How important is it to add a title to a photo?

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (30 posts)
  1. sallybea profile image82
    sallybeaposted 6 years ago

    Will I be penalized if I don't add titles to my images?  My writing consists of mainly of wet felting tutorials.  I have always in the past used titles and explanatory steps for each tutorial.  I want to avoid any unnecessary repetition so in an effort to simplify the layout I would like to edit out the titles. First I want to know if this is accepted practice!

    1. profile image0
      Christy Kirwanposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sally,

      It's not necessary to add titles to your images, but we do strongly recommend adding captions explaining what is going on in the image because this is how Google can tell the image is related and how they will make sure it shows up in the correct image searches, which might lead more readers to your article.

      1. eugbug profile image96
        eugbugposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        Is it ok if some steps in a procedure in a tutorial type hub are solely photos (i.e no text) with a title on the photo? Sometimes the photo is self explanatory and it's not necessary to add text.

        1. profile image0
          Christy Kirwanposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Readers may find your images self-explanatory, but if you want Google to know what they are and show them in image searches, a caption is necessary, yes. Search engines can not tell what is going on in a photo without accompanying text.

          1. profile image0
            Jean Harrisposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Sure they can, and they even include what they think an image is about in google image search results. If you go to the google image results page and perform a drag and drop of an image ONTO the search box of the image results page Google will evaluate the image and take a guess at what it's about, try it out.

            How to do this
            - Open a browser, go to google.com, perform a search and go to the image results page. Leave it there for a moment.
            - Open a different browser page with an image on it. Click and drag that image and move your mouse over the first browser tab to open it... then drop the image on the image results search bar and voila... watch Google work at figuring out what you showed it.
            - Alternative. You can drag an image from your desktop onto the search bar of an image results page and Google will do the same.

            It's pretty interesting actually.

            Did you know that the captcha image checks we perform are actually helping Google learn what is in the images? The practice of identifying images involves what is called OCR and Google is on the leading edge of that technology.

            1. profile image0
              Christy Kirwanposted 6 years agoin reply to this

              Yes, but as far as Google has disclosed, that technology is nowhere near a point where it would be ready to use to display search results. The advice I gave is for authors who want their articles to have a better chance of showing up in search results, potentially via image searches as well as article and website queries.

            2. eugbug profile image96
              eugbugposted 6 years agoin reply to this

              I hope Google's image identification capability is better than that of Microsofts.
              Some funny examples of how it tags my photos on Onedrive, hailstones on a mat identified as a "crowd" and a hose connector as a "drink" respectively!

              https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/13868782_f1024.jpg


              https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/13868783_f1024.jpg

      2. sallybea profile image82
        sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        Hi Christy,
        On Marisa's advice, I have removed a lot of my titles, leaving just a caption and source behind.   I think the end result is much cleaner and less complicated..  I am very grateful for your input as this has concerned me for ages:)

  2. psycheskinner profile image78
    psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

    I normally don't title images.

    1. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you @psycheskinner

  3. eugbug profile image96
    eugbugposted 6 years ago

    Image titles are stored as an H2 tag in the HTML in the same way as text module titles, so presumably they are important. In a tutorial, if the photo visually describes exactly the same as the accompanying explanatory text module above or below it, it would seem to be repetitious to add the same title to the photo. Sometimes I make the title of the photo somewhat different from the text module so that it covers an alternative phrase which a reader may be searching for. I'm not quite sure what information we should be including in captions and what should be added to titles. Presumably titles should be short and sweet, whereas the caption is for more detailed information about what is going on in the photo.

    1. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      That is what I have assumed for so long and was the reason why I have continued to use them. I tried to make the word different but it is not always easy.   It seems strange to be given a place for a title and leave it out.  I think I need a definitive answer from staff.

    2. CatherineGiordano profile image78
      CatherineGiordanoposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      What about if I included text in the image and then used the same text a the title?

      1. Marisa Wright profile image85
        Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        Catherine, if you look at Christy's official response, she's basically saying don't add titles to photos - add captions instead. 

        The reader is only going to get irritated if you're repeating the same words several times.

    3. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      eubug, this has been my practice up until now but no longer!  I am going to go with one or the other in an effort to clean up my hubs and make them look and feel less complicated to he reader.

      1. eugbug profile image96
        eugbugposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        Same here Sally. I've started cleaning up by removing titles and improving captions.

        1. sallybea profile image82
          sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          smile

  4. eugbug profile image96
    eugbugposted 6 years ago

    The thing about adding titles to photos is that it could confuse the Google algorithm that generates FSs even more! I have one hub that produces an FS for a search term, but it screws it up and adds the title of a text module as one of the items in the FS's ordered list.

    1. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Why then are we given a space for a Title?   What is an FS?  I simply don't understand but I do want to get this right.

      1. eugbug profile image96
        eugbugposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        An FS is a Google Featured Snippet Sally. They appear at the top of a SERP in the form of a paragraph or ordered list, sometimes with a clickable photo attached. The content of the FS is harvested by Google's FS algorithm from subtitles, tables and numbered (ordered) or bulleted (non-ordered) lists in hubs.
        Robin detailed some things we should try in order to get an FS here:

        https://hubpages.com/community/forum/14 … d-snippets

        Here's one I made appear by searching for the text shown. It doesn't appear without the feltmagnet bit, but you might get one for other search terms.
        https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/13817245.jpg

      2. Marisa Wright profile image85
        Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

        If you take a look, you'll see that EVERY kind of capsule has space for a title.  It's there so you can use it as an option, depending on your layout.

        For instance, when you start a new section, you might prefer to show the title above your first photo, OR you might put it above the first paragraph of text.  Not both.

        As Eugbug says, the Title has an H2 tag, which tells Google that it's one of your main headings.  If you look at just your text, then obviously you've got main headings and then sub-titles within those main headings. If you go and put main headings on your Amazon capsules, photos etc as well, then that's confusing.

        1. sallybea profile image82
          sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you, Marisa.  I edited the Pixie Hat Hub as you suggested and took out the image heading.  Not sure if it will be moved to FeltMagnet but it should be interesting to see if and when it does if the hubs perform any better.  I definitely prefer the uncluttered look.

          1. Marisa Wright profile image85
            Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I think you may have to resubmit it before they will consider it.

            1. sallybea profile image82
              sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

              I have done, will have to wait and see.

              1. Marisa Wright profile image85
                Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                Good luck!

        2. sallybea profile image82
          sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks, Eugbug, that is very helpful.  I will check out the link and do a little testing myself.

  5. Venkatachari M profile image85
    Venkatachari Mposted 6 years ago

    Yes, Sally. Do as suggested by Christy Kirwan. That is the best thing to do. Tell about the image below it by adding a relevant caption to it while inserting the photo capsule. That will solve your problem.

    1. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Venkatachari Msmile

  6. profile image0
    Jean Harrisposted 6 years ago

    I took a peek at the code relating to images on Hubpages, this is what I found.

    - The title is posted within the code as an H2 tag immediately before the image
    - The title is NOT posted where it needs to be in the image's alt tag

    As such the title we assign an image is not being associated to the image itself. It's still a good idea to do because a reader will see the title, but it's not directly helping Google. I say not directly because Google understands common web issues like this. I've tested this in detail in the past and found that Google tends to associate an image with the text it finds immediately BEFORE the image, or with the last sentence or two of a paragraph appearing BEFORE the image. As the title appears before the image it may be that a title is indirectly telling Google what it's about.

    Hope that helps.

    1. sallybea profile image82
      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting, thank you Jean.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)