Does w3c compliance = search engine friendliness?

Hi folks. I have just recently started using W3c validators to correct errors in my code, and, well, because I'm starting to get a little anal. But I couldn't help but wonder if clean code was a factor in search engine optimization?

 

I don't think that W3C HTML Validated sites are given any boost. I wish... I'm pretty anal about that myself.

 

There was a test done the other day (can't find the link - it may have been on digg) that proved the exact opposite.

I never validate my sites and haven't ever had a problem.

 

I don't think w3c validation has much of an effect on SERPs. Just do a search with your favorite term on one of the SEs, and then run the code of the top sites through the validator - you'll find most of them have at least one or two errors.

Not a bad idea to be anal, though...

 

Some thoughts for you:

1. Google's home page does not validate... why should yours?

2. Non-valid code might make your site look/function better in some browsers (*cough*IE*cough*). That might get you a few more links.

3. Really bad code will probably mess up your visitors' experience and the SE bots. If you're not validating, make sure it's not too bad.

In short: validation is not the be all end all, but it's not something you can completely ignore.

 

Thats a very good point. I did not notice that before, i always thought sites like Google were validated!

BTW. yahoo is not valid markup, but MSN, is very close, it has just 2 errors!

 

clean html/xhtml mean the bots will have no problems fully indexing your pages.

 

and also validated means it's screen-reader friendly, something most people overlook.

 

Yes... all the search engines just love if they are properly formatted and w3c checked... well it doesn't make a much difference in the rankings there are various sites that rank very good without being w3c ... but well it may give an edge...

Manish

 

On the other hand, clean pages will load faster, and that means more revenue in many cases.

As for the search engines, propably it isn't so signficant, but some errors may cause lower results. Eg. if you forget to close an <H1> tag, could cause to be considered as search engine spam.

 

Validating makes the pages - Cleaner and Faster !!

Good for users and helps in traffic !!

Guess thats how it indirectly helps in Rankings !!

 

Every page of msn search is 100% w3c valid...

 

IMO

Google supposedly likes to help users find what they want. A user generally wants the information ... but fast. A user wants the site to work on their browser. Google like firefox (which is closer to a fully W3C browser than IE). So it seems to follow that they would reward good clean code that is W3C valid.

Plus G says that they want it to be (paraphrasing here) an accesible site that anyone can see. As was pointed out early, W3C valid code is screen reader acceptable.

I think the argument that many sites at the top aren't valid is not looking at the big picture. How many sites are completely validated? My guess is not many in the grand scheme of things. Of course un-validated sites are going to be at the top for a lot of search terms. Once W3C is used by more people then you will see them topping out above the other ones. Again thats all just IMHO.

 

THe very homepage of msn is not valid XHTML 1.0
http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http://www.msn.com/

 

Well only a few check there pages in W3c. That's the reason.

A W3C valid page is more important than the meta tags. Still it's just an onesite optimisation factor which isn't as important as the title or the the url.

Google want's to give their users validated pages that works in all browsers that follows W3Cs guidelines.

It's like directory submissions, it can't hurt

 

Exactly where I was going with it. Cept of course you were way more concise!

 

In case u failed to notice, I said msn search pages, not msn.com pages

 

I have two sites that I created at about the same time. One of wich I did a clean w3c validation, and the other I left with loads of errors. To be honest I can see any diference between the rankings. In fact the bad one appears to score higher most of the time.
My other blog

 

SOrry...my bad

I apologize for the misunderstanding

 

Its ok buddy dont embarrasse me now