Search engines speak a different type of language that can only be fully understood by webmasters. HTML is the virtual argot or system that’s utilized for showing the search engines the relevancy of pages, and ranking them accordingly. Moreover, it’s also used by developers to create aesthetically pleasing websites, while giving internet users a user-friendly navigation experience at the same time.
The majority of the web utilizes the latest approved version of the internet lingo, namely: HTML4. However, many developers are currently using HTML5, a newer and improved variation, as compared to its predecessor.
Moreover, considering that most of the web browsers are compatible with the majority of new features offered by HTML5, SEO experts may begin taking advantage of the enhanced custom functions that come with it.
Google, the biggest online search program of all, determines how pages are segmented, which ultimately helps it rank each page on the SERPs. But with HTML5, developers and SEO professionals can communicate with Google better with the help of new tags, which in turn leads to higher rankings.
One new tag that’d be beneficial for enhancing search engine visibility is the “Article” tag – this can be used to tell Google, and its competitors, the value of certain content within the page. Moreover, it effectively eliminates the need to insert “div” tags within content for defining significant sections.
The power of h1, h2 and h3 tags is further enriched through the new “header” tag, as it permits developers to include headings, links and text in ways that’ll further boost page relevancy in the eyes of the search engines.
HTML5 also allows SEO pros to tell the search engines how they should perceive links, which also helps increase rankings in the SERPs. More “rel” values (descriptive terms which are used to define each link within a page better) have been added.
Some examples include the following: “External”, which is used to inform users that a specific link leads to an external domain, “Help”, which states a link points to certain support resources, “Alternate”, for presenting a link to an altered version of the same page, plus more.
Amongst the many developments, there are many others as well, such as the inclusion of a video tag. HTML4 has a setback wherein computers without an Adobe Flash Player or other special plugins can’t view online videos. HTML5 addresses this issue by allowing web browsers to support video standards which permit any computer to access online clips without the need for additional plugins or software installations.
