Search Engine Optimization and CSS - Content and Javascript

9. Content Ratios

Along with file size, content ratios and density are important things to consider. Content to code ratio is the amount of actual text that exists on a given web page in relation to the amount of code required to display the content in a browser.

A great SEO tool is StarGeek.com’s code to text calculator. This tool allows you to check what percent of your page is made of plain text, as opposed to HTML, CSS or JavaScript. Search engines want to see the highest possible ratio of content to code.

When a search engine spider looks at the web page, it pulls all of the information given on a page, and stores the information in its database. So when the spider comes to a page, it attempts to reads everything, including the actual HTML, JavaScript, or any other code included on the page. The simpler the code is to read and understand, the more efficiently the spider labels the page. The more content a spider has to view, and the less code it has to read, the effects on the indexing of the page by the major search engines has a better end result.

10. Avoiding JavaScript Rollovers and Mouseovers

We all like rollover effects in our web pages. They make links more attractive and dynamic. Using CSS to incorporate rollovers is easy and effective, without having to use a single character of JavaScript. Besides the concept of smaller file size in these cases, using CSS for rollover effects keeps your content and links readable by search engine spiders. JavaScript is not readable. Using CSS will allow you to use keywords effectively in your anchor text of your links, with better search engine ranking results, without having to worry that your keyword anchors are not even being read.

The Bottom Line

There is absolutely no reason why anyone could not use CSS in their web design. It’s easy to understand, and much better for optimization than just straight HTML. The benefits of CSS in search marketing are many, and all of them also make the job of the web developer, the content management person, and the SEO consultant much easier. Understanding these benefits can improve your search engine ranking, and attract search engine spiders to your site. Uncover the jewel of content that had been previously covered up with HTML tags or JavaScript without sacrificing your styling, fonts, images, or even dynamic rollovers.

So why use CSS? Here’s an even better question: Why NOT use CSS?

Footnotes:
***This is a quote from WebAIM’s website.