Ensuring a HTML error free website

In layman terms, validating your web page for HTML errors simply implies ensuring the web page is free of any code errors using an online service or a program. Your webpage might not appear in search engine rankings as search engines might not be able to pick the text off the page, if your webpage is not validated for HTML code errors and broken codes. Also a broken or wrong code could possibly lead some browsers to crash or not display your webpage in the proper format. Similarly, online directories might not be able to include your page submissions if there are broken links on the webpage.

Function of HTML Validator

The primary function of an HTML validator is to ensure that the HTML code on your webpage is in compliance with W3C standards. W3C consortium is the body that issues the globally practiced HTML standards. Validators can perform a variety of validations, depending on how technologically advanced they are.

Types of Validators

Why should you validate your code?

Enhance Compatibility
Improve Search Ranking
Exhibit Higher Professionalism and Quality approach

Compatibility is inversely proportional to the amount of HTML code errors on your webpage. Hence checking or validating your webpage for HTML coding is extremely important to ensure your web page has any or all of the below compatibilities

Cross Browser compatibility
Cross platform compatibility
Future compatibility

Your webpage will have a much higher likelihood of working across most of the browsers and platforms if it complies with current HTML standards. Also, most importantly, validating for error free HTML coding will ensure that your webpage will remain compliant with future browser versions as well. Conversely not checking for HTML errors increases the possibility that although your webpage might work perfectly well on your browser, it might appear very differently or not appear at all on other browsers.

A webpage with code errors mostly ranks lower, or does not appear at all, on search engine rankings, as search engines might not index the error containing parts of the webpage or even the entire webpage, resulting in no show. An error free HTML webpage ensures that the entire page can be scanned for keywords leading to higher rankings.

A product or the company is only as professional and good as the quality it exhibits. A poorly coded or written website gives a very poor impression of the quality approach followed by the company. It also leads to fewer visitors to the site as webpages with HTML code errors might open very differently in other browsers or cause browser crash causing visitors to label the site as unsafe and generate negative comments on the site in social media.

HTML Validators

Validators, both free and paid, are available in plenty to ensure an error free HTML site fully compatible across browsers and platforms.

Free HTML validators can be accessed at

https://validator.w3.org/ is a free online HTML Validator issued by the W3 Consortium for validating HTML codes.
Free HTML Validators, CSS Validators, Accessibility Validators at https://www.thefreecountry.com/webmaster/htmlvalidators.shtml is a reference list of free validators available

When should a Webpage should be validated

When a webpage is newly developed
Webpage undergoes a significant design change
Also when the webpage is significantly modified

However Validation does not guarantee page success

Validating your webpage for HTML code errors does not guarantee compatibility with different browsers and platforms; it only increases the probability of compatibility. Compatibility can only be assured by testing your webpage on different browsers and across platforms.
Validation is a time consuming job, and developers who are entrusted with designing numerous pages find it onerous to convert all the webpages for validation. It is not advisable to host the webpage without HTML validation only on account of the fact that the page works well on your browser and appears on search engine ranking.

To summarize, it will always remain a best practice to validate your webpage for HTML errors to minimize possibility of potential problems with your webpage either in its current form or even if you choose to add more features and functionalities to it.