Use sIFR for Your Titles
We have all cursed the "standard" web fonts -- why do we have to keep using Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana when there are thousands of possibilities out there?Well, now you can with a new technology called Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR). This technique uses JavaScript, Flash, and CSS to create text from any font.
Although the effect is cool, there are some downsides to the technique. For one, it involves many steps including generating the .swf file, creating the JavaScript files, creating the CSS, including it in your web page, etc. It is not complicated though, and the average website designer should be able to pick up on it quite quickly.
Another downside is that because it is Flash-based and uses JavaScript, it is possible that some browsers won't display it if the visitors have these disabled. But that number is getting fewer and fewer all the time. Those who can't see it will get the standard fonts anyway and will never realize what they are missing.
Lastly, the technique is also a resource hog. You can use it sparingly; for example, with headers and not worry too much about download times. But most people recommend that you stick to the system fonts with body text, or your server will slow right down.
Now for the gray area. We have heard from several sources that sIFR is perfectly fine for SEO because the "text" is still there and readable by search engines -- it's simply converted into Flash. But there has been some concern that Google may see this, or may in the future see this, as a form of hiding the text. We have found nothing from Matt Cutts, generally the source on Google, that confirms or denies this. However most, including sIFR guru Mike Davidson, say that they have not seen any penalization.
This is not a perfect solution, and there will likely be better ways to do this in the future. But for now it is an easy way to spruce up your titles AND keep your header text intact.
There is tons of information on the Internet about sIFR, but you can find out more including a sIFR Generator (saves you from using Flash) here.
Happy sIFR-ing!
The DMXReady Team
