Will HTML 5 Make SEO Easier?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

I’ve been reviewing notes for HTML 5, the 5th generation of major changes to the Web’s standard programming language. It doesn’t look to be a complete overhaul, but there are some changes that appear to be for the better. Currently still in development, under W3C committee, HTML 5 is still a work in progress, but I find the following elements to be very welcoming from a search engine optimization perspective:

• Section tag instead of Div tags to divide a web page into sections
• Header and footer tags
• Nav tag for navigational menus
• Article tag
• No alt tags for defining images
• Video and audio tags

I think HTML 5 will be easier to learn for most people than HTML 4 is. I also think it could have some impactful SEO implications. The audio and video tags, for instance, will make optimizing for those elements much more easier. Also, web pages will likely begin to take on a more magazine-like appearance.

When will HTML 5 be available publicly? Who knows? But I’m looking forward to it.