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HTML5 is the latest revision of the HTML standard. It combines much of the functionality of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, improving efficiency and allowing new opportunities for innovative web sites. It also has some implications on SEO.
7/24/2011
Section Tags
HTML5 introduces a new set of standardized tags, designed to give search engines a clearer picture of what type of content lies within. This has multiple SEO implications. The importance of each section of content can now be more accurately communicated to search engines, such as making sure primary information is within the <article> tag while allowing auxiliary information with little SEO importance to be placed in <aside> or <footer> tags. In addition, pages can be divided into <section> tags, and each <section> can have its own set of header tags - in essence, can be separately optimized for search - allowing for design flexibility, with a diminished need to always keep individual pages tightly focused on one topic or target search term for SEO reasons.
Microdata
Microdata is a new semantic markup format introduced for HTML5, which creates standardized tags for different types of page content such as recipes, people, events, reviews, video, and places. Search engines use the data in these tags to display additional information in search results. XHTML based semantic markup formats RDFa and Microformats have been supported for awhile now, but Google, Yahoo and Bing have jointly agreed to use Microdata as the standard semantic markup format.
Audio and Video Content
HTML5 introduces two important multimedia tags: <audio> and <video>. These tags should increase interoperability with search engines, allowing easier optimization and more standardized indexing of audio and video content.
Link Types
Since links are one of the single most influential pieces of data for SEO, HTML5's introduction of new link types is sure to have an effect on how these "votes" are counted by search engine algorithms. Navigational link types such as next and prev, for example, are likely to be interpreted and weighted differently by search engines than author link types or external link types.
Page Load Time
Since HTML5 incorporates much of the functionality of CSS and JavaScript, many design and multimedia effects can be accomplished more simply and streamlined than before, with less external references. This allows the page content to load more quickly, and with Google's increased importance on page load speed as a ranking factor, anything that allows pages to load more quickly is a benefit.
While there may be no direct ranking boost associated with HTML5 websites, the framework is there for more efficient and descriptive information to be passed to search engines. If HTML5 is a fit for the design and experience you want on your website, you should use it - just be sure to take notice and make full use of the new functionality that affects SEO.
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