Are W3C Validators too strict? Do errors create SEO problems?
-
I ran a HTML markup validation tool (http://validator.w3.org) on a website. There were 140+ errors and 40+ warnings. IT says "W3C Validators are overly strict and would deny many modern constructs that browsers and search engines understand."
What a browser can understand and display to visitors is one thing, but what search engines can read has everything to do with the code.
I ask this: If the search engine crawler is reading thru the code and comes upon an error like this:
…ext/javascript" src="javaScript/mainNavMenuTime-ios.js"> </script>');}
The element named above was found in a context where it is not allowed. This could mean that you have incorrectly nested elements -- such as a "style" element
in the "body" section instead of inside "head" -- or two elements that overlap (which is not allowed).
One common cause for this error is the use of XHTML syntax in HTML documents. Due to HTML's rules of implicitly closed elements, this error can create
cascading effects. For instance, using XHTML's "self-closing" tags for "meta" and "link" in the "head" section of a HTML document may cause the parser to infer
the end of the "head" section and the beginning of the "body" section (where "link" and "meta" are not allowed; hence the reported error).and this...
<code class="input">…t("?");document.write('>');}</code>
The element named above was found in a context where it is not allowed. This could mean that you have incorrectly nested elements -- such as a "style" element in the "body" section instead of inside "head" -- or two elements that overlap (which is not allowed).
One common cause for this error is the use of XHTML syntax in HTML documents. Due to HTML's rules of implicitly closed elements, this error can create cascading effects. For instance, using XHTML's "self-closing" tags for "meta" and "link" in the "head" section of a HTML document may cause the parser to infer the end of the "head" section and the beginning of the "body" section (where "link" and "meta" are not allowed; hence the reported error).
Does this mean that the crawlers don't know where the code ends and the body text begins; what it should be focusing on and not?
-
Google is a different case being run through the validator. I actually read an article on why google's site do not validate. The reason is that they send so much traffic, it actually saves them a good amount of money not closing tags that do not matter. Things like adding a self closing / to an img tag and the sorts.
While I do not think that validation is a ranking factor, I wouldn't totally dismiss it. It make code easier to maintain, and it has actually gotten me jobs before. Clients have actually ran my site through a validator before and hired me.
Plus funny little things work out too, someone tested my site on nibbler and it came back as one of the top 25 sites. I get a few hundred hits a day from it. I will take traffic any where I can get it.
-
I agree with Sheldon, and, just for perspective....try running http://www.google.com through the same w3c HTML validator. That should be an excellent illustration. A page with almost nothing on it, coded by the brilliant folks at Google still shows 23 errors and 4 warnings. I'd say not to obsess over this too much unless something is interfering with the rendering of the page or your page load speed.
Hope that helps!
Dana
-
Generally speaking, I would agree that validation is often too strict.
Google seems to handle this well, however. In fact, I seem to recall Matt C. once saying that the VAST majority of websites don't validate. I think he may have been talking strictly about HTML, though.
Validation isn't a ranking factor, of course, and most prevalent browsers will compensate for minor errors and render a page, regardless. So I really wouldn't be too concerned about validation just for validation's sake. As long as your pages render in most common browsers and neither page functionality nor user experience is adversely affected, I'd consider it a non-issue. As to whether a bot could be fooled into thinking the head had ended and the body had begun, I suppose it's possible, but I've never seen it happen, even with some absolutely horrible coding.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to stop UTM affecting SEO
Dear Moz community, We are a directory website and have lots and lots of UTM. This is crucial as we want to measure visits through Google analytics. Moz as a tool is fantastic because through a site crawl it can spot all our duplicate pages. Needless to say, due to the amount of UTM's on different pages, we have lots of duplicate pages flagged up. I ideal solution is still having the analytics capabilities of the UTM, but not affecting our SEO where search engines will realise it is not a duplicate page - we're aware it is the same page we just want to track the source! Your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks,
Technical SEO | | Eric_S
Eric0 -
How big is the problem: 404-errors as result of out of stock products?
We had a discussion about the importance of 404-errors as result of products which are out of stock. Of course this is not good, but what is the leverance in terms of importance: low-medium-high?
Technical SEO | | Digital-DMG0 -
Mobile SEO for mobile site
Hey there! I own a desktop website and just now finishe building a mobile site ( not a responsive design one) and I wish to start ranking my site on mobile serch result page. due to the automatic redirection from desktop website to the mobile site im confused: where should link to in order to SEO my mobile site? should i link to domin.com and assume the link juice is passing on? or should i link to m.domim.com?
Technical SEO | | logophone0 -
Help! Getting 5XX error
Keep getting a 5XX error and my site is obviously losing ranking, Asked the hoster. Nobody seems to know what is wrong. Site is www.monteverdetours.com I know this is probably an obvious problem and easy to fix but I don't know how to do it! Any comments will be greatly appreciated.
Technical SEO | | Llanero0 -
Client error 404
I have got a lot (100+) of 404´s. I got more the last time, so I rearranged the whole site. I even changed it from .php to .html. I have went to the web hotel to delete all of the .php files from the main server. Still, I got after yesterdays crawl 404´s on my (deleted) .php sites. There is also other links that has an error, but aren't there. Maybe those pages were there before the sites remodelling, but I don't think so because .html sites is also affected. How can this be happening?
Technical SEO | | mato0 -
Problem wth Crawling
Hello, I have a website http://digitaldiscovery.eu here in SEOmoz. Its strange since the last week SEOmoz is crawling only one page! And before it was crwaling all the pages. Whats happening? Help SEOmoz! :))
Technical SEO | | PedroM0 -
Domain Forwarding and SEO
I have looked around and only saw older and contradicting responses to this question but what effect does having a domain with VALUABLE-KEYWORD.com forward to MAINSITE.com or COMMON-MISSPELLING.com forward to MAINSITE.com in terms of SEO and is it considered spammy or looked down upon
Technical SEO | | treytt0 -
301 redirect .htaccess problem
Can anyone explain to me why this doesn't work? Redirect 301 /category/diamond-pendants/nstart/1/start/(.*) http://www.povada.com/category/pendants/nstart/1/start/$1 Im trying to replace everything after /start/ and insert it into the new url. Thanks in advance.
Technical SEO | | 13375auc30