Comments on: W3C Validation and SEO Benefits – My Opinion

By: Michael Walls

Michael Walls — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:01:00 +0000

It is virtually impossible to validate now with all the non-validating social widgets, snippets and other code strings – and even links.

I can make all my code validate in any DTD – but, outside code inserts screw the pooch. Bottom line is – if Google doesn’t care I am not going to lose sleep over it

By: Alison Harper

Alison Harper — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:12:36 +0000

The difference between warning and errors. Warning would not stop the page from rendering, as errors could.

By: Richard @ Web Design Leeds

Richard @ Web Design Leeds — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 01:58:16 +0000

My thinking is that Google’s robot works in a very similar way to a screen reader, and whilst most sites will show fine if the code doesn’t validate, they are more likely to work correctly if it does. So, likewise, a validating site is more likely to be read correctly by Google.

A validating site would also see that beneficial things such as alt tags for the images are in place.

That all said, I do believe that 70% of on-site SEO is merely choosing the right title tag. As such, I worry more about SEOs who damage the code (multiple h1 tags etc) and accessibility in favour of (often unproven) theories on what might help ranking.

By: twizzlebird

twizzlebird — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:45:14 +0000

I would generally always strive for validation unless there is a strong reason not to. Managing, updating and dealing with deprecation on sites that validate is always easier but sometimes page weight and other factors drive validation down the list of priorities. Generally if a page of mine doesn’t validate it’s for a specific reason

By: David Webb

David Webb — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:00:19 +0000

Good stuff – thanks,

David.

By: CCTV Equipment

CCTV Equipment — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:19:14 +0000

Nice article, good points, all of which i agree with.

By: W3 Online Schools

W3 Online Schools — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:49:42 +0000

nice articles
thanks

By: David Timmonds

David Timmonds — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:50:27 +0000

@Derek_UK The difference between warning and errors. Warning would not stop the page from rendering, as errors could.

By: Derek_UK

Derek_UK — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:22:57 +0000

What do you mean when you say ‘Validator error severity’, I don’t get it Excuse the noobness

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:08:58 +0000

Thanks for the comment. Everyione will have a different view on this and could write a book about the issue

I’m not saying all validation is wrong, I’m mainly talking about the small syntax errors that have minimal, if any effect on how a page is displayed.