Site Logo: H1 text vs HTML image?

[PicnicTutorials]

I always obsess on this when building a site. Any one have convincing data one way or another to sway my opinion???

My two options are… (1) I put the logo in an h1 and use image replacement for the text. So google sees the text but maybe thinks it’s spammy. (2) I use a img in the HTML for the logo and google only sees the alt tag. So many people do image replacement these days google might appriciate the basic alt even more. Thoughts?

[Paulie_D]

Why would google think the text is spammy?

Or at least any more spammy than an alt tag.

i think their algorithm is little smarter than that.

Oh and screen readers…gotta remember those too.

[PicnicTutorials]

this guy wrote a good convincing article on it. http://csswizardry.com/2010/10/your-logo-is-an-image-not-a-h1/. I think I will just HTML img it and be done with it.

[Paulie_D]

Opinions differ but I think that article is self-justifying his opinion in that he’s ‘proved that a logo is content‘ when he’s done no such thing to my mind.

It doesn’t address any of your ‘spammy’ concerns..which I don’t see anyway so perhaps that’s a non-issue

Oh, it doesn’t address screen readers at all but I confess I’m not up on the latest techniques here.

[Paulie_D]

Oh, as a follow-up, I had a discussion on SO today about using inline SVG instead of images and image replacement.

You might want to think about that one…

[__]

that article is self-justifying his opinion in that he’s ‘proved that a logo is content‘ when he’s done no such thing to my mind.

How can you dispute his conclusions??
He repeats them so many times!!!

[nixnerd]

I think this is a totally valid question. I really do. That being said, I don’t think it will make or break your website’s success.

[__]

From an ess-ee-oh perspective, I agree with @Paulie_D that it’s not the “right” question to be asking. If Google is going to find some bit of text “spammy,” it’s because it’s spammy, not because it’s in an<h1> vs. an image’s alt text.

As whats-his-name said,H1 vs. img is more about whether or not the logo is content.

I completely disagree, however, that logos are necessarily (or even normally) “content.” They are branding; more akin to styling than content. If you remove the branding (think text-only browsing), it probably doesn’t change the message. Not content: use CSS.

(Of course, people will pay $60 for a $4 baseball cap that has the Nike logo on it, so maybe the specific example he used was valid.)

As for H1s, webpages have titles. Oftentimes, the title makes the logo seem a bit redundant: “Nike (swoosh)” makes sense, but “FedEx (FedEx)” doesn’t. Image replacement time.

When the title and logo both stay, the logo still (probably) shouldn’t be an img. As above —unless the logo is actually the subject of the page— it probably still belongs to CSS. Pseudo-elements, or something.

IMHO, of course. And yes, all that being said,

I don’t think it will make or break your website’s success.

[Ricky55]

I used to use the h1 but a inline image now makes more sense to me.

Like others have said though it doesn’t really matter.

[PicnicTutorials]

I’ve done it both ways. This time I used a inline image.

Then there is the contemplation of do you h1 the sites name on each page or not. The name of the site I’m building is so key word rich I was tempted to use it as the h1 on each page but I didnt. Just the home page.

I think both those decisions matter more than you would think. Not to be ranked or not. But for the battle for 1st on google those little things matter.

[Paulie_D]

Google have said that the first h1 on each page has little or no impact on rankings.

Their algorithm is a lot smarter than that.

[JohnWeinstein]

In the corporate world of today, nobody wants to lose ranks of the market share. That means, new ideas have to be kicked in every now and then. These ideas must have to be smarter and effective. Apart from other strategies and innovative steps, a logo or a brand symbol works like an arrow thrown right on to the target. This means that a logo design works more effectively in promoting one’s business and its relevant offerings. But that could only be possible if you have a brand symbol that is new and unique in every way. It should be designed in a way that it could explain all the aspects of the business with an attention to detail strategy. All that is achievable if one gets a customized logo design.

H1 text play very important role in term of SEO. It should be under 50 character and it will better if you put your keyword in it.

[Author]

Posts