October 17, 2008 by Matt Thomas
People often come to us worried about W3C compliance. They feel the need to adhere to it, though often they have no idea why or what it involves to do so.
Let me explain, W3C means World Wide Web Consortium, it’s a body that lays out guidelines and standards for web developers to code by. The opinion within the industry is that coding according to W3C standards results in quicker load times, good compatibility across browsers for your site, better access to the emerging mobile market and code that is simpler to maintain overall.
But does W3C compliance lead to SEO benefits? Well, in short, no it doesn’t. This is however, one of those rare situations when we need to look past ranking and think about how easy a site is to use and how convenient it is for users. Think of it as you would keeping your own body in shape. An overweight, unfit person will be able to play a game of football, but a healthy person will be that much more efficient at it, quicker to every ball, able to jump higher etc. They won’t necessarily be more skilful, but they will be in a position to use the skill they have well.
In conclusion, you’re not going to tumble down the rankings due to non compliance with W3C but it will improve your users’ experience.
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