Google Says CSS Background Images Are Ignored in Indexing

Google Warns Developers About the Limitations of CSS-Based Images

Google’s Search Relations team told developers on a recent episode of the Search Off the Record podcast that they shouldn’t rely on CSS background graphics for important website content. Google does not index these photos, thus they won’t show up in Google Image Search and will be less prominent in general search.

 

Why CSS Background Images Don’t Get Indexed

John Mueller and Martin Splitt from Google talked about how images added with CSS are not part of the DOM (Document Object Model), so Googlebot doesn’t “see” them when it crawls a page.

Splitt remarked, “If the image is part of the content, you want an image tag or a picture tag.” “That way, we can grab it and add it to image search.”

This brings up an important point: search engines won’t see the image as content if it isn’t shown as an actual HTML element.

 

Content vs. Decoration: Understanding the Difference

The Google team stressed the need of making a difference between photos that are part of the text and images that are just for show:

• Content Images: Add meaning, context, or value to the page (e.g., product photos, infographics, featured visuals).

• Decorative Images: Backgrounds, textures, or visual effects that serve purely stylistic purposes.

When you talk about an image in your content, like a blog article that talks about a picturesque photo, you should always use HTML tags to put it there.

 

Common Mistakes Developers Make

The podcast said that some developers wrongly think that applying CSS to all images will make things run better or give them more design options. This can cause:

• Real estate listings that don’t have pictures of homes indexed
• E-commerce product photographs that can’t be found in shopping searches
• Images of news graphics or charts not showing up

Even though licensed stock photos aren’t unique, they should nevertheless be included to the page’s content using HTML so that spiders and screen readers can find them.

 

What Webmasters Need to Do

Google suggests the following to improve indexing and visibility:

Best Ways to Do Things:

• For any image that has meaning or is referenced, use <img> or <picture> tags.
• Use CSS backgrounds just for ornamental elements.
• Check the DOM structure to make sure that crucial images are there as HTML elements.
• Use alt text and semantic markup to make accessibility a top concern.

Why This Is Important for SEO and Accessibility

If you don’t follow this advice, you could miss out on SEO chances, especially for sites that rely on images, such as:

• e-commerce businesses
• News and media companies
• Platforms for real estate
• Photography sites or portfolios

Additionally, screen readers and tools for making websites easier to use for people with disabilities depend on HTML elements being used correctly to read and describe images.

 

Final thoughts

CSS is a great way to style things, but you shouldn’t use it to show content images that are important for search engines to find or for users to comprehend.

Google’s message is clear: HTML must contain an image if it is expected to be found in search. Webmasters can make their sites easier to find in Google Image Search and easier for everyone to use by doing this.