What is text to HTML ratio?
The majority of web pages are composed of HTML code used to display page content (usually text). The text-to-HTML ratio of a page compares the amount of text on the page to the amount of HTML code required to display it.
Those of you who are part of a marketing team or run your own business need not be alarmed by this, as it can be handled in the manner described below.
What is the ideal text-to-HTML ratio?
The optimal text-to-HTML ratio ranges from 25 to 70 percent. This percentage represents the proportion of visible text, as opposed to HTML elements, image tags, and other non-visible data.
You may notice that many websites with high search engine rankings have visible text. Since search engines such as Google released the Panda update, which prioritized content-driven websites, this has become especially apparent.
How Does This Impact SEO?
While the ratio of text to HTML is not a direct ranking factor for search engines, there are a number of factors related to the ratio that indicate best SEO practices and thus may indirectly affect search rankings.
Google’s John Mueller stated that Google does not use the text-to-HTML ratio as a ranking signal, but it may be interpreted as a sign of bloated HTML, which, when served to users, especially on mobile, will “slow everything down.”
Therefore it is highly advised to fix your text-to-HTML ratio. If you have hired an SEO firm for your website, you should ask them to fix it up.
How to improve your text-to-HTML ratio.
Web pages with a higher ratio of text to HTML tend to be more readable and understandable for humans. It gives the impression that the site was designed for humans rather than search engines, making it appear significant to search engines.
- Better User Experience: A higher text-to-code ratio indicates a better user experience, and according to Google and other search engines, a better user experience has become a primary ranking factor.
- Better Page Load Speed: Less code indicates that a web page does not contain any unnecessary HTML elements. This increases the page’s loading speed, which indicates a better user experience and is a significant ranking factor for search engines.
- Improved Indexing of Web Pages: A site with cleaner code and a higher proportion of the plain text is easier for search engines to crawl and index.
How Do You Create a Page with a High Text to HTML ratio?
The key to optimizing your website is to design it with the user experience in mind.
Google Core Web Vitals
Google has recently introduced the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console, after announcing that the new metrics will begin to play a role in its algorithm beginning in the following year.
This is a significant step forward for SEO and User Experience.
The report evaluates not only how long it takes your pages to load the primary content, but also how the content loads and whether the layout changes during the loading process.
The purpose of this is to identify pages that may frustrate users who are attempting to interact with elements that move unexpectedly, causing them to miss the target and, in some cases, click on a different element.
15 Tips to Optimize the text-to-HTML ratio
Follow these guidelines to optimize the text-to-HTML ratio of your page and enhance the user experience:
- Validate your HTML code: Use HTML tags that describe the content they contain, such as header>, nav>, article>, section>, section>, footer>, etc.
- Minify your code: To reduce file size, remove all unnecessary characters (such as white spaces, tabs, and line breaks).
- Prioritize content: Ensure that the most vital information on your page is included in the HTML code and not loaded dynamically via Javascript or other scripts.
- Utilize descriptive anchor text: Use anchor text that accurately describes the page’s content.
- Reduce the file size of your images by resizing and compressing them, and include descriptive alt text for each image.
- Use CSS for formatting and styling: Use CSS to separate formatting and styling from HTML code.
- Remove all unnecessary HTML and CSS code, including redundant or unused code.
- Use CSS instead of tables to lay out your page, and avoid using an excessive number of tabs.
- Remove comments from the code: Remove any obsolete or unnecessary comments from your HTML code.
- Use external style sheets Instead of inline styling, use external CSS style sheets to reduce code duplication.
- Use font icons: Whenever possible, use font icons instead of images to reduce the amount of HTML code.
- Keep the page size under 300kb: To improve page load times, keep the page size under 300kb.
- Use internal linking to assist users in navigating your site and to ensure that your links pass link juice.
- Include readily comprehensible text: Include readily comprehensible text with high-quality user information.
- Avoid hiding text: Avoid hiding text in your code that people cannot see.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the text-to-HTML ratio is a metric that measures the proportion of text content to HTML markup on a website.
This ratio is a crucial SEO factor, as search engines view pages with a higher text-to-HTML ratio as being more valuable to users.
A high ratio indicates that the page is likely to contain more relevant content and less irrelevant code, making it more search engine and user-friendly.
You need to have an optimized text-to-HTML ratio if you want your web pages to show up higher in search engine results and attract more visitors.
