title attribute is not even looked at by Google

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Chios, Apr 20, 2006.

  1. #1
    in < A HREF="url" TITLE="description of url" ....
    TITLE is not even looked at by google (I have tested this).

    I don't understand why ? title attribute is a legitimate HTML element according the HTML 4 specifications !!!
     
    Chios, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  2. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #2
    Just because it's valid html doesn't mean it helps with seo. How did you test it?

    It might help or it might not but the effect will be very small even if google does look at it.
     
    mad4, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  3. theblade24

    theblade24 Active Member

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    #3
    I believe you are wrong. I'm seeing the title attribute currently being one of the most important right now for Google.
     
    theblade24, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  4. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #4
    Are you talking about the page title? Chios is talking about the title attribute for links.
     
    mad4, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  5. theblade24

    theblade24 Active Member

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    #5
    I'm talking about the title attribute for links. I believe the title tag currently carries alot of weight.
     
    theblade24, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  6. zokiii

    zokiii Peon

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    #6
    You are funny!

    Title attribute for links have AFAIK the same weight as ALT for images.

    They give some very little weight, page titles gives you much more!
     
    zokiii, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  7. whateverandever2

    whateverandever2 Peon

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    #7
    Yeah, I have never bothered with title attribute for links really.
     
    whateverandever2, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  8. theblade24

    theblade24 Active Member

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    #8
    I guess the people paying for links on my site and demanding specific title attribute text must all be wrong too.

    Every site I run ranks top 3 for the keywords we use in link Title tags. I'll stay with the practice as it gives me great results.
     
    theblade24, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  9. whateverandever2

    whateverandever2 Peon

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    #9
    Those keywords JUST in the title attribute of the links and not anywhere else?
     
    whateverandever2, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  10. theblade24

    theblade24 Active Member

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    #10
    They are elsewhere too. I'm not saying the title tag is most important.....I'm saying I use it all the time with great success in conjunction with the rest of good SEO. Why not use something that takes a couple minutes of ones time that can only be a benefit?
     
    theblade24, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  11. whateverandever2

    whateverandever2 Peon

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    #11
    I suspect it is to do with them being elsewhere, I have always been told the title tag in links really doesn't do that much at all.

    Not saying its wrong to use them, as said they can't do any harm, but just wonder how much good they do as well, if anything.
     
    whateverandever2, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  12. Chios

    Chios Well-Known Member

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    #12
    My point is that Google does not even look inside the title attribute of a link.
    If this is correct then title tag does not play any part in SEO.

    I was testing one of my sites for visibility in Google and discovered this.

    Here is how to find out.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    http:// www .chios-dolfins.gr/chios_map.htm page source has inside the word "Egnousa" only once in the title attribute of a link.

    The page is indexed on google (site:chios-dolfins.gr)

    Searching for "Egnousa" on google does not give you that page anywhere withing the 17 of total results.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    If you have something that proves otherwise than maybe my unorthodox usage of title is being penalized by G
     
    Chios, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  13. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #13
    I wouldn't expect the title tag to have any effect on the page its displayed on. If the title tag does have any effect at all it will be on the page the link is pointing at.

    Why would google show a page in the search results if the only time the keyword was shown was in the title tag of a link on the page? It makes no sense.
     
    mad4, Apr 21, 2006 IP
  14. Netizen

    Netizen Peon

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    #14
    The title attrubute does have a use for the IMG tag: it creates a tool tip for images in Firefox. I don't see a purpose in using it for the A tag or TABLE tag, though.
     
    Netizen, Apr 21, 2006 IP
  15. zokiii

    zokiii Peon

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    #15
    For images you use ALT attribute .. - title for links
    Learn more :D
     
    zokiii, Apr 22, 2006 IP
  16. Netizen

    Netizen Peon

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    #16
    True, the ALT works for IMG in Internet Explorer. Firefox ignores ALT and reads TITLE instead. If you want a tool tip to be displayed to both IE and Firefox, you need to use both ALT and TITLE.

    Stupid browser wars. There are tons of similar issues between the different browsers in CSS.

    I posted a quick experiment to see what the various tags actually do: http://www.crazyurl.com/tags.php

    The TITLE attribute on A HREF creates a tool tip. I didn't know that. I CAN learn more.
     
    Netizen, Apr 22, 2006 IP
  17. mdvaldosta

    mdvaldosta Peon

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    #17
    What makes you think google would return a website in the search results just because it has the term in the link title tag? The purpose of the title tag is NOT to stuff keywords, but to describe the page you'r linking to. In almost all cases this should match the title of the page you're linking to.

    What your doing is akin to stuffing the meta keywords tag with a keyword that phrase that doesn't appear anyhere on the page.
     
    mdvaldosta, Apr 22, 2006 IP
  18. Dejavu

    Dejavu Peon

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    #18
    Not quite true. Both IE and firefox use the title for a tooltip, and the ALT gets displayed when the image cannot be loaded (or with images turned off)

    in a link, the title is used for a tooltip.
     
    Dejavu, Apr 22, 2006 IP