CSS and HTML Validation Worth It?

by Andyf
15 replies
Is it worth trying to clean up your code and get all of the HTML and CSS errors corrected?

I don't know if it really matters to web site rankings or not.

If it doesn't matter and it is just something thap code writers like to do, I'd rather not worry about errors here or there. I've seen sites with a zillion HTML errors and warnings, CSS too...and it doesn't matter...they still rank high. So, I don't want to waste time on a technical issue that only programmers care about.

Thanks!

Andyf
#css #html #validation #worth
  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Hey Andy

    If we're talking about HTML email then yes, you need to fix the errors.

    Spam filters will flag up some poor HTML as potential spam.

    Cheers,

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author nikolaaa
    Andyf,

    Valid HTML and CSS means that most of visitors with different browsers and computers will see you site without problems.

    With valid HTML you are showing to google that you care about your visitors.

    It's just small + and you get few point for ranking in google.
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    • Profile picture of the author ChrisJamesG
      Originally Posted by nikolaaa View Post

      Andyf,

      Valid HTML and CSS means that most of visitors with different browsers and computers will see you site without problems.
      Exactly. Some browsers iron out errors for you and still display the page correctly but some will follow your coding 'word-for-word' your errors can turn the page inside out and upside down for some visitors.

      It's also really good if your page is displayed with errors and you can't for the life of you spot where you're missing a </div>!
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  • Profile picture of the author WD Mino
    one thing I would add is with different code used in an html file there is going to be errors because it is not strict html I have my own site that I ran through w3c and it had some errors all due to the type of tags and codes used
    -WD
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyf
    Thanks for the answers...it's kind of what I figured.

    Main reason I ask is that I noticed when I embed a Youtube Video in a website that was perfectly clean...I get over 20 errors and 10 warnings, even though the page loooks good and the video plays well. I can find and fix those, but what is better, doing that or writing a couple of articles? I'm guessing the articles.

    I just wondered if worrying about perfect code is relatively meaningless.

    Thanks again,

    Andyf
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      Originally Posted by Andyf View Post

      I just wondered if worrying about perfect code is relatively meaningless.
      I do believe you've figured it out.

      You'll find tons of pages with sloppy and outdated HTML/CSS practices, such as tables and obsolete tags, that rank very well.

      In general you want to make sure that your page renders reasonably correctly, cleanly and quickly in Firefox, IE and Lynx (the bot view). Beyond that, it's not important except in scoring web design geek points.
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      • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
        Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

        In general you want to make sure that your page renders reasonably correctly, cleanly and quickly in Firefox, IE and Lynx (the bot view). Beyond that, it's not important except in scoring web design geek points.
        I'd add at least Chrome and Safari to that list - they are both based upon the Webkit engine and are very popular browsers. I also check my sites in Opera, and with all 3 versions (6, 7 & 8) of IE.

        Perfect XHTML code is certainly always the best best if you want to ensure that your site renders correctly for all of your users, however in the real world (such as with your YouTube example) it isn't always practical or indeed possible. But it does pay to at least make sure it works in the most common browsers.

        Bill
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        • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
          I'm using Google Page Speed Tool at the moment and it's flagging a lot of the HTML and CSS as not so good so it must be important. Thing is I have no idea how to fix the half of it LOL. Guess I needa find a really good theme designer for all my sites.
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        • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
          Originally Posted by mywebwork View Post

          I'd add at least Chrome and Safari to that list - they are both based upon the Webkit engine and are very popular browsers. I also check my sites in Opera, and with all 3 versions (6, 7 & 8) of IE.
          I think this is somewhat niche dependent.

          For a tech/web savvy niche, especially one where you expect to have non-US participants, yes, you probably to support those 3 as well.

          For a mostly US based hobby/service niche, 80%+ are going to be on IE. Plus, most of the visitors using other browsers will be other Internet Marketers checking you out.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
      Originally Posted by Andyf View Post

      Main reason I ask is that I noticed when I embed a Youtube Video in a website that was perfectly clean...I get over 20 errors and 10 warnings, even though the page loooks good and the video plays well.
      Just the embedding code used for a video will produce validation errors. So will most of the ads from advertisers like CB, Amazon etc. They don't worry at all about valid html etc. But these errors will not wreck the layout of your page, so personally I ignore them. Also, am not going to muck with some of the ads.

      I just put up a page recently that goes into a lot more detail, at Is valid code important? (just a wimpy little site)

      I have seen one site that didn't bother with the whole doctype declaration, and skipped the whole head. It is someone I really respect and when I ran his page through browsershots.org, it showed up correctly on more browsers than any page I have ever put together.

      If you do have a problem with the layout of a page not working, that is the best use of validators. They will often be able to pinpoint it for you.

      best wishes, lloyd
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    In IM it is more important to check that your site displays more or less correctly in different browsers.

    Unfortunately, even perfect (X)HTML code might be rendered differently by different browsers, so valid code doesn't mean automatically proper display in various browsers.

    If you sell design and web development services - I'd expect valid code on your site.
    If you sell gizmos to (web)geeks - you better have valid code
    If you sell info products to the MOO newbie crowd - forget about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stevie Scholar
    To be honest mate I would make a habit of validating and using the correct code anyway, I mean why make problems for yourself? Everything you do you should aim to do it right, it's not too hard and if it covers you from every angle.
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  • Profile picture of the author danalingga
    I think it worth to make your site have best looks in every web browser.
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  • Profile picture of the author KristiDaniels
    There are two opposing things to consider here...

    1) Valid HTML is MUCH more likely to work on many more platforms. Many people are now browsing on very obscure platforms including tiny netbooks, PDAs, gaming systems and cell phones. Validation is much more practical than trying to test on every possible platform.

    2) I got a little obsessed at one point and gave up some functionality that I knew worked on every major platform, but didn't validate. I noticed it being used on a major web-site, so I looked at their source code to see how they did it and stayed withing W3C validation rules. They did it the same way I had done in in the past (thiis was Google or Yahoo or Amazon or some other big player). I ran their site through the W3C validation tool just to be sure. It did NOT validation. In fact, no major web-site in the top 100 that I tried fully validated.

    Validation is a great first step and you WILL often notice a lower bounce rate, higher traffic counts from the search engines and a higher subscribe rate/activity rate on your site.

    But when it comes to being obsessive and giving up functionality that is in common use among the big players and supported by every major browser... just don't. It's not that important. If it was, then all of the major web-sites would validate. None of them do!
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