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General Discussion

Posted by Drew Gillett
Drew Gillett
156 Points

SEO Strategy Query

Okay, so I just learned how to use CSS to post images in the background, like it's the latest and coolest thing to do. But my understanding of SEO strategy that it is always better to use the "img" html tag mostly because it gives you the chance to use the "alt" tag to present spider-friendly text. Is there any reason why using the background CSS strategy might be better as far as SEO strategy is concerned?

2 Answers

Joshua Vaage
Joshua Vaage
5,068 Points
Joshua Vaage
Joshua Vaage
5,068 Points

I think a good general question to consider is this: How does the document in which the image lies, look without CSS?

Good practice might be to consider whether our pages are communicating their core messages in the HTML alone. Will any part of the message be lost if it is stored in an image? Can any "stored" image contain data which helps to explain it's meaning?

Drew Gillett
Drew Gillett
156 Points

Joshua, I'm not discussing not using CSS, but SEO impacts due to choosing to display images from the CSS file and not an image file.

Matt Campbell
Matt Campbell
9,767 Points
Matt Campbell
Matt Campbell
9,767 Points

Google won't look at the background image as it's not part of the DOM. If you're using a background image, you're doing so for a reason. It looks better so don't worry about it. Images and SEO aren't a dealbreaker anyway. Make sure that your content is well written with relevant organic keywords and you'll be fine.

Drew Gillett
Drew Gillett
156 Points

So your view is not to worry about SEO. I was thinking that all standard images that don't need to be clickable in a theme/template should utilize the CSS background method while unique images should use the HTML method.