Comply often with web standards
Why often? Sometimes you should break a rule and surpass the standards if you want your web pages to be effective. These standards are set of rules recommended and sometimes enforced when developing websites. Examples of these standards are:
HTML compliance – Make every page comply with the HTML version you are using with consistency. We currently have HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.1. You must understand that both versions are different and should not be used together–just choose one. After making your page with proper HTML syntax, you may use this link to verify that your HTML is properly coded:
http://validator.w3.org/check/referer
Meta Tag compliance – Most search engines, crawlers and spiders ignore meta tags that aren’t written correctly. This can make your site out of their indexes. There are search engines today that don’t rely on and totally ignore meta tags; But still, it is a good practice to include those in every page of your site.
Image Optimization – Images should be optimized accordingly to make it load faster even in browsers running with slow internet connections. This includes dial-up and wireless connections. Also, including correct dimensions in <img> tags, stuffing title and alt properties will make search engines crawl your site seamless and faster.
CSS compliance – If you are using cascading style sheets, you should validate every line and comply with the CSS rules. This link will verify that your CSS is properly constructed:
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer
There are lots of standards to follow like banner sizes, ways on displaying links, hierarchy of categories/sections, content management, etc. After you have complied with all those in mind, you can be confident not only of your site’s visibility in search engines but also about your site being developed in a professional way. You can even tell your clients about those standards you did apply on their sites. This will make them trust your web professionalism and spread the word about your business.
