Comments on: How Much Does Semantic HTML Structure Matter for SEO?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:27:16 +0000

@Ann You hit the nail on the head: there is no SEO magic bullet, so doing everything you can to make your site for SEF should be done (in order of important of course). I would say creating quality content that people actually want to see if the most important, even more so than getting inbound links. Create the content and the links will come. Keywords are least important if you’re only optimizing for Google. Google ignores them completely and Matt Cutts has made that clear. But I know that least Yahoo still considers them.

By: Jarlo Solde

Jarlo Solde — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:30:38 +0000

This is just plain stupid.

By: Gry

Gry — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:56:52 +0000

I really believe that propper html structure of teh page can not affect the position of this page in Google search results signifficantly. But since it does not cost much to keep the pages structured well, why not to ?

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:21:26 +0000

Using the free validation tool provided by the W3C is also helpful in making sure everything is kosher.

By: Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:11:13 +0000

I agree with @Shalom and @Mike. Regardless of whether or not validated code will result in slightly higher rankings, why WOULDN’T somebody strive to build sites that follow basic web standards? They are standards for a reason, because it makes websites easier for humans to use (accessibility, UX, usability, etc). Take care of those things and much of the rest will take care of itself.

I, too, will be interested in your test findings though.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:41:27 +0000

I’ve always pondered this same question. I spend a lot of time making sure everything is correct, when the sloppiest pages seem to do just as well. I think it comes down to control. I can make sure my pages are validated, so even if that gives me a half a percent boost, I will do it because I can. (Where I can’t control exactly how Google ranks)

By: Shalom Issenberg

Shalom Issenberg — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:23:40 +0000

Coding a site well is good for many reasons, but has little to do with SEO.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:49:43 +0000

I’m quite certain Google simply checks for at most 1 H1 header, and any subset of H2-H6 headers (making sure they are nested correctly isn’t too hard to parse). If the site follows those rules then it will score better…it’s not too hard to do and is probably a reward to sites that utilize good HTML documentation practices.

By: Mike at Seo Web design services

Mike at Seo Web design services — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:13:34 +0000

I don’t believe it effects your rankings and if it does it is not a huge factor.

It is googles job to provide the most relevant info which it feels is best and wether someone uses the same header tags everywhere should not majorly effect their rankings.

By: Ann Smarty

Ann Smarty — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:41:45 +0000

@Canvas Art, actually, I believe everything should be taken care of… but from what you listed, meta keywords are of least importance now…