Hiding text under an image for SEO purposes

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Hiding text under an image for SEO purposes

I am going to use a large image on my page with a bunch of text on it. The reason I am including body text on an image is because the text will be rotated, and there currently isn't any GREAT solution for rotating text seamlessly across all browsers.

On this image, there is a lot of text, and I want it to be indexed by search engines. (but its a picture so it's content won't be indexed, obviously) If I was to include a div with all the text html and set the css to display:none, would Google still index the content that is hidden under the picture?

Are their any other solid solutions here?

This is fine. We do this all the time, with both images and flash movies (ala SIFR). Most people agree that as long as you are not being deceptive, it's not a problem.

Use a "phark" image replacement technique, where you take advantage of text-indent. Here is a good summary of all the options.

ndp 2010-05-01 16:52:48

this is exactly what I was talking about. SIFR.....its done all the time and not looked down upon (well at least not for the reasons mentioned above)....

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 17:01:14

the only problem is that my image is a transparent png with transparency throughout.....so you will be able to see through the image and the text will be underneath. I need the text to be hidden...any ideas?

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 17:03:50

Yes, follow the link. You use text-indent: -1000em; overflow-x:hidden; and set the width and height to the size of the image. No text visible.

ndp 2010-05-01 17:55:14

use the alt and title attributes of the <img> tag. ~~also longdesc might be a good candidate.~~ no need to hide your text …

edit. longdesc isn't supported by any major browser

knittl 2010-05-01 17:00:54

ahhh good thought. BUT....The longdesc attribute is so poorly supported that it should not be used. Can the alt tag support a LOT of text? Like 1000 words?

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 17:05:30

what image has one thousand words in it? oO

knittl 2010-05-01 17:08:10

The image with all the tags....Right now it has no words, but I was considering putting all the words on it as an image, to avoid the rotating text problem

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 17:27:11

here: http://vitaminjdesign.com/v2/socialmedia.html

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 17:28:05

i don't think tags are the most important thing when indexing pages. they are all just a bunch of unrelated words

knittl 2010-05-01 17:30:27

Does it matter if any browser supports the longdesc? The only relevant question is whether googlebot does.

erikkallen 2010-05-01 17:50:04

ugh nevermind.by tags, i meant the visual tags on the page listed above. the design.....

JCHASE11 2010-05-01 20:23:52

longdesc is less important for "major" browsers, and more useful for screen readers. See http://www.cssquirrel.com/2010/08/16/comic-update-alone-in-the-pitch-black-dark/ for a discussion.

Bobby Jack 2010-09-07 10:45:51

as a experienced SEO and link builder i cant recommend hiding content in any way since it can get your website penalized or even worse removed from search engine index.

Google hates hiding and cloaking.

purpler 2010-05-02 11:02:47

ansaurus

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Hiding text under an image for SEO purposes

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