Why proper code is important for search engine optimisation?
Category: SEONot only the text content of a website influences the success in search engine optimisation. Proper coding enhances the chance of being found in Google and other search engines as well.
A website basically contains two different kinds of text: a) readable text content and b) code, which may not be visible for the user. The definition of a website is carried out by so-called HTML-tags. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), or XHTML, is not a programming language in its truest sense but describes the structure of a website. For example, the title of a website is embedded in <title>-tags or titles of text may have the <h1>-tag. <meta>-tags can be used to transport some hidden information to search engines and the <p>-tag is used to define paragraphs within a text block. The (X)HTML-tags are quite numerous but clearly laid out and provide the basic framework of a website and are just fort hat reason very important for search engines and search engine optimisation.
Search engines like Google, Yahoo or Search pay attention to the relevance of (X)HTML-tags. Search engine robots classify an text which is embedded in <h1>-tags (titles) as more important than a normal paragraph (<p>). Such imformation can be used by web designers and writers which may place certain key words within <h1>-tags to make them more relevant for search engines. Usually the tags are not made up by the writer but by the web designer or a content management system (CMS). The texter chooses only between title, subtitle, lead or common text. On modern websites all the tags are generated by a content management system. Therefore, when choosing a CMS make sure it creates a proper source code that is suitable for search engines. It has to be considered that the <alt>-tag can be included in graphic elements such as pictures to provide the search engine with more interesting informations.
How the source code is generated differs from CMS to CMS. In general the <table>-tags should be avoided because they do not correspond well to search engine robots and are a handicap for barrier-free web designs.
Are you interested in a free analysis of your website concerning search engine optimisation? Please contact us via e-mail or use our contact form.
