Should we include our header logo in a sprite or leave it as a regular image?

[danatanseo]

We are combining the images in our header and footer into sprites. We noticed that when we include our header logo in the sprite, we lose the "alt" text associated with the header logo.

Is this undesirable? Would it be better to leave the logo in our header as an image with "alt" text?

Here's the link: http://www.ccisolutions.com

[BeardoCo]

I think its important to keep your logo as an image to keep your "alt text".  It really depends on what you are trying to achieve.  It sounds to me that you are trying to increase your speed optimization of your page which directly can affect your SEO.  If your site is optimized and you can keep your logo in as an image I would keep it.  If you making your logo into a sprite increases you page speed a lot and gives it a big boost in performance (highly doubt it) than do it.

[TakeshiYoung]

Like BeardCo says, there are benefits to both approaches. The only way to know for sure is to test it. ALT text does have some SEO benefit, but it's not going to make or break your rankings. My guess is it won't impact your rankings either way, but test and see what happens.

[danatanseo]

Thank you to you both. Agreed that testing is really the only way to know. I doubt that the pagespeed is going to be significantly impacted by the logo alone...but we won't know until we try it. Then we can decide which way to go.