XHTML validation and its importance
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used to render web pages. Similar to other languages, there is a definite set of rules and guidelines that should be followed with writing HMTL. HTML validation, meanwhile, is the process wherein an HTML document is analyzed if it follows HMTL rules. Through HTML validation, errors and non-standard codes are fixed and weeded out, and the output would be a quality page. An example of such standards could be found at http://www.w3.org/TM/html4/, where the HTML 4.01 Specification could be found. Check the HTML validation of your webpage at http://validator.w3.org by entering your URL on the site.
Nowadays however, website owners are scrambling to make their websites XHTML-compatible, since this is among the most important SEO feature today. There are multiple reasons as to why to create valid HTML and XHTML codes, such as the following:
• Website accessibility – by validating your html code, you can pinpoint errors and bugs that could prevent search engine spiders, and users from accessing your page. When a webpage is run through a code validator, it will find the errors in your code so you can fix them. Such an example is to include text with “alt” tags for every < img > tag.
o Doing so will allow your site to be accessible by a broader and larger audience, such as those who are vision impaired, cognitive impaired, and motor skill impaired, among many others;
o Running your code through a code validator will allow your site to be viewed by wider range of devices, such as handhelds, screen readers, text browsers, search engines, and others;
o Some of the errors might be requirements for Federal and State Government sites.
• Search engine friendly – having a simple and clean code will enable search engine robots to crawl through your webpages quickly and completely. An example is this code:
< p keyword1 sentence, well written copy, etc.
< p > keyword2 paragraph with more choice content.
The code is missing a “>”, therefore rendering the keyword 1 sentence useless since it would not be included in the search engine computations. When a spider finds a correct tag along the code, then it will include that tag, which means keyword 2 paragraph would be included. If your HTML code was run through a validator, then you will be able to fix a problem as simple as this.
• Faster loading – if there are many errors in your HTML code, then it will take longer loading time for search engine robots to browse through it. A page is deemed pointless if it takes too long to load, therefore slow loading time could result in your web page losing visitors.
• Less taxing for servers – if you have a clean and simple code, your server is handling lesser load than others, compared to sites that have tables or complicated codes. Use cascading style sheets (CSS) to reduce the amount of code in your web pages, as well as trim down the amount of web space and bandwidth used. This way, you will be able to save money for hosting your site.
• Easier to maintain and update – your website will be easier to maintain and update once your initial code is clean and simple. You will save time and money when maintaining your site, therefore enabling you to change the contents faster and easier.
• Compatible with all browsers – having validated code ensures that your page would run in all browsers. It might work well on one browser, but not on others. If your code is html compliant, then you will not have this problem.
• Getting wider scope – there’s no question about it: once a website is visible in all browsers, and is indexed properly by all search engines, then it would get a wider scope in terms of visitors. You will get more visitors and will get more sales with a larger number of audience.
With these obvious perks of having your html code validated, what is there to lose? You have everything to gain – from faster loading time to getting more visitors and sales. Get your html code validated now.
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used to render web pages. Similar to other languages, there is a definite set of rules and guidelines that should be followed with writing HMTL. HTML validation, meanwhile, is the process wherein an HTML document is analyzed if it follows HMTL rules. Through HTML validation, errors and non-standard codes are fixed and weeded out, and the output would be a quality page. An example of such standards could be found at http://www.w3.org/TM/html4/, where the HTML 4.01 Specification could be found. Check the HTML validation of your webpage at http://validator.w3.org by entering your URL on the site.
Nowadays however, website owners are scrambling to make their websites XHTML-compatible, since this is among the most important SEO feature today. There are multiple reasons as to why to create valid HTML and XHTML codes, such as the following:
Website accessibility – by validating your html code, you can pinpoint errors and bugs that could prevent search engine spiders, and users from accessing your page. When a webpage is run through a code validator, it will find the errors in your code so you can fix them. Such an example is to include text with “alt” tags for every < img > tag.
- Doing so will allow your site to be accessible by a broader and larger audience, such as those who are vision impaired, cognitive impaired, and motor skill impaired, among many others;
- Running your code through a code validator will allow your site to be viewed by wider range of devices, such as handhelds, screen readers, text browsers, search engines, and others;
- Some of the errors might be requirements for Federal and State Government sites.
Search engine friendly – having a simple and clean code will enable search engine robots to crawl through your webpages quickly and completely. An example is this code:
< p keyword1 sentence, well written copy, etc.
< p > keyword2 paragraph with more choice content.
The code is missing a “>”, therefore rendering the keyword 1 sentence useless since it would not be included in the search engine computations. When a spider finds a correct tag along the code, then it will include that tag, which means keyword 2 paragraph would be included. If your HTML code was run through a validator, then you will be able to fix a problem as simple as this.
Faster loading – if there are many errors in your HTML code, then it will take longer loading time for search engine robots to browse through it. A page is deemed pointless if it takes too long to load, therefore slow loading time could result in your web page losing visitors.
Less taxing for servers – if you have a clean and simple code, your server is handling lesser load than others, compared to sites that have tables or complicated codes. Use cascading style sheets (CSS) to reduce the amount of code in your web pages, as well as trim down the amount of web space and bandwidth used. This way, you will be able to save money for hosting your site.
Easier to maintain and update – your website will be easier to maintain and update once your initial code is clean and simple. You will save time and money when maintaining your site, therefore enabling you to change the contents faster and easier.
Compatible with all browsers – having validated code ensures that your page would run in all browsers. It might work well on one browser, but not on others. If your code is html compliant, then you will not have this problem.
Getting wider scope – there’s no question about it: once a website is visible in all browsers, and is indexed properly by all search engines, then it would get a wider scope in terms of visitors. You will get more visitors and will get more sales with a larger number of audiences.
With these obvious perks of having your html code validated, what is there to lose? You have everything to gain – from faster loading time to getting more visitors and sales. Get your html code validated now.
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August 25th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Validation is not as glamorous as, say graphical design, but I’d say it is just as if not more important. One issue preventing it from entering more widespread consciousness is that it is more technical in nature and, thus, causal bloggers don’t talk about it.