rel="next" href="psge-2.html - Why would the browser read this tag?

[morestar]

So I haven't in all my days of being a web designer seen this attribute application of the header link tag:

<link rel="next" href="thecod.html" />

Have you?

According to this page about RDFa for HTML Authors one could add that piece of code to the header of their HTML document and tell the browser that page as one of a series of related pages.

Is this good for SEO or good for marketing? Who really reads this? In the paragraph in question it doesn't directly mention that the browser reads the value of the href value in link tag but that's what the header is for.

So what's the point of having that in a HTML file header?

[wige]

As far as I know, the only browser that processes rel other than stylesheets and nofollow is Opera, and that support is still fairly limited, mostly for copyright and index pages. Even though it is browser supported (by one browser) I have not seen much evidence that it is user supported (ie, users know the functionality exists and know how to use it). Personally, I wouldn't bother with this unless it gives you a specific benefit. Otherwise, I would wait until it is more widely accepted.

[SteveGerencser]

Just because the RDFa fanatics invent new tags doesn't mean that they will have any value, or usefulness, or anyone other than them will care about them.. I have always viewed RDFa as a group of people looking to create a solution for a problem that doesn't exist..

[morestar]

Well since we're going off topic with this I must say that if you care about your rankings on Google you will care about RDFa markup. Google has explicitly stated on their blog that it will be a ranking factor in the future. BestBuy, Yahoo and more all switched to RDFa markup.

With the roll-out of Google personalized search and Google's Real Time Search results, making sure our websites and their information are easily read by a broad variety of devices will become more and more important when it comes to online exposure.

That's just one facet of the benefits of RDFa markup.

Inescapable. You can run from it this year but in ten years you'll wish you didn't.

There was a time when this didn't matter...but that's changing. Accessibility.

P.S. Also that link wasn't discussing "rel="next" href="psge-2.html" in any detail or telling anyone to use it - it simply mentioned the tag attributes in the context of the rest of the document about RDFa markup.

@wige So I suppose if I really wanted to, and found a situation where it would benefit (internet browsers? users?) I could throw it in but you're right - there doesn't seem to be a benefit at all.

[chandrika]

Can only see it being useful to browsers if the content were readable like a book with one page following from another. In such a case I suppose it could be useful, for ebook readers maybe....its a longshot..

Actually come to think of it I have a use for it at the moment, where I have a page of content (an image gallery) and for size purposes it is spread over several pages, in the past search engines have spidered first section and put in results, but second page doesnt get spidered well, so in SE terms, I suppose they MIGHT take into account the content of following pages to put front page in the results...

So at the moment I have lots of relevant key phrases etc on second page, but the whole gallery is generally only showing in SE for search results of first page and based only on key phrases in that page, if putting that next tag would make the SE take into consideration the content of the adjoining pages, it would be good.

[wige]

Blog homepages that have an older> and newer< link would probably also benefit from the tag, as well as a few other special cases. But again, right now nothing uses it, and so personally I tend to be somewhat conservative with things like this, because the actual use when these tags finally are widely used may be different from the current suggested usage.

[morestar]

...very well...my question would be around wondering where any benefit would manifest in using the attributes...it can't be for SEO can it? The browser? In what way?

We know certain search engines read a lot of the header meta tags but in this case, if it would/is read would it indeed be for the search engines? It looks like it should be...

[Webnauts]

Just because the RDFa fanatics invent new tags doesn't mean that they will have any value, or usefulness, or anyone other than them will care about them.. I have always viewed RDFa as a group of people looking to create a solution for a problem that doesn't exist..

1. RDFa is a group of people looking to create a problem that does not exist? I hope you are not kidding buddy. And if you are not kidding, you are not aware of the Internet evolution called "Semantic Web". Are you still living in the past?

2. That link rel is not an RDFa attribute.

3. What does Google think about RDFa:

a. Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Help us make the web better: An update on Rich Snippets

b. Google Custom Search: Enabling Rich Snippets in Custom Search

c. Rich Snippets (structured data) - Webmasters/Site owners Help

d. YouTube - When will Rich Snippets become widely available? and about the tool he is talking about Webmaster Tools - Rich Snippets Testing Tool

e. YouTube - Specifying an image's license using RDFa

f. Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Supporting Facebook Share and RDFa for videos

f. Contact Us - Web Search Help

4. What does Yahoo think about RDFa?

a. SearchMonkey Support for RDFa Enabled (Yahoo! Developer Network Blog)

5. Ecommerce site proft from RDFa: 4. What does Yahoo think about RDFa?

a. Semantic Technology Blog: Online retail : How Best Buy is using Semantic Technology to define a new trend

Do not expect me to come back to this thread to defend my position, as I hope I am clear enough.

If some guys here are stuck in the last millenium, that is not my problem.

[Webnauts]

Just because the RDFa fanatics invent new tags doesn't mean that they will have any value, or usefulness, or anyone other than them will care about them.. I have always viewed RDFa as a group of people looking to create a solution for a problem that doesn't exist..

Just to make something clear here, the link relationship element and its attribute "next" has nothing to do with RDFa, but with the HTML 4.01 Specification, W3C Recommendation of the 24th December 1999.

Evidence? Links in HTML documents

I think you know HTML, or? So I think you should not blame the RDFa fanatics. OK?

Thanks.

[SteveGerencser]

Well since we're going off topic with this I must say that if you care about your rankings on Google you will care about RDFa markup. Google has explicitly stated on their blog that it will be a ranking factor in the future... ... ...

With the roll-out of Google personalized search and Google's Real Time Search results, making sure our websites and their information are easily read by a broad variety of devices will become more and more important when it comes to online exposure.

Inescapable. You can run from it this year but in ten years you'll wish you didn't.

Bolding and editing mine..

In the future it 'may' be a ranking factor.. Right now it isn't and therefore its extra work for no benefit.. So why waste time on it?? Learn about?? sure.. Plan for it?? Probably.. Actually waste time implementing it when you could be implementing things that are known to work right now?? Nope..

You obviously had your mind made up before you asked the question and were simply looking for validation.. Not getting any from me.. I'll spend my time on things that actually work now and just watch the rest of it with some interest..