Maximizing Your Website’s SEO: The Impact of Text to HTML Ratio
Learn about the crucial role of the text to HTML ratio in maintaining high organic traffic, especially after Google’s November 2024 update. Find out how to optimize your website’s text to HTML ratio to improve your search engine rankings and overall site performance.
Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix, and other easy-to-use website builders are great because they make it easy for anyone to build a website. That’s also why they’re trouble. They make is too easy for just anyone to build a website.
This is where people get into trouble – they build a site, focus on design, and install a bunch of code on the site unknowingly.
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Then they come to me to figure out why their website isn’t listing well on Google searches.
One of the major problems, I’ve found, especially since the recent November 2024 Google update, is the text to html ratio.
It’s killing website organic traffic, and is a major technical problem that needs to be addressed for SEO success.
What is Text to HTML Ratio?
It’s easy – the total amount of text on a web page vs the amount of code needed to make the page visible.
According to Semrush,
Your text to HTML ratio indicates the amount of actual text you have on your webpage compared to the amount of code. This issue is triggered when your text to HTML is 10% or less.
How Does Text to HTML Ratio Hurt SEO?
Search engines are increasingly prioritizing pages with rich, comprehensive content. This means that the quality and quantity of the information provided on a page play a critical role in determining its search ranking.
A higher text-to-HTML ratio—where the bulk of the page consists of substantial, useful text rather than code and embedded elements—signals to search engines that your page is content-rich. This can enhance your page’s relevance and authority, giving it a better chance of securing a prominent position in search results.
Client Example of High Text to HTML Ratio
Let’s dig into an example from a recent client of mine here at Mafost Marketing.
In this project, we were expanding the website’s core landing pages and wanted a “Services” page to showcase all the core services. The problem was there were too many services to showcase in a fanciful design.
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So we opted for an image-rich experience above the fold (at the top of the page), which leads into a text-rich experience in the middle of the page.
Immediately after the hero section of the page are four images highlighted the four core services. Each image has a heading, subheading, and “Learn More” call to action.
The “learn more” call to action doesn’t move users away from the page. Instead, when clicked, users are scrolled down to the text section giving more details about the service.
After the text-rich middle sections of the webpage, users find a final 3 services and a call to action section.
After the final services section, a bold call to action ensures user don’t miss out on the objective of the page – to book appointments.
How to Increase Text to HTML Ratio
To capitalize on this trend, it’s essential to focus on creating in-depth, valuable content that thoroughly addresses the needs and queries of your target audience. This includes integrating well-researched information, using relevant keywords naturally, and providing clear, detailed answers to potential questions.
Additionally, ensure that your content is structured logically, with headers, subheaders, and bullet points to enhance readability. By doing so, you not only improve your page’s text-to-HTML ratio but also boost its overall user experience, making it more appealing to both search engines and visitors.
To recap:
- Prioritize content on a webpage instead of fancy design
- Keep the content skimmable, but ensure there are still meaty portions of text.
- Organize webpage content logically with headers and bullet points (like these!).
Added Benefit: Less code increases your page’s load speed and also helps your rankings. It also helps search engine robots crawl your website faster.
SEO Notes About Popular Website Builders and Page Editors
Why DIY Website Builders Can Hurt Your Google Rankings
DIY website builders often introduce excessive code and scripts that can significantly slow down your page load times, harming your Google rankings. These extra elements cause search engines to spend more time parsing the site, which can negatively impact your SEO performance and result in lower organic traffic.
Prioritize Content Over Flashy Designs
The text to HTML ratio is crucial for SEO success because it prioritizes quality content over complex, flashy designs. A higher ratio ensures that search engines can easily parse and index the meaningful content on your page, improving its relevance and ranking. Simplifying web design by minimizing excessive code and unnecessary elements can enhance page load times and user experience.
Ultimately, focusing on valuable, well-structured content helps search engines recognize your site’s authority, leading to better visibility and higher organic traffic.
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