Alt tag ?

[richarduwc]

Google used to index any amount of text in my ALT tags now I think they will only index 100 letters. Is this the case with anyone else?

[wrmineo]

I'm honestly not sure how much of it Google indexes, however, too much of anything is not good IMO. The old rule of thumb was not more than 150 characters to include spaces. However, the use of alt tags is meant to help "define" in descriptive terms what an item is, not to supplement or be an entire thesis of content. Trying to go overboard could backfire in my opinion. For that matter, someone more schooled than I probably has a good reference, but I recall Google and others penalizing those abusing this attribute, especially if it's deemed they're trying to KW stuff it.

[mike21]

According to our research the alt text has only very little importance for Google rankings. And if you use alt text, keep it as short as possible. You might be penalized for overoptimization.

[John Scott]

Originally Posted by mike21

According to our research the alt text has only very little importance for Google rankings. And if you use alt text, keep it as short as possible. You might be penalized for overoptimization.

Your research sucks, Mike.

ALT text is does drive some very nice rankings in Google. Especially ALT text of linked images.

[gfriedm1]

JohnScott, do you have an example of how this has been tested?

[mike21]

alt text for linked images is something different. Like anchor text this can really have an impact on your rankings. But make sure you don't use the same text for every image.