What is source code?

In most of the internet browsers you have the option to view a page in the code it was written, source code in other words. Seeing the sourced code in this way is helpful to those who are either learning to code or for those who need to see a good example on how to code their pages in a way that will ensure optimum Search Engine Optimisation.

Viewing others source code helps figure out how a table or column should look or use it as an aid to help construct links. It is quite common for webmasters or web builders to design their pages using the same source code that has been used on successful websites. A word of caution though, don’t copy graphics from other source code on other websites unless you know they are free to use, or you might fall under the heading of being guilt of plagiarism. Source code should be used as medium to learn, not a medium to copy.

Source code surrounds hyperlinks or action words with code instructions in the form of symbols, for example <> or “”, these symbols make it easy to upload information onto an internet site. Word processing programs are not appropriate for writing source code as they do not recognise some of the symbols. But there are also programs available that eliminate the necessity of having to know source code.

Why is valid source code important in Search Engine Optimisation?

For one thing it is imperative to test your web pages in a browser. Testing will bring your attention to any mistakes you made in your coding. Errors in coding will cause errors in browsers and may be overlooked if they are small and because they do not affect how our web pages are displayed on your browser.

Even small errors in your source code won’t kill your search engine rankings, but they won’t make your pages more visible to search engine spiders and this is what will affect your SEO campaign. If browsers are full of errors, effective SEO is at stake.

Validating Source Code for optimum SEO

You can see how even small errors in your source code can be costly to Search Engine Optimisation; hence it is imperative to validate your source does and this means adopting W3C. W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium and it is they who set the standards and specification that are supported by browsers. W3C can supply the necessary tools needed for validating source code

The main reason for validating your source code is the impact it has on a search engine spiders, or web bots. A spider’s responsibility is to crawl and index web pages and their content. While spiders are a form of toned down browser, the difference is that their focus is not on displaying content, their focus is more intent on recognising content. Spiders look at the same source code a browser does but the difference is one of functionality. Valid source code in website construction will have an impact on optimising your site for the benefit of search engines spiders.

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