Title tags added to href

**Tulip** · 10-01-2005, 02:49 PM

Is it worthwhile to add title tags to href? Thanks.

**chrishirst** · 10-01-2005, 06:20 PM

for what ?

**shabbirbhimani** · 10-02-2005, 03:04 AM

Yup as it shows a tooltip with that helping the user and SE bots to increase the keyword density.

**chrishirst** · 10-02-2005, 04:38 AM

Quote:

as it shows a tooltip with that helping the user

Yes & No, The title attribute is an important part of any element for accessibility devices not because it shows as a tooltip.

Quote:

SE bots to increase the keyword density

Definitely NOT. SEs don't even index the title attribute.

**shabbirbhimani** · 10-02-2005, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Definitely NOT. SEs don't even index the title attribute.

Check my site www.globaldevelopers.net and Hover mouse of the Navigation links. Then search in Google with site:www.globaldevelopers.net See the cache of any page and then check the "cached text" as well as the "cached page" of the page and you will realize that they at least index and cache the Title text.

**chrishirst** · 10-02-2005, 04:49 AM

It may be cached and shown as part of the page (as it would be). But they are not indexed for use in ranking weighting.

**chrishirst** · 10-02-2005, 04:55 AM

BTW the title attributes are NOT shown as cached text. They may be shown on hover but not as text.

**shabbirbhimani** · 10-02-2005, 05:27 AM

In cached text as tooltip.

**chrishirst** · 10-02-2005, 06:08 AM

Nope! in the code of the link as a title attribute Yes, but NOT in the cached text as text. a minor but very important distinction.

Look at the way the the alt attribute text is shown as plain text. All you are seeing there with the title attribute, is that the cached text version has the anchor element (<a>) inserted into the page intact. The title attribute has NOT been extracted and indexed as text only.

It is a very simple thing to test rather than making assumptions based on what you see. Create a page, add a made up word to the title attribute wait for the SEs to index the page, then search for that word.
I have run this test 3 or 4 times now at various intervals over the past 3 years or so, the page used hasn't shown up for the word once yet. I may repeat it again shortly just to check.

**shabbirbhimani** · 10-02-2005, 06:47 AM

Quote:

I have run this test 3 or 4 times now at various intervals over the past 3 years or so, the page used hasn't shown up for the word once yet. I may repeat it again shortly just to check.

can you show us the sample of the page as I am sure you will not have the page online for years.

**chrishirst** · 10-02-2005, 10:18 AM

You're correct I don't have the same page online for years or even on the same site sometimes running the same tests. As I said 3 or 4 times over 3 or so years.

I don't have one online currently, may dig out an archived page and update it later in the day.