gif images and search engines optimization

[johnn]

Hello,

I'm newbie to SE. I would like to know:

- Are gif images good or bad for SE optimization?

- Is gif images animation good or bad for SE optimization?

- Are gif images used as buttons (links) good or bad for SE optimization?

Thank you very much in advance,
John

[Endure_Racing]

Hello There,

As far as I have learned, none of those characteristics will effect your placement. The key thing with images is that you should always utilize the 'ALT' tags, as some of the SE's will develope keywords based on these tags.

Hope this Helps

-Ry

[Ian Glass]

Well, always use relevant alt text on you images (doesn't matter if they're gif, jpg or png, etc.)--as much an accessibility issue as it is SE. Images can hurt, if there isn't enough relevant text on the page, though. Search engines can't read any text on the pictures, so they rely on other text on the page.

Like everything else, it all depends how you use 'em... ;-)

~~Ian

[aspen]

Its better to use text than images for important things, otherwise images in no way hurt you.

Visit your page, look at your source code, that is what search engines see.

[johnn]

By Aspen:
It's better to use text than images for important things

I'm not sure...Does that mean text is more visible than image so text is better or you mean something else? And it's good to know that gif images used as buttons (links) are not bad for SE optimization (if alt is provided.)