Validation is the checking of the site's HTML code for errors and its compliance with the standards defined by the World Wide Web Consortium. Many optimizers and webmasters underestimate its importance and start "cleaning" the code only when other tasks for the technical optimization of the online resource have been completed. For example, after the site map is correctly compiled. With this, they slow down the movement of a blog or an online store to the first positions of search engine results.
Some of the benefits of regularly checking the code for validity and quick elimination of detected errors:
- "Broken" HTML is often the reason why the site does not display correctly in different browsers and on different devices. As a result, the online resource can be used, for example, only by those who accessed it through Google Chrome. At the same time, visitors using Safari will constantly encounter errors on such a site or will not be able to view its content at all.
- Some unscrupulous developers of free templates and themes insert links, advertisements or even malicious code into the HTML. After validation, these problems are easy to spot.
- After removing redundant information from the code, the size of the web page becomes smaller and it starts to load faster.
- Web spiders notice low-quality HTML code and reduce the frequency of visiting an online resource.
As you can see, the impact of site validity on promotion and usability is great. Therefore, it is better not to postpone its inspection.
What does site validation consist of?
The validation check consists of three stages:
- Search for syntax errors. Example,
< h3 >Heading > /h3 >
In this code, the closing tag does not start with <, but with >. Because of this, the text that follows the > /h3> will be displayed as a third-level heading.
- Checking the correct nesting of tags. Example:
< h3 > Heading
< p > Paragraph text < /p >
< /h3 >
In this code, the closing < /h3 > tag does not come after the title, but after the text that follows it. As a result of such an error, text placed in < p > … < /p > will also be displayed as a third-level heading.
- Checking for compliance with DTD (Document Type Definition) rules. For example, an id attribute that is repeated.
How to check site validation
Despite the fact that the information presented may seem complicated and unclear, site validation is checked in 5 seconds. We recommend using the official validator of the World Wide Web Consortium validator.w3.org for these purposes.
It offers three verification options:
- Validate by URI - specify the URL of the page and the tool will check its code.
Pay attention! If this option is selected, only the web page at the specified URL is checked. If you already have a correctly compiled site structure and you need to check all web pages, enter the address of each of them.
- Validate by File Upload — if you need to validate an HTML file stored on your computer, this option is for you.
- Validate by Direct Input - this option is suitable for those who do not want to make mistakes when writing code - validation is checked after inserting an HTML fragment.
Choose one of the methods, perform the required action (insert URL, upload an HTML file or insert a code fragment) and click the Check button. After 3-5 seconds, information about the errors and warnings found will appear on the page, indicating the lines of code in which problems were detected and their brief description.
Then the matter remains for the little one — to correct the errors found. To do this, give the result of the check to your company's programmer or typewriter or, if you know HTML, fix them yourself.
So you learned what website validation is and how to check it. After applying this knowledge in practice, web crawlers will begin to consider the site as higher quality, and the elements of the web page will be displayed correctly.
Was the publication informative? Then share it on social networks and join our Telegram channel. We remind you that you can buy Ukrainian hosting from the hosting company CityHost. For technical questions, contact the online chat or call ?? 0 800 219 220.
Like the article? Tell your friends about it: 
