W3.org Validator Help

[links2see]

I had 26 errors when I checked my site using the The W3C Markup Validation Service website. I was able to fix 9 errors myself, but then decided to use the Clean up Markup with HTML Tidy code to get rid of the rest of the errors on my site. The only problem is when I did that I end up changing my site a little. Not that big of a deal. It ended up pushing my Google Search box to the far left instead of it being centered (in Firefox, IE is fine). Plus I still have 2 errors. What I really want to know is would 17 errors hurt my Google PR (or any other search traffic)? I've been working on this for 2 days and have no idea what I should do. Keep the current 2 errors and the minor cosmetic change or go back to my original design with the 17 errors.

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by links2see

What I really want to know is would 17 errors hurt my Google PR (or any other search traffic)?

well it depends on the errors, but overall invalid code does not stop you from ranking. Just check the validity of top ranking websites, they most all have errors.

[Big Juice]

If your page/site loads in all of the major browsers then don't worry about the W3 validation.

W3 validation is a vanity thing for tech geeks and if any geek was really concerned with vanity they wouldn't use pocket protectors, tape on their glasses, pants pulled up to their sunken chests and greasy hair, now would they???

[links2see]

Thank you all very much. It help my decision immensely!

[schachin]

I have directly asked a google engineer this question and no (exceptions are if it causes the spider to be redirected or unable to parse through the site) However, all errors are fixable and my experience is what you don't fix in stage one will become your worst headache in stage 5.... I always write code to validate.. it makes it lighter.. render in all engines correctly and helps people who have accessibility issues.. but that is me and I know I am stricter on myself than most..

so to answer your question no it won't have an affect, but do you want to put up invalid work?
Completely up to you which is most important..

Thanks!!

[DrTandem1]

Originally Posted by Big Juice

If your page/site loads in all of the major browsers then don't worry about the W3 validation.

W3 validation is a vanity thing for tech geeks and if any geek was really concerned with vanity they wouldn't use pocket protectors, tape on their glasses, pants pulled up to their sunken chests and greasy hair, now would they???

This is an incorrect statement. It depends on the error in question. For instance, if there is an error for a missing alt tag for an invisible spacer image, it really won't affect anything other than failing to validate. However, if the error is more serious like a missing closing tag, it could very well change the way the site appears on different browsers.

If avoiding code infractions are just for geeks, then I hope a geek built my house.

The fact is you should be able to get the design/layout you are seeking using valid code. It has nothing to do with vanity. It is simply taking pride in your work and doing the best you can to be sure that your site is cross-browser compatible. If I come across a validation error on a site I administer, I fix it, major or minor.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by Big Juice

If your page/site loads in all of the major browsers then don't worry about the W3 validation.

W3 validation is a vanity thing for tech geeks and if any geek was really concerned with vanity they wouldn't use pocket protectors, tape on their glasses, pants pulled up to their sunken chests and greasy hair, now would they???

And what is this Google guy talking about? http://www.webforumz.com/search-engi...t-html-and.htm

Do you mean with major browser Opera too? http://operawatch.com/news/2008/01/b...le-search.html

[links2see]

I'm not sure if we are allowed to put our site URL's on here but it would help me a lot if someone could tell me if any of the 17 errors I have are a major problem. Here's my site - Links2See.com My apologies if I'm not allowed to show my site, I'm not trying to do this for the hits. I just needed some help. Thank you very much everyone.

[datetopia]

The main html elements must be correct (title, links, bold, image alt) and in place so crawlers can get the required data from there. Crawlers are not W3C policemen that fine you for not obeying all rules. They just need to get some data from your website and they expect that to be stored there in a certain format.

[venividi]

Originally Posted by links2see

I'm not sure if we are allowed to put our site URL's on here but it would help me a lot if someone could tell me if any of the 17 errors I have are a major problem. Here's my site - Links2See.com My apologies if I'm not allowed to show my site, I'm not trying to do this for the hits. I just needed some help. Thank you very much everyone.

Two or three errors left you say ? Well I've used a validator software just to try. Unfortunately my Internet connection is rather slow today but I was able to see the results. Your 90 pages contain 6149 errors, I repeat, sixthousand, onehundred and fourtynine errors.

To note that most errors are repeats, such as, for instance:

- Invalid characters found in the 'href' attribute's value. Consider putting the value within quotes (all your a href's are without quotes)
or
- There must be a <!DOCTYPE> tag at the top of the page (if 'auto-detecting' then a best-fit <!DOCTYPE> will be used):

or where you have <TABLE BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#9999cc" BORDERCOLORDARK="blue" BORDER="3" CELLPADDING="5"> the error is:
- 'bordercolorlight' attribute is not valid for this tag. This happens to all your tables.

other errors include not closing tags for <CENTER> and the such.

Then we have link errors, such as on your first page, the link to iwanet (NOT FOUND)
ecc, ecc, ecc.

So you see, it is easy to accumulate 6149 errors because you have not used the right tools to build a 90-page site. Elementary errors like the above would not be possible if you had a good html processor or at least a sufficient knowledge of html.

If you want I can send you separately some pages of the report (not all the 90) so you can have an idea of the problem.
But I should suggest you get some good tools before venturing in a 90-page project.

Regards
Valeria

[Webnauts]

Here is a very useful free tool: CSE HTML Validator Lite - FREE HTML Editor and Syntax Checker

[wige]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

And what is this Google guy talking about? http://www.webforumz.com/search-engi...t-html-and.htm

I have seen this letter quoted a lot in discussions about whether or not Google wants valid code, but I don't see where the letter mentions validation at all. In fact, the letter only mentions two factors: clean code (which Google seems to be using more and more to refer to lightweight and readable code) and increasing the number of inbound links (surprisingly omitting any mention of relevance, only quality).

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by wige

I have seen this letter quoted a lot in discussions about whether or not Google wants valid code, but I don't see where the letter mentions validation at all. In fact, the letter only mentions two factors: clean code (which Google seems to be using more and more to refer to lightweight and readable code) and increasing the number of inbound links (surprisingly omitting any mention of relevance, only quality).

OK Wige. Let put this way. How can an uncle Joe who is building a site with Front Page tell which HTML errors can choke a bot or spoil rankings? Won't he be more safe if he would try to edit valid code?

I had a client who was getting validation errors because:

He had for a title tags <title=Hotel Whatever></title>.
He was not using "alt" attributes.
He had <td> tags before <tr> tags.
...and a lot more.

The pages still displayed in browsers.

Do you think those issues did not have a negative affect for his rankings?

[ericajoieake]

if your site created in php, then you have to check for the codes I'm sure there's something wrong with your code!

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by ericajoieake

if your site created in php, then you have to check for the codes I'm sure there's something wrong with your code!

The discussion is not about PHP parsing errors.

[links2see]

I wasn't referring to my whole site, just the main page. Plus I put back my old code so there are 17 errors right now. Thank you all for your help.