Google Says W3C Validation has no Impact on Search Result

Google‘s John Mueller stated that W3C validation has no impact on search results.

W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium, and it’s a recognized organization for the worldwide web. Here’s how it works.

A team of professionals works full-time in the organization to develop and maintain web standards. In turn, developers and browsers use these standards to write codes — HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. — for the web.

Think of W3C standards as a rule book that helps define if a code was well-written or poorly-written. In that way, W3C validation is a test that makes sure that developers follow these rules to ensure the site works properly.

In a recent webmaster hangout, an individual asked Mueller whether W3C error could slow down the time it takes to download a page.

Mueller replied, saying that W3C validation does not affect the time it takes to download a page.

The Google webmaster trend analyst said:

“No, this does not affect time to download a page. Time to download a page is purely the time that it takes from Googlebot asking your server for a URL, to your server having provided that full-content to Googlebot.”

Now you’re wondering, how does W3C validation affect search engine rankings?

Google Doesn’t Use W3C Validation in Search Results

According to John Mueller, Google doesn’t use W3C validation in search results. So, publishers needn’t worry about pages needing to meet the validation bar.

Mueller said:

“In general, the W3C validation is something that we do not use when it comes to search. So you don’t need to worry if your pages kind of meet the validation bar or not.”

Although it may not impact search results, the webmaster still recommends using the validator.

Mueller pointed out that validation is a great way to double-check your website for errors. It is particularly essential for sites that use accessibility features.

“So, I definitely recommend checking out the validator tool and trying it on your pages and seeing what the results are,” says Mueller. “And then trying to improve things, so you’re a little bit more in line with valid HTML.”