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Some SEO Companies Don't Have A Website That's W3C Compliant!!!

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by gregdavidson, Dec 19, 2008.

  1. #1
    I was just searching through a list of seo companies and I checked their sites using the W3C validator to see if their website met W3C standards. I coudn't believe that a huge number of them had lots of errors!!! If these companies don't know the most basic thing about SEO, why should you hire them?
     
    gregdavidson, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  2. zexy

    zexy Guest

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    #2
    A lot of them don't rank for their main keywords. In my opinion that's even worse ;)
     
    zexy, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  3. JoX23

    JoX23 Peon

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    #3
    From my experience there are so many people trying to cash in on the SEO biz that have no clue what SEO really is. It does not surprise me at all that their sites are error filled because much of their SEO advice is as well.
     
    JoX23, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  4. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #4
    So true

    Here is what happens

    JoeSchmoe finds he ranks for the keyword term "i wish i was an seo" without the quotes due to article siubmissions and directory submissions.

    Suddenly JoeSchmoe thinks he can do SEO and goes out to find clients, who 9 out of 10, have no idea what SEO truly is, what a keyword that makes sense to use is, or that ranking for long tails is something most kids over 10 can do, and so they hire JoeSchmoe to do SEO.

    Joe knowing absolutely nothing but how to build shite links tries to rank Webmaster casinoGames for the keyword "casino games" (without quotes).
    The lousy cheap artifical link building hurts the webmasters site as opposed to helping however by this time JoeSchmoe has had the clients funds for so long there won't be a refund.

    WebmasterCasinoGames then goes on to have an open hostility to SEO and will try to make the next SEO they hire jump through hoops and want guaranteed rankings..

    Thats the sad sad story of SEO and idiots running loose.

    Unfortunately SEO is akin to being a Lawyer, and hopefully soon one will need accredition from recognized learning institutes before they can add the title SEO to their name......

    ^^

    Dubois isn't too far....I could sell my $250,000.00 home and buy a few there eh???

    Can I ride my ATVs close by??

    :D
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  5. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #5
    Matt Cutts says...

    "Should You Optimize for Search Engines or Users & Code Validation?

    Both are important, but they are not mutually exclusive. SEO brings visitors. User optimization ensures conversion.

    Validation is not necessary. Compelling content is more important than validation. But having valid code may be another reason some other webmasters may be willing to link at your site."

    I suppose it is Google's theory that because there are so many web sites that are not built to W3C specs it would be difficult to punish a site's rankings because of their errors in code. He speaks as if Google sees them as two different things, with separate agendas. SEO and good content for ranking, and code validation for the user experience.

    I will be the first to admit that my sites throw up errors; but we have stellar rankings. I am a novice at best when it comes to that part of web design. Realizing, however, that one day that compliance may be a requirement for a site to gain and maintain rankings, I have considered making our sites compliant next year. We have six, so that would be a bit of an undertaking, but I hope to find the time to learn and perform the necessary changes.

    I built them all years ago, and was never aware of compliance until a couple of years ago. But when we saw that it didn't tend to hurt our rankings, and we've never had a complaint from a client saying they can't view our site, we let it slide...choosing to build the content rather than correct the code.
     
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
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  6. gregdavidson

    gregdavidson Well-Known Member

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    #6
    I'm just curious, where exactly did you get that from. Also, some say that Yahoo looks at W3C compliance more than Google does. Yahoo is the second major player in the search engine market and should not be ignored.
     
    gregdavidson, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  7. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #7
    Oh my thats a puppet working for the giant of propaganda....:eek: he couldn't tell the truth if he wanted.

    There are often exceptions to the rule as you have noted.

    Let me try to explain why coding to W3C spec is a good idea.

    When building a world class meal ... a Chef would not leave out a very important ingredient, because the meal tastes good without it....

    Also when optimizing for upper results for high competition keywords, one needs to complete a higher percentage of SEO steps than the competitors.

    If the competitor solve 75% of the algorithm to get the first position... then one needs to solve 76% to rank better.

    Another reason why it is a good idea to code to W3C spec is the fact poor html coding can trap the crawler bots in errors, and the pages are not fully indexed as the spider will leave if it can't crawl the page.

    Hope this helps!:)
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  8. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #8
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  9. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #9
    Oh, I am not confused as to why WC3 compliance is a good idea at all. I just said I wasn't always aware of it.:)

    That said, I do keep check on my sites in Webmaster tools, and to this point have never had a crawl error on any of my sites. I am on top of the situation. Now, whether I will have the time to follow through as I would hope, is another question all together.
     
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  10. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #10
    Hmmm

    Are you referring to the site in your sig link?

    If so you rank well not because of proper SEO... its simply due to the fact your keyword matches your domain name.

    It is what is known as must rank....domain owner must rank for the keyword phrase, in order for Google to be the most relevant search engine.

    Try any brand name search and you will see non optimized sites come up # 1

    ;)
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  11. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #11
    My friend, I am not only referring to the site in my signature. All 5 of our web sites perform very well in Yahoo! rankings. The web site in the #3 and #4 position, aluminum-rails.com, is also ours...as well as 4 others that rank for various key terms. That site does not rank by default due to its domain name. I work hard at ranking our sites.

    We receive about 3,000 unique visits to our site each month from organic rankings alone.

    I'll thank you kindly not to knock my SEO skills. I didn't say I am an expert, but I get the job done for my company, and am always working to improve.
     
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  12. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #12
    Actually my post have nothing to do with you specifically or whether you have any SEO skills whatsoever.

    The purpose here in the forum is to teach others here what is the proper thing to do, not what someone else does is right way.

    Taking shortcuts can help some yes...No argument from me.....but the point is to show others the right way to do things.

    Peace!
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  13. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #13
    I beg to differ about the nature of this post. You chose to critique my skills - or lack thereof. This was not about wanting to educate anyone about the proper thing to do.;)

    Now, the posts before that, maybe so.

    I have basically agreed with the W3C compliance issue from the start. I was just stating my own personal experience with it.

    I will say it again. I think it's a good idea, and I plan to work on my sites' compliance in the coming year for that reason.

    I agree it is not always fruitful to take shortcuts; and most of the time it is counter-productive. I just built the sites as I knew how at the time, with complete ignorance to what W3C compliance even is.

    I was fortunate enough to work with a true pioneer of SEO (and his wife) a few years back. He taught me the value of original, relevant content, and how to produce it. Once he got me on-task with that, he developed and made the site compliant, but I had no idea what his job really was until later. And, by the way, he doesn't feel that my sites are 'non-optimized' at all. I still bounce ideas off him from time to time, and he still says, 'keep the content coming'.

    I am just doing what I know for now, but am eager to learn about becoming compliant.

    Peace!;)
     
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  14. Tara33

    Tara33 Peon

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    #14
    Which code validator tool do you guys use? I just found this one: http://validator.w3.org/

    Will this give me sufficient results as to what needs to be done to my sites, or should I explore further?

    Thanks!
     
    Tara33, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  15. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #15
    That is the only one to use since the goal is to validate to W3C.org spec.

    Be well!!!
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  16. snowbird

    snowbird Notable Member

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    #16
    I would agree that validation is important for SEO to eliminate crawl errors. But quite honestly many top ranking sites miserably fail validation. Even some of the Web's top Websites fail validation (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Adobe, etc.).

    Just because a site fails validation does not mean their SEO will be hurt. As long as the SE bots can crawl the sites, they are forgiving when it comes to the use of valid markup. Extreme cases would be the exception.
     
    snowbird, Dec 19, 2008 IP
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  17. agtile

    agtile Active Member

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    #17
    If i had a writing talent,which i obviously don't, many people would come to my website to read regardless the W3C code errors.
    There was a rumor i heard few years ago, that the sites validating 100% are a sign of being optimized by an seo expert, therefore are not naturally build sort of speak and in effect their rankings are discounted.
    Now, whether that was true or not that is a different story. I am just saying that not every owner of the website has a skills to optimize it.
    But that does not mean that the internet is only for those who validate :D
    Peace!
     
    agtile, Dec 19, 2008 IP
  18. FightRice

    FightRice Peon

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    #18
    w3c compliance is about near the bottom of my list when it comes to SEO
     
    FightRice, Dec 19, 2008 IP
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  19. jg123

    jg123 Notable Member

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    #19
    Agreed, validation does not mean anything for SEO or ranking.
     
    jg123, Dec 19, 2008 IP
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  20. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #20
    That is an rumor probably set out by Matt Cutts

    I have some sites that are 100% validated, rank in # 1 position for years and are targeting two word keyword terms in English. Those sites are mostly all content ....no bells and whistles to worry about so not hard to accomplish.

    However I will say in the past two years or so it has been almost impossible to validate sites to 100% but my feeling is as much as can be done is great.

    Another reason I use it is to see just how many errors the coding has.

    Often I have clients bring me sites that were built by others..and some are so terrible in coding that the client has seen marked improvement in pages indexed and if for nothing other than that, its worth the time just to check.
     
    Sem-Advance, Dec 19, 2008 IP
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