September 4th, 2010 by Mike

There are all kinds of free SEO tools out there, just waiting for eager site owners to put them to use. Some of these are simpler than others, some more helpful than others. Some are sworn by, some are undiscovered gems. One absolute gem that isn’t often talked about is a code validation checker.

Code validation checkers are the unsung search engine optimisation tools heroes of the net. This is mostly because they are often the unused heroes of the net. If more sites bothered to validate their code, the internet would be a far more smooth-functioning place. The fact that it isn’t can be used to your advantage.

Why Does Code Need Validation?

As anyone who has worked with any HTML will know, code can be deceptively simple. A couple of characters here, a couple over there, and you can create a truly impressive page with all kinds of interesting elements. Unfortunately, all it takes is a couple of characters out of place for the whole thing to fall in a heap.

This is where code validation comes in. A validation checker runs through the code of a web page and highlights any problem areas. A good validation checker will tell you what kind of errors you have on your page, and give you a couple of warnings about what those errors can mean. The validator won’t provide a fix for your errors, though – there’s only so much you can expect from free SEO tools. The process of code validation is very simple, and the way it can help your site is simple as well.

Code validation is nothing new. The information technology industry has been using it for many years in order to test and check programs. Web designers and those otherwise involved in keeping the net operating have used it as well. Not a lot of site owners use validation checkers, though, which is why those sites that do can be at a significant advantage when it comes to the search engines.

How a Validation Checker Can Help Your Website

Code validation checkers are very useful search engine optimization tools because they encourage clear communication. It’s all about the way your site talks to the search engines. Think about it like a bad telephone line. If your site is talking to the search engines, but the static on the line means is getting in the way, this can mean that the search engines don’t understand what your message is. A simple, free check of your code, which will take mere seconds, can identify the problems you need to fix.

There are a number of great things about these kinds of SEO tools, the main one being that you can find validation checkers for free. Another great thing about validation checks is that the errors you correct could be impeding the way your site is shown on different browsers. In fixing your site’s code, and improving performance overall, you’re achieving far more for your site than a good place in the search engines.

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