Hi guys, I was wondering if the value of a website might be modified by the way it is coded? Like could a XHTML website, following w3c standards, be sold a couple of bucks higher than a table layout written in old HMTL, hard to update and with a lot of redondant code? More generally, the question would be : Should I update my website to follow standards or would it be lost time? Thx in advance!
I don't think xhtml would get you more money, in fact it might get you less. Most people don't want to learn xhtml, despite the fact that it takes like, an hour, if you know html. They'll see your site is coded in something they don't use, and bid less, if at all. To get rid of the redundant code, just use a css stylesheet.
A site that is XHTML coded just means that it is the latest and greatest in SEO technology in the way that the search spiders read the site.....from a website owners point of view!! If your site's pages are well indexed and is gaing position and page rank then you LEAVE IT ALONE!!
A site, as with anything, is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it. There are validation nutters who would want every site they own to be fully compliant with the latest methodologies and as such will reduce the amount they will pay as they will deduct what they believe is the cost of updating the code and the risk of temporary seo damage. The main impact will be the indirect element on the basis that if it had been more compliant it may have had better organic positioning and therefore greater turnover and visitors.