Does blogging with a wysiwyg negatively affect SEO (vs. hand coding)?
-
Many bloggers use a wysiwyg editor to write posts. Are there any drawbacks to wysiwyg vs plain text? When I write blogs I prefer to hand code my text to be sure everything is optimized. My feeling is that wysiwyg leads to code bloat and generally fewer optimization opportunities. I have no real evidence. Is there any reason not to use the wysiwyg editor?
-
Thomas, I agree with you about a copywriter's role and expertise. My point is that there ARE differences in the copy produced by a capable wordsmith versus a writer that understands and considers things like SERP features, semantic scope, mobile vs desktop experience, the role of supporting assets, etc. I've spent so much time massaging professional copy that, by the time it was passably optimized, I had basically done it myself. So yes, I already pay 2x for optimized web copy (and code). The problem is that_ half of that cost is my time_. I would definitely pay a premium for a copywriter with SEO chops.
I digress... The question is whether decent web page / blog copy published via wysiwyg is any more or less successful, SEO-wise, than the same copy coded by hand (by which I mean foundational SEO, not ninja guru jedi sh*t). I'm asking a specific technical question; wysiswyg vs hand coding.
There is clear consensus here that coding by hand (done well) has a better chance to rank on the Google. That's pretty obvious, really. That is not the thrust of the question. Good copywriters write good copy. Good SEOs do good SEO.
Copywriting is tough. We ask these professionals to become experts in topics (and their page-level details) in a matter of just a few (billable) hours. On the other hand, we SEOs spend weeks, months, and years with our clients. We understand their market, audience, vernacular, and differentiating nuance. I don't envy the copywriters' challenge, but I will pay a premium for a unicorn who can do it all.
...I digress again... This is a technical question: What is the delta for the same copy produced via wysiwyg vs. by hand?
-
What a copywriter does best though is writing copy. Any time spent doing something like coding a blog post would not be an effective use of their time. It would probably be more cost effective to get the copywriter to do the writing and then get a web designer to design the blog post itself. Otherwise you're paying a higher hourly rate (if hourly, obviously) to a copywriter to do something they aren't efficient at.
-
Thanks everyone. It would be great if copywriters knew basic html and code. If you know anyone send them to me!! In my experience they don't and won't (HUGE opportunity here). You have all touched on the implications if wysiwyg IS a problem. If so I have to ask myself 1) how big is the problem, 2) how big is the opportunity, and therefore 3) how much are we willing to invest to hire or train these unicorns? Even bringing it up with some writers may be enough to ruffle their feathers so I'm looking for some data.
-
I really doubt. This comment section seems to somehow prove it as it also uses wysig editor. I can't really see co-relation between wysig editor and hand coding as in almost every editor you can switch to source code and manualy alter anything you need.
-
“Professional Service Provider”
No, but I agree to the fact that handing over your code to someone who may or may not know about SEO and SEO friendly codes is simply the worst idea ever. I think SEOs and content producer (in your example) have to learn at least that much of a code that they can fix their things by themselves instead of handing over it to someone who might make things worse for you!
Just a thought!
-
My feeling is that wysiwyg leads to code bloat and generally fewer optimization opportunities. I have no real evidence. Is there any reason not to use the wysiwyg editor?
If you are working really hard to make great content and a great website, then you want to be sure that your code is as good as you can make it. When wysiwyg is used, you are trusting your SEO to a coder who many or may not know anything about SEO.
Because SEO is a competitive endeavor and because one screw-up in the code can be fatal, one must either check to be sure that the wysiwyg code is perfect of take control of the coding yourself.
I found a long time ago that I can only bet on myself for certain things. My work isn't perfect, but my work on a bad day is often better than the work of many "professional service provders" on a good day. So I bet on myself.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Seeking Advice on Improving On-Page SEO for my Website
I'm looking for some expert advice on improving the on-page SEO for my website, CCTV Camera Installation. Despite following best practices, I feel that my site isn't performing as well as it could be in search engine rankings. Here are a few specific areas where I'd appreciate some guidance: Content Optimization: I've ensured my content is keyword-rich and valuable to my audience. Are there any advanced techniques or tools that can help further optimize my content? Meta Tags and Descriptions: I've written unique meta titles and descriptions for each page, but I'm unsure if they're as effective as they could be. What are some tips for crafting compelling meta tags that improve click-through rates? Internal Linking: I've set up a basic internal linking structure. How can I enhance this to better distribute link equity and improve user navigation? Page Load Speed: While my site's load speed is decent, I'm aware that even minor improvements can have a significant impact on SEO. Are there any specific optimizations or tools you recommend for speeding up my website? Technical SEO: I've covered the basics like XML sitemaps and robots.txt files. Are there any advanced technical SEO practices that I should be aware of? Here is the link to my website for your reference: https://www.acssllc.ae/ Thank you in advance for your help! Best regards,
On-Page Optimization | | Htdbf
Israr Khan0 -
Does changing/shortening a url hurt SEO?
Hi all, I am in the process of making small optimization changes to my site. I noticed Moz identified quite a few URLs that could be shortened. I intend to shorten these URLs and create 301 redirects to ensure website users land on the right page. My question is, will this change in URL damage rankings and engagement(assuming the URL remains content relevant)? I have read in some places that when creating URL redirects for a change in domain, people saw a dip in rankings and engagement. I, however, am not intending to change the main domain of the site, but rather the URL slug. Any thoughts?
On-Page Optimization | | annegretwidmer0 -
Lower case and SEO
Hi I have a client who wants his whole site to be in lower case with the exception of his company name. Absolutely everything. I just want to check whether or not this will effect the way Google sees the site? Does anyone have any idea? ........ and do you have any experience or data to support your views? Thank you PH
On-Page Optimization | | PH2920 -
Blog URL
I know that this question has been asked in the past, and that website.com/blog is better for seo purposes than blog.website.com. We want to setup a custom blog on our site, using Wordpress. Our designers/host are telling us that buy using website.com/blog can causes issues b/c Wordpress is open source, and our site could be hacked? Is there anything we should do about this? Any suggestions? Any Advice appreciated!!! Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | TP_Marketing0 -
Nowadays is it fundamental renaming images for SEO?
Its it fundamental nowadays renaming images for SEO? Many photos are on top positions without being renamed like: mykeyword.jpg but can be 9876986.jpg instead. Doesn't itcount much more the contest in which they are such as text around photos, descriptions and context from internal and external linking pages? Renaming everyphoto, in every gallery can be considered over optimization? Is there any study showing the impact the single factor of renaming a photo in a page? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | holidaysempire0 -
Do images on a CDN affect my Google Ranking?
I have recently switched my images to a CDN (MaxCDN) and all of the images within my post are now get loaded directly from the CDN. Will this affect my Google ranking? Do Google care if the image is hosted physicaly on the domain?
On-Page Optimization | | Amosnet0 -
Are blank Product Review pages bad for SEO?
Hi there, I'm running a new e-commerce site (BoatOutfitters.com) and have a question about our product review pages. On our current campaign, we have a lot of duplicate page content errors. When we export the data, it's almost all blank product review pages (since we are new, we don't have that many product reviews yet). Our product reviews aren't run through javascript, so we originally did not add them to a robots.txt file - however, I'm now wondering if it's worse to have all of these duplicate blank pages, or is it not affecting our SEO at all? Should we just wait until these products have reviews which will benefit our SEO and then they won't be considered "duplicate pages" - right? Sorry if this has been answered before - new here at SEO Moz and just looking for some help. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | BoatOutfitters0 -
SEO for spanish website
Hi, A client has given us the site http://www.comtranslations.com/Home.html for optimization. He wants to optimize only the spanish part ( the link is on the top right ). By clicking on the link Espanol, the url opened is - http://www.comtranslations.com/Principal.html. He wants seo for this website for spanish keywords. The keywords are - Traducción
On-Page Optimization | | seoug_2005
Traductor
traducir español inglés
traducción My question is how do we go about this ? Shall we purchase a software that translates spanish to english ? Thanks0