What are Image Maps?
Using HTML <map> and <area> tags, image maps partition a single graphic into several clickable parts for different links, enhancing user engagement during navigation. Further, search engine bots are able to crawl and interpret those links, which is beneficial for SEO optimization. Marketers can enhance site exposure without compromising design by enabling spiders to “read” these areas.
A textbook example is an e-commerce homepage featuring a product diagram that is hyperlinked to its specifications or a travel web page that depicts a map with clickable regions of cities linking to the corresponding guides.
Related terms: client-side image map, server-side image map, <map> tag, <area> tag, interactive graphic.