Comments on: Header Image SEO – is it trickery?

By: Sankar

Sankar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:57:29 +0000

Nice discussion.

As per the above conversation, I came to know that present people who are using this technique aren’t penalized by google. In future, if google optimizes their algorithm then the guys who are using this technique may be effected. However not a problem, at present it’s doing well. Glad to know that.

By: Beau Frusetta

Beau Frusetta — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:12:28 +0000

If they have image blocking functionality active on their browser, I’m not worried about them. For starters, its dumb to turn off images in the current state of the internet to get a full browsing experience, however, your site should be designed well with CSS so when this situation occurs (by a dumb user turning off images, or a web crawler that won’t index binaries) it still displays alternative text to the image that was supposed to be displayed.

By: Haris

Haris — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:00:43 +0000

image replacement with css technique can be an answered but it still have some problem, because the image will gone if image block function in some browser was activated. Any idea?

By: noel

noel — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:05:08 +0000

IMHO, the technique itself isn’t spamming. If it is used to display text as a replacement to the image and describes the images, then it is valid. However, if the use is to maliciously put some text and keywords that can manipulate your rankings, then that’s spamming.

The question is, how can google know which is which through it’s algorithm. Well, that’s their problem. As of now, I don’t think this is automatically penalized. But I’m pretty sure they know this technique. It’s just a matter of time for them to figure out an effective algorithm to penalize websites spamming using the hidden text via CSS technique.

By: Susan Moskwa

Susan Moskwa — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:32:54 +0000

Looks like Chuck has found some good references for you. If you happen to know the name of that “Google guy,” I’d be happy to chat with him about the nuances of this technique (which, as you’ve observed, is neither “100% spam” nor “0% spam”).

By: rYnoweb by Chuck Reynolds » CSS Heading Image Replacement

rYnoweb by Chuck Reynolds » CSS Heading Image Replacement — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:00:09 +0000

[...] friend of mine recently asked me to weigh in on a question on his blog from a client who was raising some questions after attending a SEO seminar regarding hiding text [...]

By: Beau Frusetta

Beau Frusetta — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:17:07 +0000

Yeah, that’s totally what I’m talking about. I’m not spamming, nor does it remotely appear as spamming, but my client is dead set that since the Google dude said it’s “spam”, that his site is going to get blacklisted. I just want some more ammunition to give to the guy before just saying “ok, I’ll change it” – as I’d rather give great advice, than be a “yes-man” all the time!

By: Martin Kulakowski

Martin Kulakowski — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:02:28 +0000

We use the image replacement technique in xhtml/css all the time, and no sites have ever been blacklisted. I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re talking about, though? We use it mainly for header and button replacements, just as you described. I wouldn’t call it spamming, this is how 99% of w3c valid websites are built now. Just as if your hlf logo here was a background to an h1 tag, instead of using the img tag. Now there are ways of abusing this by hiding blocks of text with relevant keywords. I’ve seen it done on the local competitors websites a while ago. That’s definitely spamming.