Valid Code is simply good practice. I agree that it should not be sacrificed and any SEO worth his salt should be able to do his work without breaking the code.

How does any one know if valid code influences or doesnt influence serps? simple you dont.... and dont claim to know because well you dont know and there has been no studies done which prove it. Show me one, you cant...

That said any professional web designer would build his site valid, thats part of what separates the pros from the amateurs.

Dreamweaver absolutely will not break your code. If anything the newest Adobe version CS3 has all the tools you need to make absolutely sure you have valid portable code. It has a validator both HTML/XHTML and CSS built in and supports any doctype you can think of. In addition it puts very clean code when working in design mode.

However you should know how to code because th default code from any wysywig is bloated its just a fact of life. Its up to you to be able to know what properties to use in Design mode to make your code as small as possible.

If that matters to you... However it probobaly has nothing to do with SERPS.

As far as SEO goes if you hire an SEO definately hire one who knows how to code professionally.


Your client needs to take a look at the message her site is sending. It sounds like SEO wont help to me... Doesnt matter how many people come to your site if it has basic marketing problems it wont sell much.