In my first post on this subject, Reducing Code Bloat - Or How To Cut Your HTML Size In Half, I demonstrated how you can significantly reduce the size of a web document by simply moving style definitions externally and getting rid of a table-based layout. In this instalment I will look at the practice of semantic HTML and how effective it can be at keeping your markup tidy and lean.. [More]

The use of XHTML in the context of SEO is a matter of debate. The consensus tends to be that using XHTML falls into the category of optimization efforts that provide certain benefits for the site as a whole (extensibility, ability to use XSL transforms) but offers little or no added value in the eyes of the search engines. That being said, as the number of pages that search engine spiders have to crawl continues to increase every day, the limits to how much the spiders can crawl are being tested. This has been recognized by SEOs and is reflected in efforts to trim page sizes down to make a site more appealing to the spiders. Now it is time to start considering the significant benefits that a well-formed XHTML document can potentially offer to search engine spiders.. [More]

Seperating the style from the markup of a web document is generally a painless, if sometimes time-consuming, task. In many cases however, the process can have some added speed-bumps; most notably when the original HTML is using an infamous table-based layout. The two most common speedbumps when dealing with table-based layouts and styling are recreating the classic borderless table and keeping the default table border appearance.. [More]

While working on a client's site today I came across this gem that I thought you might enjoy. The snippet speaks for itself.. [More]

When it comes to designing and developing a web site the load time is one consideration that is often ignored, or is an afterthought once the majority of the design and structure is in place. While high-speed internet connections are becoming increasingly common there are still a significant portion of web users out there with 56k connections, and even those with broadband connections aren't guaranteed to have a fast connection to your particular server. Every second that a user has to wait to download your content is increasing the chance of that user deciding to move on.. [More]

One topic of controversy regarding web standards has been Internet Explorer 7 not supporting the application/xhtml+xml MIME type, which essentially means not supporting true XHTML as specified by the W3C. Of course with this being related to Microsoft there is the expected amount of flak coming from the anti-Microsoft camp. That said, even once you've filtered out the extremes from the discourse, there are still a lot of people who think Internet Explorer 7 killed/is killing XHTML.. [More]

When it comes to rollover effects in web design the most common way to accomplish the effect has traditionally been with JavaScript. Here are three CSS techniques that you might not have known about that accomplish the same effect.. [More]

I have combed through thousands upon thousands of client's HTML documents since I began working in web development, and even more in my career as an SEO. Much of this time is spent fixing invalid markup, shaving off unneeded code, and generally doing what the original developer should have done in the first place. One thing that I quickly realized was that a disturbingly large majority of the sites I came across that were created by "professional" developers and firms seem to have absolutely no idea what a Doctype really is. This is especially true when I see these developers slapping an XHTML Doctype on their pages, somehow thinking that since it is newer it will make them (the developers) look better. As a developer who has actually taken the time to pore through the W3C specifications for the different revisions of HTML and XHTML, I find that practice rather irritating.. [More]