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Many of a website’s technical and content elements affect its position in search results, which should be verified when conducting a comprehensive SEO audit, even before the start of positioning activities. One such important element to check, which is part of technical and content optimization, is the content ratio to page code.
What is content to page code ratio?
The text-to-code ratio (THR) is the ratio between the page’s literal content (what is visible to the user) and the amount of HTML code.
The page’s content, which is considered in determining the ratio to the amount of HTML code, consists of elements such as textual content, images, graphics, video, or animation. HTML code is, of course, the page’s source code that allows all content elements to be displayed.
Which tools can be used to check the content ratio to page code?
The content-to-page-code ratio is always checked for the SEO audit we are conducting, as it is one of the factors affecting a site’s search engine visibility. There are, of course, tools that present us with this score for the site we indicate.
One such tool is Webspeed from Inensys Tools, which generally analyses a site’s technical elements that affect its speed and loading time. However, in analysing a site using it, the value of the content-to-code ratio of a given site, expressed as a percentage, appears.
Another example of a tool is the text-to-code ratio checker from Godzio Link. It is dedicated to verifying only this specific parameter and additionally shows us how much content and HTML code are present on our site.
Simple text-to-code ratio checkers also have many agencies on their sites that specialize in SEO and offer free SEO audits.
What content-to-code ratio of a site can be considered good, and what is bad?
A correct content-to-code ratio is assumed to be above 15%, but some sources say 20%. It will be safer not to aim for this lower result, and if the tools show a result below 20%, it is worth investigating what causes such a state of affairs and considering optimizing the site in this direction.
What could be the reasons for the site’s low content-to-code ratio, and how can it be increased?
If, during a professional SEO audit, we verify that a page’s content-to-code ratio is low, there may be two reasons for this: too little content posted on the page or too much code for the size of a given website.
The solution to the first problem is quite simple: create more content that is valuable to the user, supplementing it with keywords and attractive visual elements like photos, graphics, or video.
The second cause is definitely more problematic, as fixing it already requires technical knowledge and programming skills. The reasons for too much code can be really many, but the main ones include code errors and uncontrolled code overwriting. Excessive amounts of code can also be generated by some analytical tools and plug-ins installed from a given website’s CMS.
If our site has a low THR score, we should analyze its code to rule out any possible reasons for its excessive growth and prevent it in the future.
Why is the ratio of content to site code important in SEO?
The content-to-code ratio is important in SEO primarily because it allows us to diagnose whether our site has too little content quickly. The quantity and quality of content present on a page is one of the most important ranking factors, and Google determines positions in organic search results mainly based on it. Therefore, if we have realistically too little of it, our positioning will not bring any meaningful results.
A very low content-to-code ratio can also indicate technical problems on our site that may contribute to lowering its position, so it clearly indicates to us the need for an audit.
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She has 11 years of professional experience, she started her career at the Emarketing Experts agency as a junior SEO specialist. In addition to website positioning, she was responsible for conducting 360° marketing projects as an Account Manager at They.pl. She worked for companies from the financial sector (Bank Millennium, Bank Meritum, Finai S.A.) and e-commerce (e.g. Black Red White, Autoland, Mumla). At Up&More, he is responsible for, among others, SEO projects for Panek Car Sharing, Amerigas, Interparking, H+H and Autoplaza.