»» HTML Validation

The W3C consortium defines valid HTML. They judge whether or not an HTML command or a piece of HTML code is legit--and search engines like legitimate code. However, browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer often understand and display HTML code that doesn't validate. Because your web page looks fine in your browser, you assume the HTML code is correct, but that is almost always not the case.

Popular web-page building programs such as FrontPage will often insert non-valid HTML. Even though browsers will often display this HTML correctly, it is not W3C-approved and, therefore, not search-engine friendly.

Validating HTML is a pain. In fact, it can make you want to tear out your hair and beat on the keyboard with a hammer--but it does help with SEO. To make the perfectly optimized page, your web page should validate.

To check if an individual web page validates, type the website address in the box below. Don't worry if your page doesn't validate right away. 99.9% of web pages out there will not validate the first time!

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»» W3C HTML Validator

Use the following tool to validate the HTML of your web pages.

      Address:
                     

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»» HTML References & Resources

• HTML & CSS Guide
• HyperText Markup Language Home Page
• Historical and Early Ideas for HTML
• HTML 4.01 Specification
• HTML 4.0 Specification
• HTML 3.2 Specification
• HTML 2.0
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

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»» HTML Validation Tools & HTML Editors

• Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
• HTML Kit (Full Featured HTML Editor)
• Web Page Backward Compatibility Viewer
• Page Valet
• W3C Tidy your HTML
• HTML Tidy Project
• HTMLTrim
• JTidy (Java Version of Tidy)
• Excel to Web Table Converter
• HTML Editor for the Mac

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»» About the Author

Sean Odom runs a Houston, Texas based SEO Consulting firm specializing in search
engine marketing and Social Media Optimization.