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Titles as images instead of H1

by Alimoqi
2 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys
I'm working on a project where our designer insists on using images for the content page titles (i.e "About us", "Recent Events" etc).

Even though it wouldn't matter for the visitors, I can't help but think that having text titles with h1 and h2 tags would make it appear as if the site has better structure for visitors according to bots.

What I'm wondering is if it would matter to have non-keyword titles such as the ones mentioned as images instead of texts? Does it make a difference if I enclose the img in <h1> tags? Alternatively I could write a short summary of the page in the alt tag of the img.

Thanks
#images #titles
  • Profile picture of the author clickbump
    Originally Posted by Alimoqi View Post

    Hey guys
    I'm working on a project where our designer insists on using images for the content page titles (i.e "About us", "Recent Events" etc).
    Hi Alimoqi, one of the biggest mistakes you can make with your site development is allowing a designer to make site decisions that affect the structure of the site based on aesthetics.

    I'm a designer AND a developer, and I've got a somewhat unique perspective to understand the sensibilities of each. There is a balance. The designer should have a place in defining the *look* of the site, and even down to the level of your Headings. However, your site's *developer* is the proper person to turn the vision into workable code, preferably xhtml with linked css.

    I've worked with designers (mostly from Ad agencies) who insisted on making menus out of images. In almost every case, the designer's where not aware that there are perfecly sound xhtml/css solutions to achieve the best of both worlds, with pixel perfect accuracy, through the use of background images over text links.

    I suspect that the "designer" is not capable of coding the site with "web standards" best practices and is defaulting to what he knows best, Photoshop ;-)

    You either need a designer/developer type (hard to find and expensive) who understands "Web Standards" design; or you need to add a developer to the mix. The developer works with the designer to turn the designer's vision into structured, semantic, user-friendly xhtml/css code that looks more or less exactly as the designer envisioned, without sacrificing the site's ability to thrive in the search engine results.

    Originally Posted by Alimoqi View Post


    Even though it wouldn't matter for the visitors, I can't help but think that having text titles with h1 and h2 tags would make it appear as if the site has better structure for visitors according to bots.
    Don't compromise on your H1 titles!

    After your URL and Post Title, they have the most potential to impact your search engine rankings for each of your pages. To jeopardize this for the sake of achieving a "must have" look for the post titles is not a good strategy to follow for long term success of the site.

    I'd be very surprised if you can't achieve the exact look the designer wants without converting the h1 text into images.

    What will you do if you want to change the h1 text on any page? You have to call the designer to get an updated image, cash registers are ringing ;-) I could go on. You get the point.
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  • Profile picture of the author russjam
    Good headings are really important for humans and search engines.

    Use H1 tags with the correct text and keep your designer happy by using a background image with the pretty version of the title. A small bit of javascript can clear the foreground text. Use CSS to set the height and width of the H1 element to match the image dimensions. This will meet your SEO needs and still render acceptably.

    Or better still, hire a more clued up designer that can work better with the technology deliver sound xhtml/css solutions that clickbump recommended.
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