html code validator

[theRKF]

I just checked our sites:

www.summerlandflowersandgifts.com
20 errors, 6 warnings
www.summerlandflowers.ca
130 errors, 52 warnings

I have no idea what it all means...or how to fix 'em.

Really, it means very little. Valid code doesn't mean that you will rank higher. Google has stated publicly, and in direct conversations I've had with Google staff, that valid vs invalid code doesn't make a difference - as long as the errors are not severe enough to keep the bots from crawling the site.

I've seen some SERIOUSLY borked-up sites that rank just fine.

Let's check some of the top ranked sites:

• Top sites for "Viagra"
  • 279 errors, 59 warnings
  • 8, 2
  • 665, 615
• Top sites for "Sex"
  • 65, 35
  • 32, 10
  • 1278, 1180
• Top sites for "Online Gambling"
  • 117, 24
  • 78, 20
  • 38, 7

*It should be noted that the sites with lower error numbers are using the much less restrictive, yet still perfectly acceptable, HTML 4.01 Transitional format instead of the ultra-tight and unnecessary XHTML Strict.

Trust me ... porn, pills & casinos (the other "ppc" of online marketing) are much more competitive than flowers.

Ryan

 

[bloomz]

The validator makes me chuckle. I ran my Media99 site the other day, it had 25 errors. My wedding website (built in that "crappy, much hated" program FrontPage) had just 5, built by a non pro (me) :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

you mean that old fashioned Front Page? :rofl:

And, given that this beatch sticks it to bloomz in serps regularly without lifting a finger just cheeses me to no end as well.

I bust ass to get a listing for a particular keyword phrase and guess who's there right beside me?

And it's been this way for years.

I think it's all voodoo. :nod: This is what I'm gonna start studying

 

[Mac]

Hi Cathy:

I've been thinking about Ryan's review of A Vanity Fair Florist on and off for quite some time. I think my comments are inline with the topic at hand and much of the spirit found in his review.

As you may be aware, I respect your thoughts and will always consider your concerns as important.

 

[Erlene]

And, given that this beatch sticks it to bloomz in serps regularly without lifting a finger just cheeses me to no end as well.

I bust ass to get a listing for a particular keyword phrase and guess who's there right beside me?

And it's been this way for years.

So sorry.....you know every thing they say about that beatch is true don't you?

 

[bloomz]

Did someone say valid code isn't important?

No I must be hallucinating again.

Matt Cutts recent comment on ranking (could be subterfuge you never know with him):

Cutts said, "I'm not sure I would say ranking is dead but it's not as important as it used to be. The fact is the smart SEOs are not just necessarily looking at the rankings. They are looking at conversion, they are looking at their server log. It's great if you're ranking for a phrase but unless that leads to sales that doesn't help you very much."
"The challenge is not to pay so much attention to ranking, pay attention to traffic, pay attention to conversions and keep building good content and don't worry about 'can I show people that I rank number one for my trophy phrase.'"

 

[bloomz]

I got to wondering since several people asked what does this mean and what can you do about it so I searched on why to validate your code I found an interesting term

WYSINWOG - "What you see is not what others get" - never heard that before.

Here's a couple good articles on code validation

http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol6/html_no20.htm

http://www.searchenginepromotionhelp.com/m/articles/search-engine-problems/why-validate-html.php

and a bunch more stuff on it

http://www.google.com/search?q=why+...s:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7

Clean code is growing in importance with less browser correction and more strict standards compliance being more commonplace. I see Bruce Clay recommends using the w3c validator as well.

Bad code is extremely common - one study back in 2001 showed 99% of 2 miillion sites tested had bad code. This is likely why code error correction was built into IE.

I used to think it was not at all important when Internet Explorer showed 95+% usage in my stat logs but nowadays - wow - I just checked and am floored to see that IE shows as less than 75% usage. Stricter browsers are becoming way more common (I still use IE - but I'm a dinosaur)

Interesting stuff - back to work and thanks for the red dot Ryan. Will reciprocate.

 

[Mac]

Interesting stuff - back to work and thanks for the red dot Ryan. Will reciprocate.

That's odd Bloomz, I received a couple of green dots during that same conversation. I thought the whole thread was useful.

 

[ivygreen]

That's odd Bloomz, I received a couple of green dots during that same conversation. I thought the whole thread was useful.

The usefulness of this thread seems to vary on different levels. Strictly on the discussion of code errors, and validation, I would think it could have great merit.

As a pi$$ing contest with lots of innuendo the merits are not so much. JMHO

 

[LJVF]

Just for the heck of it, I ran Google through the validator, it came up with 69 errors and 11 warnings.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Jon,
Thanks for the Validator tool. I ran our site & have a few errors.

I appreciate the above references also. Helps me to understand this stuff better. Hoping to make some real headway before I get too old!

Regards,
Cheryl

 

[Queen of Weddings]

I am so confused, I just did one of our, and heavens it was way out there on problem, I just don't get, I rank preety high on search engines with key words and such,,,I am a ditz when it comes to this stuff....That guy better start feeling better, cause if what I saw, is scary...

 

[theRKF]

Just for the heck of it, I ran Google through the validator, it came up with 69 errors and 11 warnings.

In the just for fun category:

Top ranking sites for "SEO"
seochat.com - 251
seobook.com - 141 errors
seomoz.org - 22 errors
submitexpress.com - 300 errors
searchenginestrategies.com - 116 errors
sphinn.com - 144 errors
wolf-howl.com - 297 errors
and ...
mattcutts.com/blog - 42 errors

But ... those guys don't know anything about SEO

 

[bloomz]

Well then just for fun - this is a good statement that "seo's" focus too much on SEO and not enough on good design and usability and proper syntax. SEO is just one part of Web design and promotion. (Hence that quote from Matt Cutts I got the red dot over, which is totally relevant to the topic at hand). Write good content and make relevant web pages and you simply won't need SEO as this is SEO in its purest form.

I'm sure there's a good analogy here about some fantastic floral designers ignoring important aspects like freshness or good mechanics, yeah?

A couple quotes:

Why do many webmasters - who are so meticulous about every other aspect of design - ignore one of the basic components of a good Web site? Many just don't how important valid HTML code is to both page display and site promotion

A good search engine ranking for a popular keyword is worth gold. Don't take unnecessary risks by taking shortcuts that could cost you a top position. If you worry about your search engine ranking, make code validation your final step before publishing your page.

(emphasis theirs)


Case in point and lest I give the impression my shiit don't stink - I discovered last night that on a small site I recently built for a friend - I mistakenly used a / in the wrong place in the robots.txt file and caused google to de-list the entire site. I fixed it last night and am now waiting for them to update. I should have tested the code, yeah?

Given the simple tools available (html tidy will even re-write your code for you - free) there's simply no good excuse for ignoring such an important part of web design, no matter how many others ignore it.

Ya know - I spend countless hours reading those seo forums and blogs too, and my opinion of it is that about 90% of it is baloney you're told to get you to buy the services of the writer. You gotta do a lot of reading to glean the real stuff, and when it gets down to the real stuff...?

Well it convinces me of something a respected knowledgeable web designer friend of mine said about SEO -

"It's all voodoo and everyone's a Priestess".