Yesterday we went through a glossary of SEO terms to know in 2015, but what a glossary doesn’t tell you is the confusion that can happen with many SEO tags. Despite the fact that certain tags and terms have different names, their descriptions are often so similar that it can be hard to differentiate. What you really need is more than a one-sentence definition to understand where everything falls. This is true in three major instances:
- Alt Image Tag vs. Image Title.
- H1 Tag vs. Title Tag.
- Anchor Tag vs. Linking Name to Anchor.
Understanding these differences is important if you want to use these tags correctly and get the most benefit out of them. Although the differences are slight, it’s actually pretty easy to understand once you put them into practice and know what you’re doing as you go into publishing a webpage.
Alt Image Tag vs. Image Title
The Alt Image Tag, or Alt Text in general, offers alternative information for both readers as well as Google bots. Because Google bots cannot see and analyze an image, they rely on your Alt Image Tag to tell them what the photo is all about. Naturally, this means that keywords in your alt image tag are important.
What many people forget, however, is that the alt tag is also important for any users who have images disabled in their browsers. The alt text will display inside of the image container when an image can’t be displayed or a page cannot be found, so the alt text is important in getting those visitors interested enough to want to see the image. Below is a generic screen you may see:
Image Title is another attribute added to an image tag and is used as a title for your image. The difference here is that this text will not be shown to a user if an image isn’t displaying properly. On certain browsers it is the image title that will show up when you hover over an image. WordPress will also use the title to organize all of your images within the system that you’ll see when viewing your media library. Below is an example from a Search Engine Journal article:
As far as the Google bots go, the image title isn’t overly important and is not considered a ranking factor by Google. Still, it’s important to use your keywords in case someone does hover over your image or you need to find it in your library in the future.
H1 Tag vs. Title Tag
The H1 tag will show up on your actual webpage as the title of the page or article. This is usually in the largest sized font, ideally is between 50-60 characters, and is only used once on a page (unlike heading tags, which you can learn more about here). Using your keywords here is still important because it helps readers to know what your article is all about. Just as with the image title tag, though, it doesn’t have nearly as much affect when talking about search engines. It’s for readers and WordPress.
The Title Tag will show up in the URL in your browser as well as the hyperlink that you see on a Google SERP. This therefore tells the Google bots the actual title of your webpage and helps readers see what the page might be about based on the URL. In order to display properly, your title tag should be between 50-60 characters.
Keep in mind that your title tag and your h1 tag can be different if you choose. They are usually the same simply because both are technically labeling your webpage with a title, but if you want to have a slight variation from one tag to another that is OK. For example, if you wanted to have your h1 tag just a little bit longer than your title tag, you can feel free to make them different.
Don’t confuse these with your site or domain though. These are set once and remain consistent throughout the site. Here are a few business name ideas to give you an idea.
Link Anchor Text vs. Linking Name to Anchor Tag
The Linking Name to Anchor Tag allows you to send users who click to another section of the same webpage. In other words, it looks exactly like a regular internal or external link, except instead of sending you to a different webpage you’re going to a new section of that same page. Companies that publish detailed and long-form articles and guides are the ones who would benefit most from using this tag. For a great example, check out any Wikipedia page and click a link in the Table of Contents.
Link Anchor Text is probably what you’re most familiar with out of all the terms in this article. Anchor text simply refers to the words that are attached to any type of link—internal, external, name anchor, etc. We wrote this article last year that explains the differences in more detail (hint: the words “this article” are the link anchor text).