If you’re a business owner or a webmaster, you probably already know the importance of Search Engine Optimization (or SEO for short). Search Engines take a variety of elements into account when determining your websites scores. These elements include, for example, the keywords on your website and the amount of links to your websites from other (legitimate) sources. Another, more important element to consider is the version of HTML used in a website.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the programming language used to create websites and variety of other computer programs. This code can be seen by anyone with an internet connection and access to the website. In Google Chrome you’ll be able to see this code by pressing CTRL + U on the webpage who’s source code you’d like to see.
It looks something like this:
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><title>The Amazing Storm Teale</title><meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="author" content="itfirst.co.za"><meta name="description" content="Storm Teale's Website"/><script type="text/javascript" src="/js/jquery.js"></script></head><body><section class="billboard light"><header class="wrapper light"><nav><ul><li><a href="/http://www.stormteale.co.za"></a></li></ul></nav></header><div class="caption light animated wow fadeInDown clearfix"><h1>Storm Teale is going to the USA</h1>
Why do I need to upgrade?
As with any programming language, HTML is constantly evolving to make life easier for website engineers, make sites more user-friendly and to add functionality to sites. The version of HTML used is indicated with a single number. The latest version of HTML is version 5 and some of the benefits with upgrading is:
- Your site’s visitors will now be able to view your website on any mobile device without having to scroll horizontally (This is called “Responsiveness”). Not only will this attract more customers to your website, mobile users will stay on your site for longer and find information on your site easier.
- Search Engines, like Google, will automatically increase your website’s scores.
- You will be able to choose from a greater amount of functionality which will work independently from any plug-ins (goodbye Adobe Flash Player!)
Although search engines won’t explicitly reduce your ranking because of an outdated HTML3 or HTML4 website, you might find that your competitors might actually start to appear above you on search results because of the improvements they have made to their sites.
It is therefore evident that HTML5 is not just something that your IT department should be worried about, but your marketing department too!
ITFirst offers a variety of services to help you manage, improve and maintain your website. The easiest way to make sure that your website is always up to date is to simply give us a call for a obligation-free quotation!
