Common HTML5 SEO Issues and Their Fixes
Published on 26 May 15
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HTML5 is indeed a developer favorite! When it comes to developing a web application, there's no other platform that offers such flexibility and scalability as HTML5. It is an amazing toolset that will help you give out some amazing and brilliant apps to the world.
There are several common SEO issues that you may face when working with HTML5. Here's a list of some of the important issues with their solutions.
Pagination Leading to Duplication
When working with an e-commerce website having too many pages and listings on HTML5, you are bound to face duplication issues. While you want all pages to be indexed, you don't want to get involved with plagiarism and waste Google's crawl. You cannot discuss with Googlebot about the listings being paginated, and you surely want to make it clear to the search engine. So, how will you work it out? you will need to enter HTML5 and specify the pages as sequential links. You will need to mention which of the pages are located before the other, and which ones after the one in consideration.
You will need to use rel attribute to link the pages. Here's how HTML5 codes the before after pages for a sequence
There are several common SEO issues that you may face when working with HTML5. Here's a list of some of the important issues with their solutions.
Pagination Leading to Duplication
When working with an e-commerce website having too many pages and listings on HTML5, you are bound to face duplication issues. While you want all pages to be indexed, you don't want to get involved with plagiarism and waste Google's crawl. You cannot discuss with Googlebot about the listings being paginated, and you surely want to make it clear to the search engine. So, how will you work it out? you will need to enter HTML5 and specify the pages as sequential links. You will need to mention which of the pages are located before the other, and which ones after the one in consideration.
You will need to use rel attribute to link the pages. Here's how HTML5 codes the before after pages for a sequence
<a href='products.php?page=3' rel='prev'>Previous Page</a>
<a href='products.php?page=5' rel='next'>Next Page</a>
<a href='products.php?page=5' rel='next'>Next Page</a>
With this code, you are actually letting the search engines know that these pages fall in sequence and need to be treated in that manner. While this works for listing pages, this may or may not work for the pages which are not listing pages. This technique of sequencing has its own pros and cons, as with every other fix.
Structuring the Page for Accurate Indexing
Semantic HTML was given more importance as making the content accessible across devices in a manageable context was easier that way. HTML was for content and associating meaning to it, CSS was used for presentation and style while JavaScript was used for additional behavior. Anything that was not needed on HTML could be removed easily, but HTML was not equipped for structuring the page while defining the meaning of the web pages i.e. maintaining semantics. HTML5 came to rescue, as page structuring and semantics is important from SEO perspective.
Some tags that are popular with HTML5 include
Structuring the Page for Accurate Indexing
Semantic HTML was given more importance as making the content accessible across devices in a manageable context was easier that way. HTML was for content and associating meaning to it, CSS was used for presentation and style while JavaScript was used for additional behavior. Anything that was not needed on HTML could be removed easily, but HTML was not equipped for structuring the page while defining the meaning of the web pages i.e. maintaining semantics. HTML5 came to rescue, as page structuring and semantics is important from SEO perspective.
Some tags that are popular with HTML5 include
<section>
<header>
<footer>
<article>
<hgroup>
<aside>
<nav>
<header>
<footer>
<article>
<hgroup>
<aside>
<nav>
In the past div was used in abundance to create sections
<div id="myarticle">
...
</div>
<div id="extrafacts">
...
</div>
That has definitely changed with HTML5
<article>
...
</article>
<aside>
...
</aside>
...
</div>
<div id="extrafacts">
...
</div>
That has definitely changed with HTML5
<article>
...
</article>
<aside>
...
</aside>
If you want to create breaks within the page, you can create them neatly and in an organized manner using HTML5
<section id="finance">
<header>
<h1></h1>
</header>
<header>
<h1></h1>
</header>
With this you can create elements as well as multiple HI's on a page
With such clear structuring, SEO finds it easy to create a page structure, and search engines are able to find and interpret the data easily. This eventually helps search engines in accurate indexing of the same. With some of the browsers, you can apply CSS on the spot, while some browsers won't allow it.
Block Internal Search Pages
What happens when a search engine searches for the pages within another search engine; they find that the results are blocked. Robots.txt are used for this purpose. In case, your site has an internal search option; you should ideally block it with robots.txt. the reason being, some sites have a habit of fixing their search results with some absurd navigation systems thus making the situation complex. You can always fix the site's IA to solve this issue.
Here's a quick and easy solution from HTML5 quarters
With such clear structuring, SEO finds it easy to create a page structure, and search engines are able to find and interpret the data easily. This eventually helps search engines in accurate indexing of the same. With some of the browsers, you can apply CSS on the spot, while some browsers won't allow it.
Block Internal Search Pages
What happens when a search engine searches for the pages within another search engine; they find that the results are blocked. Robots.txt are used for this purpose. In case, your site has an internal search option; you should ideally block it with robots.txt. the reason being, some sites have a habit of fixing their search results with some absurd navigation systems thus making the situation complex. You can always fix the site's IA to solve this issue.
Here's a quick and easy solution from HTML5 quarters
<a href='/search.php' rel='search'>Search the site</a>
With this the search engines come to know that the search they are conducting for is another search engine
Conclusion
Search engines have some criteria for displaying original and unique content. Some of the rules include page structuring as well as content structuring. This could be an issue when you are working with HTML. Here's a solution for the issue which helps make the platform convenient and flexible especially when dealing with search engines. For an HTML developer, these solutions can help further their designs and improve their rankings.
Conclusion
Search engines have some criteria for displaying original and unique content. Some of the rules include page structuring as well as content structuring. This could be an issue when you are working with HTML. Here's a solution for the issue which helps make the platform convenient and flexible especially when dealing with search engines. For an HTML developer, these solutions can help further their designs and improve their rankings.
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