CSS Spirtes vs. Image Keywords

[jlizarraga]

Hi all,

In pretty much any guide to optimizing your images for the web, you will find CSS sprites and keyword-rich image naming as two of the tips.

I have a menubar with 8 separate rollover sprites. I've given them keywordy names like "san-diego-chevrolet-parts.jpg" and so on.

What do you guys think is better in this situation: Having the 8 sprites with SEO-friendly keyword-ness, or reducing it all to 1 HTTP request with one big sprite?

[Medyman]

100% reducing the HTTP requests. If you're doing it in an accessible way, those image file names will only be in your CSS files which aren't going to do much for your SE rankings.