How do you know if the code on your site is written properly?  How many of you have ever made a typo in a post or posted some bad grammar or a spelling mistake?  Well, developers do the same thing.  And sometimes they dont clean up their mistakes because they feel that if it displays in the browser no one will know and it must be alright.  Not so!  These mistakes, called "Validation Errors" are devastating to your site's ability to be searched by search engines and displayed uniformly across various browsers like Firefox, IE, Opera, Safari, etc.
 

1. As with all languages, there is a proper way to use it and an improper way to use it. Valid HTML is HTML that has been written in accordance with W3C and uses the correct syntax. Every industry has standards and the web deisgn/development industry is no different. W3C standards are the benchmark for web development. W3C developed these standards for cross browser compliance and general usability. Valid code is displayed properly and uniformly across popular browsers. Valid code is what search engines understand and will assist with SEO.

2. Search engines read text only. When you provide an engine with invalidated HTML you loose whatever text was inside the invalid tag. When you neglect to place alternative text in image or Flash tags, you lose the searchable value of that element. Basically, invalidated HTML can handicap your sites search ability which can greatly affect your sites Internet visibility and traffic.

Read also:HTML Validation: the hidden key to SEO

Read also:SEO Autopsy: see your site like Google does

How I love clean and precise code, code that is validated, and by validated I mean 0 errors, 0 warnings. Alas, as I surf the web, millions of sites fail that simple test. Now, not all sites can be warning free, single digit warnings on sites that contain Flash or use a canned CMS or pull content from other sites are acceptable, but simple sites bursting with warnings... my patience wears thin. For those developers that do not check or validate their code... shame on you. I attribute grossly invalidated code to negligence, ignorance and laziness.  If you used a developer for your site and it has more than 10 errors - call your designer up and make them fix them!

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C's mission is:

• To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web.

• To begin your quest for validation, simply look into the mirror and repeat with me, "I will validate my HTML today, I will validate my HTML today, I will validate my HTML today."

• Now, install a development tool (do not steal your tools - buy them!) with a built in validator or code sweeper. I personally use Homesite or Notepad++ (free).

• For code checks of your site, be sure to install a good browser based developers tool like Firefoxs Developers Tool Bar . It will display your HTML validation warnings and errors and notify you how to resolve them.

• Be sure to check how your site displays between popular browsers like IE6, IE7, Firefox, Safari, etc.

• Be sure to check how your site looks to a search engine. While RSSPieces uses our own toolset, we recommend Nuah and Widexl SEO analysis tools for checking page rank, keyword analysis, density and other SEO related metrics. Another tool I have recently come to love is IBP for SEO analysis and advice (it's around $200 but well worth the cost.)

Recently, a new client (Fortune 1000 packing company), who shall remain nameless for the time being, came to us with a problem. After paying $80,000 for a brand spankin new website developed by a well known competitor, they realized "we aint got no traffic and my new site sure do look funny in IE 6." (Please excuse the red-neck speak but I am entertaining with my best My Name is Earl gramatical stylings.) While looking at his brand new site, what to my wondering Firefox developer tool bar doth appear: tons of HTML validation errors and warnings, flash navigation and of course, seriously flawed SEO attempts.  I cant even fathom taking in 80 grand and providing a site that is not cross browser compatible, full of validation errors and non-existent in the keyword department. So, just because you pay a lot of money for a website doesnt mean you are getting a quality one.  The key to getting a quality site is knowing what to ask of your developer and how to check to see if he/she is doing it right.

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