to use SEO techniques since they have different goals from selling a product. Also they are know worldwide and many professionals participate in the development of the technologies, so probbly no SEO is needed for them.

regards