Hi Slogging ~
Any link to your page is of value, so long as it is a direct link, and
not some coded link, such as PPC (pay per click with redirect or
similar linking structure).
Since the Googlebot cannot 'read' graphics, a banner ad or graphic
link can be of value provided you make good use of the ALT tag (or
attribute) within the image tag.
Here's what WebMaster World has to say about the matter in "Google
News - TXT link versus banner – graphical link":
"banner/graphical links do count as far as I know, as long as it is a
direct link and not some ad tracker link." The entire thread can be
found here:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/11519.htm?highlight=banner+link
and in the thread "Banner Link vs Text Link":
"As long as they use <a href=""></a> to link to you, and not some kind
of script you will still get value. The "alt" text will be indexed in
the same way that a text link would."
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/7874.htm?highlight=banner+link
For purposes of Page Rank, the banner (graphic) link directly to your
site (and not through some third party tracker), with proper use of
the "alt" text, will be counted as a link to your site. As such, it
will carry all the weight of a text link.
So far as effectiveness for other purposes, such as actually clicking
on the link, it seems to be generally held that text links within the
proper context seem to work better.
Search terms -
- Google: banner link vs test link
Webmaster World search -
- banner links
Hope this helps,
Serenata |
Request for Answer Clarification by
slogging-ga
on
04 Aug 2003 03:02 PDT
Hi Serenata,
Thanks for the answer.I have read the info in links you have
provided.Its about 75% convincing but not 100%.
I am requesting clarification of the following TWO points:
POINT ONE
You state
QUOTE
For purposes of Page Rank, the banner (graphic) link directly to your
site (and not through some third party tracker), with proper use of
the "alt" text, will be counted as a link to your site.
UNQUOTE
The above means that "proper use of alt text" is ESSENTIAL to make
the banner COUNT AS A LINK .Please explain what is "proper use of the
alt text".
Remember in the case of a text link it will count as a link WHATEVER
text one puts in it , although the "benefit" is more if there are
keywords in the anchor text which are also found on the target page.
So the "proper" text in the alt text : is it there to make it count as
a link or for extra benefit only ? Also does putting the target url in
the alt text -have any significance since the html of the banner
already has it ?
If there is text in the alt tag but none of it matches any text in the
target page - does it then still count as a link ?
POINT TWO
It seems there is one simple way to nail the issue down.Find atleast
one actual site with a back link shown by google which is a banner and
not a text link.Could you find one or two for me please ?
Thanks,
Slogging
|
Clarification of Answer by
serenata-ga
on
04 Aug 2003 05:31 PDT
Hi Slogging:
1.) Here's a graphic link which is picked up from a search for
"serenata.nu" (without the quotation marks).
The link is listed on the second page of returns for Adorable Annie's
Southwest Gift Baskets - http://adorableannies.com/ - and image tag
reads:
<a href="http://serenata.nu><img SRC="../art/snsunsm.gif" ALT="Design
by Serenata.Nu" BORDER=0 height=70 width=97></a> Notice the ALT
tribute within the image tag.
2.) A second instance is a banner link picked up from a search
for "www.dishusa.com" (again, without the quotation marks).
The link is the fourth return, wineconsignor.com, and the image (a
banner) reads:
<a HREF="http://www.dishusa.com/" _blank"><img ID="Picture9" HEIGHT=72
WIDTH=432 SRC="../Links/3freebannerdish.jpg" BORDER=0 ALT=""></a>
The ALT tag here is empty, which is proper, but a waste; but the link
has been picked up and returned by Google.
In the first case, the ALT tag reads "Design by Serenata.Nu", and if
you search for 'design by serenata.nu', the same site and page is
returned by Google.
Disclaimer: The Serenata.Nu site is mine, but one I knew of off the
top of my head to illustrate this Answer Clarification. The other is
one I found during the course of business, and I have no affiliation
with that.
Hope that helps,
Serenata
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
slogging-ga
on
06 Aug 2003 07:04 PDT
Hi Seranata,
I have verified the second example you gave and so am pretty much
convinced.
However was a bit confused about the first example :
a)Going to the adorableannies page shows 1 page of backward links in
which several of the links are yours.Could you let me know the exact
URL of the page which contains the image link to adorable
b)The other way round:Going to the serenata.nu and clicking on
backward links on the google toolbar shows many pages of back links
but can't see any for adorableannies
So just for curiosity,pl clarify this and I am ready to close this
answer with a 5 rating.Sorry if I am being dumb about your
instructions.
Regards,Slogging
|
Clarification of Answer by
serenata-ga
on
06 Aug 2003 09:35 PDT
Well, isn't that interesting?
This is a perfect example of the constant changes in Google!
I have probably designed over 200 sites over the last 6 years or so,
and at the time I gave you the example, there were almost 600 'links'
to my site. Many of them were either a text notation (design by...) or
my logo (alt tags said "design by ...").
By the time you got around to checking my links, they were gone. It's
unfortunate they're gone, as you can't check the example I gave you
... personally, I'm rather glad some of those early, early (read: not
so great) links from sites I no longer am associated with are gone.
=============
Slogging, use a definitive ALT text, and so far, banners count as
links. As you can see, they're working, but your best way is to get
mentioned in context within the text content of sites. We can see
those hang around.
But who knows what changes tomorrow will bring?
Yours,
Serenata
|
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