| A lot of clients ask why they need their 'already | | | | being found for the most appropriate searches * |
| working perfectly well' website validated. Below is a | | | | 3) Accessibility |
| brief guide to try and answer this in a clear and | | | | Validating a site requires the use of many accessibility |
| simple way. | | | | techniques such as the use of ALT tag on images. |
| Firstly we should explain what is meant by a validated | | | | Steps such as these make your site more readable |
| website. | | | | for those users who are vision, motor skilled or |
| Put simply, validation is the act of writing a website in | | | | cognitively impaired. Validation makes the site |
| as 'clean' a way as possible and testing it against | | | | readable as it allows aids such as screen readers to |
| industry standards. It makes use of cascading style | | | | read through your site correctly. Although validation is |
| sheets (CSS) to format the page layout and text | | | | not in any way a guarantee that your site is |
| and also cleans up any 'loose coding' which could | | | | accessible, it is a huge leap towards this and far |
| otherwise cause problems. | | | | superior to an unvalidated site. |
| For a further description we refer to an excerpt | | | | 4) Faster loading |
| from the wc3 website as they are the last word | | | | Conventional websites made use of tables and an |
| when it comes to validation! | | | | extensive amount of tags for formatting both the |
| Validation is a process of checking your documents | | | | page structure and content. The use of CSS |
| against a formal Standard, such as those published by | | | | separates the structure from the content and gives |
| the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for HTML | | | | the browsers less code to trawl through before they |
| and XML-derived Web document types. It serves a | | | | can successfully render the page. Validation also aids |
| similar purpose to spell checking and proofreading for | | | | the browser in displaying the site faster as there is |
| grammar and syntax, but is much more precise and | | | | no 'loose coding' for the browser to get tangled up in |
| reliable than any of those processes because it is | | | | or waste time trying to 'fix'. |
| dealing with precisely-specified machine languages, not | | | | So where does this leave you? |
| with nebulously-defined human natural language. | | | | Firstly you might like to check your current site for |
| The Benefits of Validating your website. | | | | validation (see the steps below). |
| 1) Compatibility | | | | Secondly, decide whether validation is something that |
| When your website code is not validated you are | | | | you feel you should be concerned with but please |
| running the risk of your site displaying unpredictably in | | | | bear in mind that you now have a legal obligation to |
| different browsers. For example, Internet Explorer is | | | | have an accessible website * |
| more forgiving and likely to internally fix small | | | | Thirdly, enlist the help of a professional SEO company |
| amounts of 'loose coding' whereas stricter browsers | | | | to review your website and carry out necessary |
| such as Mozilla Firefox and Safari will display a page | | | | alterations. In some cases you may be cheaper |
| as it is coded. Validation makes the code uniform and | | | | having your website completely rebuilt rather than |
| means you will not have an unprofessional and | | | | trying to fix the current errors but don't let this put |
| unpredictable looking website or risk alienating certain | | | | you off. Look upon it as an opportunity to spruce up |
| users who don't use Internet Explorer! | | | | your existing site and start afresh! |
| 2) Search Engine Optimisation | | | | How to validate your website using Validation Tools: |
| A website that is 'clean' is far easier for the search | | | | 1. Go to the W3C validator website |
| engines (Google, Yahoo etc) to 'read through' and | | | | 2. Type in the URL of your website |
| index. The easier they can do this the easier it is for | | | | 3. Hit the check button |
| them to find the real meat of your site i.e the | | | | 4. You will be presented with a list of results. If your |
| content. The other point to make here is that if your | | | | site validates then you can relax for now if it doesn't |
| site isn't validated it is possible for search engines to | | | | then maybe you want to enlist in the help of a |
| place greater emphasis on the wrong part of your | | | | professional search engine optimisation company such |
| code and your site could therefore be missing out on | | | | as ourselves! |