Buy Button ALT Text

[tobyharris]

Hi all,

I want to be able to add an ALT tag to my buy button image, I have tried the following but the variables do not get converted when I preview the page ??? When I hover over the Buy Button the ALT tag displays the variable name rather than it's value.

<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE" SRC="NETQUOTEVAR:BUTTONIMG" NAME="NETQUOTEVAR:BUTTONNAME"
WIDTH="NETQUOTEVAR:IMAGEWIDTH" HEIGHT="NETQUOTEVAR:IMAGEHEIGHT" BORDER="0" alt="NETQUOTEVAR:PRODUCTNAME">

and

<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE" SRC="NETQUOTEVAR:BUTTONIMG" NAME="NETQUOTEVAR:BUTTONNAME"
WIDTH="NETQUOTEVAR:IMAGEWIDTH" HEIGHT="NETQUOTEVAR:IMAGEHEIGHT" BORDER="0" alt="NETQUOTEVAR:ALTERNATETEXT">

I have also tried using a custom variable, but again It will not convert to the value.

Thanks in advance for any help

Toby

[Kiran]

Hi Toby

Can you tell me on which template you have have been makign these changes, because with Version 6/7 etc not all variables worked on all templates that may be a reason for it displaying only the variable name.

Kind regards

[tobyharris]

Reply to Kiran

Hi Kiran,

I have been testing with both Act_CartButtonImage.html and Act_SingleCartButtonImg.html, but both seem to be unable to access either the NETQUOTEVAR:ALTERNATETEXT or a CUSTOMVAR that I have tried to use as a work around.

You mentioned that "with Version 6/7 etc not all variables worked on all templates ". Is version 8 different in this respect ?

Any idea's would be most welcome, as it seems a wasted opportunity considering the importance of ALT tags to search engines.

Kind Regards
Toby

[pinbrook]

2 thoughts

1 why not hard code the alt tag instead of using a customvar, its only one value you are tryingto add

2 why do you want an alt tag on the buy button, ifs fairly irrelevant for SEO and energy would be better spent elsewhere

[tobyharris]

Hi Pinbrook,

Thanks for the post, but I am trying to include the product name into each of the Buy buttons ALT tags. I have multiple product per page and about 1400 products (including size variations) on the site. Hard coding although a simple solution, would make all ALT tags the same (if a variable is not being used). Which would not help with search engines. But thanks for your input anyway.

Kind Regards
Toby

[pinbrook]

What you want to do is not a good idea, you should bear in mind that alt tags are there to help blind/partially sighted people and people who do not download images (I do the later when connected to a slow connection).

Alts tags are for accessibility not SEO

The alt tag on an image is set to product name for SEO purposes this should be sufficient, if you additionally mention the product name in the description and have image name set to productname.jpg. Theres 4 mentions already.

Don't forget you need to balance this out and not spam

[leehack]

I agree, craziest idea i've heard in a while and goes completely against what the alt attribute is for. Your SEO should not be at the expense of certain users and it certainly shouldn't abuse any facility provided. If you want better SEO, then concentrate on your copy and your incoming links instead of wasting your time on silly ideas.

[tobyharris]

Alt Tags

Hi Pinbrook and Leehack,

Although I'm grateful for your comments, I think you misunderstand the purpose of my post.

I want have a specific alt tag on each buy button to say for example "Press here to purchase a XYZ". Where XZY is the product name.

The purpose of this post was not to discuss the merits of this idea, but to establish the technical limitations of Actinic and any possible work around to achieve this objective.

Regards
Toby

[wjcampbe]

The purpose of the forum is to offer both help and advice where it is (so badly) needed.