Three ways to Optimize Your Website for Text-Only Browsers: Part 2 Writing Logical HTML Code

This is the second in a series of three tutorials on how to optimize your website for text-only browsers. If you're interested, check out the other tutorials in the series:

Part I Download and Install Lynx on an Intel Mac
Part III Images and Text-Only Browsers

Today I'm going to show you a few strategies to arrange your HTML code so that it can be easily understood in a text-only browser. This means putting the elements of your page in a logical order within the HTML, so that they will still make sense when all the styling and images are stripped away by a text-only browser.

But, this is not just for the benefit of those few people who use text-only browsers, it can also improve your site's search engine optimization. Most search engines give higher priority to the keywords that appear highest to the top of the page. If your site is optimized to read well in a text-only browser then all of the keyword rich main content of your page will be near the top of the HTML code where the spiders want it.

One common style for web pages is the two column layout with the main content to the right of a smaller column with secondary information, such as links or ads.

The code for this layout is:

and the html:

But, when we put this into a text-only browser the CSS is thrown out and we see:

The less important left column appears at the top of the page. This can be confusing for readers using text-only browsers, and it can skew how search engine spiders register the keywords on your site.

The simplest way to avoid this problem is to move the left column to the right of the main column. Just move the everything from <div id='left'> to </div> in the HTML code so it is between the last and second last </div> on the page. In the CSS file add 'float:left;' after #main, and change 'float:left; ' to 'float:right; ' after #left. You'll also have to adjust the margins of #left to make keep the space between the columns.

But, there's no reason to sacrifice the design of your page when there is an easy way to keep that secondary div on the left, and have it appear lower in the HTML code. You just have to swap the float commands in #left and #main within the CSS file:

So there you have it, two simple methods for using a two column layout, while keeping the HTML in logical order. CSS allows you to place different elements of a page wherever you want regardless of where they appear in the HTML code. But, it is a good idea to maintain a logical structure in your HTML so it will be understandable in a text-only browser, and achieve better keyword targeting. Once you get into the habit you will find that it will also make you pages much easier to edit and maintain.

In Part III I'll discuss how to deal with images when optimizing your site for text-only browsers.

I’m still working on the design and usability review of my open source web directory software. I want to give a warm thank you to everyone who has sent me suggestions and advice. But it’s not too late to help me out. If you’re so inclined, take a look at my sample web directory and let me know what you think. I’ll be sure to give you credit when I roll out the new and improved design.