Does Core Code Matter When Ranking Pages For Keywords?

The answer to the above is yes; however, content signals are a, if not the, priority for search and/or answer (AI) engines. When addressing the question about code, one must understand that there are as many as 200 signals a search engine will draw upon to rank a page versus its competition for keywords. Another IMPORTANT point is that not all pages have the same level of competition for their keywords (or phrases). Ultimately, it means that unless every website has perfect core code, the signals related to “code” may or may not be as competitively relevant as, say, the content itself. Better yet, a local search like ‘Home Addition Contractor Point Pleasant NJ’ just isn’t going to draw the level of competition that a nationally competitive product or service will.

And so yes, the search engines evaluate a website’s core code and structure to rank pages, but mostly base their results upon whether or not it is clean, semantic language HTML. For instance, if a WordPress website is using a competent theme (= most WP themes) than it will more likely than not help search bots to appreciate the content’s code.

Despite what those unscrupulous salespeople may be saying about your website’s failure to meet code standards (?), the technical performance factors that impact rankings are likely to be there. There are poorly coded website themes, but mostly these are either just very, very old or they are found in mass-marketed, closed multi-site environments where the owners have prioritized their own efficiencies and profitability over these fundamental signals.

What Are The Key Code Ranking Factors Or Signals?

In terms of a website, the important code-based ranking factors include mobile responsiveness, meeting page load speed standards (set by search engines, usually met by host servers), and core (language and meaning) semantics. More specifically, a search algorithm, crawler, or bot is looking for:

• Semantic HTML and Structure, including the use of HTML tags (i.e., <header>, <nav>, <article>, heading tags <h1>-<h6>), which help bots understand content hierarchy and context more easily.
• Page Experience, such as the user experience with loading, their interactivity, and their visual stability.
• Mobile-Friendliness or the prioritization of a website’s living up to what are mobile responsiveness standards. Or, content that is fully capable of adapting to the various device screens it is going to be viewed on.
• Meta Tags including meta titles, meta descriptions, image alt text tags, and any useful structured data or schema markup. Tags that help to summarize the purpose of a page’s content.
• Clean and Efficient Code versus bloated or severely broken code that could hinder bots from indexing a page. And WordPress, for instance, is going to be clean unless, for instance, it is a very old WP website (like an old broken car) or the website is found in a mass-marketed and often closed multi-site environment. WP website theme cos. are, in fact, heavily scrutinized for this.

So, Is Core Code The Priority When Ranking Pages?

While content quality is a, if not the, priority, the above core code elements matter because they ensure that a search engine can actually deliver a good user experience. Beware of the hucksters who try to scare you about your website’s code. Better yet, focus on having a modern website solution (WordPress) with great content!