Alt Tags for Hyperlinks are Necessary for Search Engines and Screen Readers
Robots need alt tags, Google loves alt tags, blind people need alt tags - especially in hyperlinks.
SEO Tip: Robots do not see information the same way your human visitors do. To see what a robot sees right click your mouse and "View Page Source."
We see what robots see to better communicate with them.
Renee Zellwegger and Tom Cruise. Jerry Maquire. 1996. Sony / Columbia Pictures.
"You complete me." (play clip)
SEO completes robots and you want them at "hello."
Two more key keyword SEO strategies to have robots at hello
Two other important SEO strategies to get search engines to visit, index, and love your website:
- #1 The content. In real estate it's "location, location, location." In SEO performance it's "content, content, content." >>SEO Content Writing Tips
- #2 Website Infrastructure. The most important thing (because it is the hardest thing to fix if you do it poorly) for ensuring a fully optimized website is to start with solid infrastructure. >>SEO and Website Infrastructure
Why are we different from other SEO companies?
Well, we're funnier and really easy to get along with ... except we will not tell you lies just because you want to hear them.
We can maintain our sense of humor because we love what we do and are not suffering from code burnout. On the surface we may seem a little "out there" but that is one of the things that makes us unique. We are very serious about what we do.
It is our upbeat, positive philosophy about business and SEO work that allows us to see things from a different point of view - those of our clients.
But what really separates us from the canned meta companies is simple: We know the SEO business inside out and have extensive experience in putting our knowledge into practice. (Did we mention our Guarantee?) We do not just do the work we tell you why it is needed, what you alternatives are, and how we do it.
We consider the needs and preferences of humans and robots.
Search Engine Optimization That Works
SEO Strategy #3: Alt Tagging Hyperlinks Completes Robots
Bad search engine optimization is a relationship deal breaker for search engine robots. Like women (or men, depending upon your point of view) they do not understand everything you are trying to say. Robots can easily get the wrong message from your website unless you explain things to them carefully -- in their preferred tongue -- and give them directions about where to go and what to do.
Are alt Tags on hyperlinks necessary?
YES! Robots do not like to play tag (they have too much work to do) but they love coded tags.
Google and other search engines do look for and count alt tags on hyperlinks and images and hyperlinks on images. Screen readers (used by the vision impaired) need alt tags on hyperlinks, too.
Many SEO companies will tell you tagging hyperlinks is not important. In fact, a major lawyer marketing firm not only does not tag hyperlinks on pages that they create, their administrative system disables tags on pages their clients create. In other words, even if you put them in via their HTML editor, the disappear when the article is published.
Here is a direct quote from this company about why they do not alt tag hyperlinks (I asked when working on one of their clients websites in their own interface and discovered this problem. They must believe their own words because their own lawyer marketing website does not tag hyperlinks:
Our SEM team doesn't add ALT tags to text hyperlinks as a practice. I can ask for more details on their policy but I believe they don’t feel it adds SEM value.
Doesn't feel it adds SEM value. Umm, guys, hate to be the bearer of bad news but Google specifically states that you should alt tag all hyperlinks for improved page rank and to make your website accessible to the blind. And, Google not only looks for alt tags (and penalizes you for spamming with keywords in alt tags) they will note absent alt tags as "missing." Missing alt tags pulls down your pages overall SEO rank.
Really, Tag Everything if You Want Your Website to be "It"
Tag everything you can because the little things you SEO will add up to bigger search engine results. A few "arrghs I hate tagging every stupid hyperlink!" now could add up to more page views and clients later on down the road if you do tag, tag, tag.
A robot-complete, fabulously optimized web page includes RELATIVE keywords that appear in:
- File names
- Page titles
- Meta name descriptions
- Meta name keywords
- Meta name content (if you use this tag)
- Meta name author (if you use this tag)
- Hyperlinks (in the actual name if possible)
- Hyperlink alt tags (every hyperlink needs one and so do robots and screen readers)
- Hyperlink title attributes (if you use them, use them sparingly)
- Image alt tags (this is not an option - robots and screen readers cannot "see" images without them!)
- Image title attributes (another no-option deal)
- Image hyperlinks (even image hyperlinks need an alt tag)
- Headers (and yes, you should use <h> tags not just bold stuff in larger font sizes)
- Bold and italics (carry slightly more weight with robots)
- Content (duh)
- And, ta da... a "secret" SEO tip: your site's directory names can (and should) also include keywords when appropriate)
How to Get Robots at "Hello"
Tell the truth. You might get away with trickery at first, but robots are pretty darn smart and usually catch on to lies.
Wear a white hat. Do not attempt to outsmart them with "black hat" SEO strategies like disguising keywords in white text on white backgrounds so humans cannot see them but robots can.
Do not cheat on robots. No link farms, mirroring sites, or door way pages either. Robots do not like it when you cheat on them or treat them as if they are stupid (they are not). Robots are not Jonny Lang (play song) and do not want to be lied to.
Be relevantly redundant. Your keywords should be repeated in your page title, your metadata, headers, hyperlinks, content, and alt tags, and title attributes. But keep it clean. Make sure your keywords are supported by your content - not the reverse.
Overstuffing keywords is considered taboo. This is a common tactic spammers use to get high ratings fast. Eventually they get caught, get banned, and move onto another website SEO scam.
Build websites that build robot relationships. You want your site to have a long-lasting relationship with robots. So don't play games, follow the rules, and build trust.
Be complete to have them (humans and robots) at "hello." To woo a robot into collecting, categorizing, and sharing the right information about your website you have to offer complete information to humans as is seen in your content and whatever else is displayed on your web pages, and to robots - the stuff that is "behind the scenes."