Standards and Best Practices
Internet standards for programming are a set of rules that ensure a consistent display of Web site content across multiple browsers and operating systems. Those rules are documented by the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) and can be found online at www.w3c.org.
Best practices are guidelines that programmers should follow in order to more completely communicate the content on a Web page. Oftentimes however these guidelines are acknowledged and then ignored in the march toward the deadline.
Best Practices are adopted through exposure, experimentation, and experience.
An Example
When a programmer places the code on a Web Page to display an image, it is a requirement to specify with 100% accuracy the name of the image to be displayed. Failing to do so will result in a broken image on the page.
The code for placing that image also includes what is known as “ALT TEXT”, which is how a search engine sees an image.
The ALT TEXT should depict the contents of the image, but it’s not a requirement to have it. Since search engines cannot ‘see’ an image and rely only on the ALT TEXT, failing to provide the ALT TEXT means that the search engine cannot ‘see’ the image, which means that the content the image is meant to convey is invisible to the search engine. When the search engine cannot index content, it’s invisible to your customers as well.
The Automotive Metaphor
The Standard: All cars should have at least four wheels.
The Best Practice: All the wheels on a car should be properly inflated.
Important, and Free
Best Practices are important because they ensure that a Web site has been developed to perform with optimal efficiency. The other nice thing about Best Practices is that for the most part – they're free. That's right, it's often just a matter of taking a good thorough look at how a site has been built and recommending adjustments and updates. These updates can make a big difference in a site's marketing performance.