[thelist] <h1> + images + search engines penalties

[Andrew Kamm]

> I understand the semantics of header tags - that header tags are meant for
> text, designating hierarchy, structure, etc.  So, with that in mind, this
> WOULD be a bad idea:
> 
> <h1><a href="http://www.company.com/" name="home" id="home"><img
> src="path/to/logo.gif" alt="company name"></a></h1>

I'm not sure of the search engine aspect of things, but in terms of creating
a proper (semantic) structure, I actually think this is ideal (though, to
nit-pick, you should end your img tag with " />"). I wouldn't be surprised
if search engines take into consideration reasonable alt tags and image file
names.

If the text you would otherwise use as <h1> is an image, it seems to be
appropriate to place it within the <h1>. If nothing else, this provides
appropriate structure for any apps utilizing alt text in place of images. I
think as long as you're reasonable about the amount of text within the alt
attribute, it's fair game.

You could reinforce this by duplicating your <h1> image's alt text in the
<title> tag of the page.

>IMHO the H1 should be the heading of the current document, not
>the company logo

I agree with Christian -- you'll get more mileage out of using <h1> as a
content header rather than a place for the logo or other content that is
used on every page.

HTH>

-- 
Andrew Kamm