optimization

Testing the alt attribute

29
Sep

A French website (www.laboratoire-referencement.fr) very often tests differents attributes for Google, Bing and Yahoo to compare their effectiveness.

Let's see today their results for the alt attribute (the alt is used in images)

Aim of the test

The target of this test is to analyze if it is possible to rank a page on a specified keyword, only by using the alt attribute of an image. This test will be done through Yahoo, Google and Bing.

Procedure

A keyword (defined as KW) has been put in the alt attribute of an image such as

<img src="" alt="KW" />

KW is a KeyWord which doesn't exist on any webpage known by Google, Bing and Yahoo.

NB: KW is not the true word used, it is kept secret in order to redo the test several times.

When we were looking for the keyword KW in theses 3 engines, the answer before the test was:

"No answer found" or No pages contain KW

If, after having indexed the test page containing the word KW in an alt attribute, a search engine, for the same query, gives as a result the test page, we can then come to the conclusion that:

(1) - The Alt attribute alone allows to rank a webpage with a given key sentence

If not, one can conclude that:

(2) - The Alt attribute alone cannot rank a webpage on a given key sentence

Limits

If we come to the second conclusion, it doesn't mean that the search engines never analyse the content of the alt attribute.

As a matter of fact, it is possible that:

  • A keyword only in the alt attribute is not enough to rank a page on this keyword but brings anyway a bonus.
  • This attribute is used to fight spam, over-optimization or duplicate contents.
  • The test is not genuine for the word KW doen't exist anywhere else on the page.
Result of the test
Test on Google OK
Bing  No
results on Yahoo  No

The test page is not ranked if we make a query with KW on Yahoo nor Bing.

The test page is ranked with the word KW on Google.

 

Interesting, isn't it?

Optimization on Bing: all you need to know

21
Aug
Optimize your website for Bing

Since the launching of Bing last June, you need to have some information on optimizing your website for Microsoft's search engine.

Meta: Title

  1. Put the most important words at the beginning, because they have more weight in the algorithm (factor of prominence).
  2. Try to limit to 65 characters (and use at least 5 characters).
  3. For deep pages, put  the most strategic words first, then the description words of the category page, and only at the end, the name of the website.
  4. Make sure you don't have two similar titles.
  5. Avoid using any of these special characters: ' " < > { } [ ] ( )

Meta: description

Although they are not used in the ranking algorithm, it can be used by Bing to display the snippet (small description of each result). Here are some tips:

  1. Create specific descriptions for each page (especially do not repeat the same description on multiple pages).
  2. Don't use the same words as in the meta:title. Try to write a "commercial" description to make the visitor click on your website.
  3. Try to use between 25 and 150 characters.
  4. Avoid using any of these special characters: ' " < > { } [ ] ( )

Meta: keywords

Do not expect much from this meta to improve your ranking ... But according to Bing, it is worth having it, then fill it if it can be done automatically by your CMS (and if it does not bother you to show your competitors what the most strategic keywords on your page are ...).

  1. Separate your keywords with comma.
  2. Do not exceed 874 characters in total (don't ask me where that number comes from, it is adviced by Bing!)
  3. Don't repeat more than 4 times the same word

 

 Read also:

Bing and Google comparison on keywords