I'm a designer turned coder working on a website for a friend who's a stonemason in Poland. Most of the tombstones he crafts feature heavy Catholic symbols and imagery like crosses and engravings. My wife, a journalist for a major outlet, mentioned that they avoid using any religious imagery in their online articles because of SEO concerns; she said Google tends to downrank content with religious visuals, even something like a church backdrop. I'm worried about this for the website. Should I consider removing or editing out these religious elements from the tombstones on the site? I feel it would be a disservice, especially since many designs prominently feature depictions of Jesus on the Cross.
2 Answers
I don't think there's a blanket ban on religious imagery. Something's off with what your wife’s outlet says. Maybe it's just a political correctness thing? Either way, I think your tombstones can be featured without concern—just look at the volume of similar images online!
Yeah, sometimes media outlets overly sanitize their content for fear of backlash. It shouldn’t impact your designs.
Honestly, your wife’s outlet might be erring on the side of caution. I doubt Google actively punishes sites for featuring religious imagery unless it's obviously hateful. If you search for "tombstones" in Google Images, you’ll see plenty with crosses and other religious symbols. Seems more like a misunderstanding than a hard and fast rule!
It makes sense. I've seen articles not show certain images due to sensitive content filters. There's a lot of gray area with platforms these days.
That's interesting! Could it be that they're worried about Google News specifically? They do have categories that restrict certain content, but it seems bizarre for standard SEO.
That might be it! Media outlets are often super cautious about not offending anyone. I'd still show the products as they are!