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 Images vs. Text: Website Pitfalls

There are many factors to consider when creating a new website. For many designers the greatest of these factors is aesthetic appeal. There is, of course, something to be said for having a unique look – it is not just about the product, after all, but about how you showcase the product that makes them choose you. That said, even the best product on the most creative website will not bring in sales via search engines if the website is not search-engine friendly.

One common error people make when designing websites is to embed text into images. You can check to see if the text visible on an image has been embedded into the image by selecting the text with your mouse; if you are able to select it character by character it is plain text, but if you cannot then it is an image. If you have important text embedded in an image and you are unable to change it into plain text easily (think: a keyword-rich slogan tied to your logo image file), compensate for this lack of search-engine friendly text by inserting the text into the content on the page so search engines can read it.

It is important to remember that the same concept applies to your website’s navigation. If the navigation is an image and not plain text, the search engines will not be able to read the links and find a path to search the pages in your site; they will simply hit your home page and then stop there. This is not to say that websites should be limited to navigation built from text links – but some text navigation should be included on a website to compensate for image-based menus. A common and effective way to do this is to include a plain text navigation in a footer that appears on every page of your website.

The Solution . . .

The key to an eye-catching, search-engine friendly design is to create a partnership between beauty and substance, keeping in mind both searchers and search engines when designing, or redesigning, your website.