SEO Tycoon

**ADAM Web Design** · 09-08-2007, 06:34 PM

Yes, I know I posted this for LadyNRed, and it is outside of her normal queendom, but in this case the SEO issue in question does have a crossover into web design best practices.

Rather than go into detail, I'll post the link and let LNR pontificate (or if others want to, feel free):

http://searchengineland.com/070905-194221.php

Quote:

Some Official Guidelines
The W3C has guidelines (and here) in HTML 4.0 about meta data and search engines, while the XHTML specs don't get into it at all. Ignore the specs. YES, IGNORE THE SPECS. Some of them are wrong; some are outdated. The only thing I can see that they explain is the difference between these:

<meta name="keywords" content="bassett">
<meta name="keywords" content="bassett" />

See how the second tag ends /> rather than > in the first? As best I can tell, this is because a meta tag is an "empty element" in XHTML, where there's not a "start" and a "finish" (as with a paragraph element: <p> is the beginning, with </p> the end). Empty elements in XHTML need that /> format.

Floor's yours, Madame dans Rouge.

**ForrestCroce** · 09-11-2007, 04:07 AM

For SEO purposes it probably doesn't matter if you close your meta tags or not ... the search engines, and browsers, too, will assume they close themselves. Otherwise they make a funny looking tree...

I'd agree with the advice a paragraph or two down, to do it properly if you're starting from scratch, but to make validating "invisible" elements a lower priority. Most of the reasons you want your code to validate, like some hope of cross browser compatibility, don't matter as much with this.

Although I've noticed <script src="..." /> doesn't work.

**ForrestCroce** · 09-11-2007, 09:58 PM

I think I need to change my answer. Do a search and replace with wildcards <meta *> to <meta * /> or use regular expressions.

It really depends on what you want to do with your markup ... but if it validates as strict, it's XML, and you can use XSLT to replace your page template on the fly.

**ADAM Web Design** · 09-12-2007, 01:59 AM

No harm, no foul, Forrest. My major goal was to get LNR to pontificate, though, and I'll explain why after.

Come on, Diane, where are ya?

**LadynRed** · 04:36 PM

I'm here.. let me go read

.. I'll be back.

***Ok. Interesting read. I don't make a huge fuss over meta keywords on my pages any more, but I do try to include a few relevant keywords for each page.

As for the 'ignoring the specs' -- well, in the narrow confines of the article subject, I agree with Forrest, the SE's probably don't care much if the tag is actually closed properly in an XHTML document. I'm a stickler for validation so I do make sure all my tags are closed properly - even the meta tags. Adherence to web standards certainly has more impact for the REST of web page, at least IMO ( and other gurus).

The W3C specs are difficult to plow through, but I'd never completely ignore them, so in that context I'd say he's off track.

Now.. why'd you ask ?

**ADAM Web Design** · 09-12-2007, 05:46 PM

I just figured you'd go more postal than that, and on someone who so richly deserves it, about the 'ignoring the specs" part.

**Learning Newbie** · 06:22 PM

Now that's some really interesting stuff about the history of the keywords tag and it being unclear. And it's cool someone actually went out and did a test instead of just saying "get mo backlinkz".

But he tries to make the jump from that one meta tag never being standardized, to the whole standard doesn't work. And I have this add-in for FireFox, I can't even remember what it's called I have so many, but it says this here page doesn't validate, and that there are 19 errors. For example:

HTML Code:

 <ul style="float:left" >
        <div style="padding-left: 5px;">
            <li><a href="http://www.webmaster-talk.com">Forum Home</a></li>
         </div>
     </ul>

Div's not allowed there. Anyway, the point is, if the robots instance of the meta tag isn't standardized, everything else is so standard I can learn about problems I don't know from software audits.

**vangogh** · 09-12-2007, 09:42 PM

I think you're trying to read too much into this. I don't think Danny meant to ignore the specs completely. I think he's talking about the meta tag specifically.

And if you're talking seo specifically it's not that important to validate your code. It may be one day and there are still good reasons to write valid code, but seo isn't one of them. From an seo perspective it's important to write code that doesn't cause a spider to choke.

**LadynRed** · 09-12-2007, 10:36 PM

Sorry to disappoint, Adam

I think he was just referring to the meta tag, and not inferring that specs should be totally ignored

**Learning Newbie** · 09-14-2007, 05:10 PM

dere'z anuder spek kalled inglish u kin ignoor

**webgk.com** · 09-16-2007, 06:38 PM

I tried using meta tags for my blogger blog, which is using transitional xhtml 1.0 didn't accept it without '/'. or You can use it with a space [> </...>] something like this.

**vangogh** · 09-17-2007, 08:52 PM

xhtml will need the closing slash. Requiring closing tags or the single self enclosing tag is part of the requirement of the language.