Introduction – Why This Matters
If you’re a business owner in Thailand searching for a Thai web design agency to build your first corporate website, you likely want something that looks sleek, polished, and professional. Many agencies deliver exactly that—but often at a hidden cost.
One of the most common and costly mistakes we see? Using text embedded in images instead of real, readable text. It may look attractive, but it severely limits your website’s performance in search engines like Google. Search bots can’t “read” the text in images, and neither can screen readers used by visually impaired users.
In this article, we’ll explore how this practice damages your SEO, slows your site down, reduces accessibility, and even affects mobile usability. We’ll also offer smarter alternatives and show you how to work with your web designer to ensure your content is SEO-friendly and future-proof.
Table of Contents
How Search Engines “Read” Content
HTML vs Image-Based Text
Search engines crawl web pages by reading HTML—the structural code that wraps around your text and media. When you place actual text (headlines, subheadings, paragraphs) inside HTML elements like <h1> or <p>, Google indexes it, ranks it, and connects it to relevant user queries.
For example:
<h1>Welcome to Bangkok Dental Care</h1>vs.
<img src="welcome-banner.jpg" alt="Welcome to Bangkok Dental Care">However, if that same text is embedded into a JPG or PNG, it becomes invisible to search engines. Even the most important headings—like your company slogan or service descriptions—won’t count toward your SEO.
OCR Limitations
While Google can sometimes extract content from images using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), it’s unreliable. OCR doesn’t work well on decorative fonts, low-contrast backgrounds, or stylized designs—exactly the kind of images Thai web design agencies love to use for banners and hero sections.
OCR is a fallback, not a best practice. If you’re serious about SEO, your website copy needs to be in HTML, not flattened inside a graphic.
SEO Impacts of Text in Images
Indexing & Keyword Rankings
Search engine crawlers can’t rank what they can’t read. When your critical messaging—like product benefits or brand promises—is buried in images:
- Your pages become less relevant to Google’s algorithm.
- You miss the chance to rank for valuable long-tail keywords, like “Thai corporate branding expert” or “responsive Bangkok business websites.”
- Your click-through rate suffers because Google won’t know what your page offers.
Page Load and Core Web Vitals
Images that include text tend to be larger in file size, especially if they’re high-res banners. This can drag down your Core Web Vitals, which Google uses as a ranking factor. Text rendered in HTML loads faster and scales better across devices.
Faster-loading pages not only rank higher but convert better—especially on mobile networks in Southeast Asia where bandwidth can be limited.
Accessibility & ADA Compliance
Websites should be usable for everyone, including people using screen readers. If your content is in an image, it can’t be read out loud—unless you manually add descriptive alt text for every graphic, which is rarely done well.
This hurts your accessibility compliance, and in many countries, can be a legal liability for government or corporate websites.
Case Example: Thai Agencies Using Image Text
Bangkok Agency Sample
A quick survey of Thai web design agency portfolios reveals a recurring pattern: hero sections dominated by beautiful full-screen images with embedded text. While visually striking, these headers lack proper semantic markup—there are no <h1> or <h2> tags for Google to read.
In one real-world example, a digital agency based in Bangkok used an image with the words “Creative Branding for Future Leaders” on its homepage. When checking the site’s source code, we found no text version of that phrase anywhere in the HTML—meaning it’s completely invisible to search engines.
Visibility & SERP Performance
These design choices impact visibility. When comparing agencies that use proper text with heading tags versus image-only text, we found that those with HTML-based content consistently ranked higher for competitive keywords like “digital agency Bangkok” or “corporate website Thailand.”
Best Practices Instead of Image Text
Use Semantic HTML
Instead of embedding phrases in images, use semantic tags like <h1>, <h2>, and <p> over a background image using CSS. This keeps your design intact but makes your text searchable and accessible.
<div class="hero">
<h1>Empowering Thai Businesses Through Design</h1>
</div>
Overlay HTML/CSS on Images
Modern CSS allows you to place beautifully styled text directly over images without needing Photoshop. With position: absolute; or Tailwind classes, you can create a responsive overlay that’s still SEO-friendly.
Use Alt Text, Captions, Structured Data
When using images (for decoration or branding), always add descriptive alt text. For complex visual content like infographics, include a textual explanation or caption nearby.
Use schema.org markup when appropriate to help search engines better understand your content.
Technical SEO: Tools & Testing
Google Lighthouse & Site Audit
Run your site through Google Lighthouse or SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. These tools will highlight where text is missing, or where image-heavy content is hurting performance and accessibility.
Image Optimization Tools
- TinyPNG – to compress images without quality loss
- Squoosh – for advanced control over formats and sizing
- ImageKit.io – for real-time image optimization with CDN
These help ensure your images are light and your core web vitals stay strong.
UX & Conversion Considerations
Mobile Readability
On smartphones, images scale down—and text inside images becomes unreadable. HTML text, however, remains crisp and readable regardless of screen size.
Screen-Reader Friendliness
HTML content supports screen readers and assistive tech. If a visually impaired user visits your site and all the key messaging is in images, they’ll miss everything.
Accessible design isn’t just good ethics—it improves user experience, time on page, and even Google’s evaluation of your site quality.
Custom Visual Concepts to Avoid Image-Text Mistakes
Infographic: “Text in Image vs Text in HTML”
- Left side: Screenshot of a webpage with an image banner containing embedded text
- Right side: The same layout with HTML/CSS text overlay
- Include labels for: “Indexable”, “Responsive”, “Accessible”, “SEO-friendly”
Alt text: “Comparison infographic showing SEO impact of text in image vs HTML.”
Annotated Screenshot: “How Search Engines See Your Page”
– Show browser view vs raw source code
– Highlight what Google can actually crawl and what it ignores
Alt text: “Annotated screenshot showing difference between visible text and HTML structure.”
Implementation Guide for Business Owners
Onboarding Your Thai Agency
When hiring a web design agency in Thailand, ask direct questions:
- Will my main content be rendered in HTML?
- Are headlines SEO-optimized or inside images?
- Do you use accessibility guidelines like WCAG?
Use this checklist during discovery and proposal stages.
Checklist for Content Audit
- Is text readable by selecting it with a cursor?
- Does Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test highlight any image-based content issues?
- Are alt texts used properly?
- Can screen readers access all page content?
If you answer “no” to any of these, it’s time for a redesign.
Quick Takeaways
- Embedding text in images hurts SEO, accessibility, and site speed.
- Search engines rely on HTML to understand page content.
- Thai web design agencies often prioritize visuals over search performance.
- Always use semantic HTML with CSS overlays for text on images.
- Run regular SEO audits to catch non-indexable content.
- Prioritize user accessibility for better engagement and legal compliance.
FAQs
Is it OK to use images with text for banners?
Only if the same text exists in HTML elsewhere on the page. Use CSS overlays for SEO-friendly design.
Can Google read text in images?
Sometimes, using OCR, but it’s unreliable and not ideal for SEO. Always prefer real text.
How can I test if my website text is indexable?
Try selecting the text with your cursor. You can also use “View Source” or SEO audit tools.
What’s the best way to style text over images?
Use HTML for the text and CSS for positioning. Tailwind CSS is a great tool for this.
Do Thai web design agencies follow accessibility standards?
Not always. It’s best to ask them about WCAG compliance and test the site yourself using tools like Wave or Axe.
Conclusion
In a world where first impressions matter, it’s tempting to rely on image-heavy designs with beautifully embedded text. But if you’re serious about growing your business online—ranking well on Google, being accessible to all users, and providing fast, engaging experiences—you must avoid putting key content inside images.
By using semantic HTML, optimizing image usage, and working with an agency that understands SEO and accessibility, you’ll build a corporate website that doesn’t just look good—it performs.
Ready to launch a future-proof website? Ask your agency how they handle content structure before signing the contract.
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