Video tutorial: Low Text-HTML Ratio
What does a Low Text-HTML Ratio mean?
Okay, so you've got this thing called "low text to HTML ratio." What's that all about? And why should you care?
Basically, it means you've got a lot of code on a particular page on your website, but not a lot of text for users to actually read. Every page on your website has code that creates the page, and then it has visible text for users to read. This issue just means that the balance between those two is off. You've got way too much code for how much text you have on this web page.
Why is that important? Well, back in the day, some people would try to trick search engines by putting a bunch of hidden text on their website. They'd do one thing for Google and something else for users. But nowadays, that's not really a thing anymore. Google is smart enough to know that this is happening, and they don't like it.
So what does that mean for you? Well, you can just ignore it. Google knows that this issue is reported by some SEO tools, and they've said it's not something you need to worry about.
So there you have it. If you see the "low text to HTML ratio" issue in your audit report, just ignore it. Instead, look for the "low word count" issue, which is a similar issue that you should pay attention to.
Key Points
The issue "low text to HTML ratio" means that a web page has a lot of code compared to the amount of text that users can read.
This issue was important in the past when people tried to manipulate search engine rankings by adding hidden text to their websites.
Nowadays, most websites are built on platforms, so this issue is no longer relevant.
Google has publicly stated that website owners do not need to worry about this issue.
Instead, check if you have the issue, Low Word Count which is a related issue that you should pay attention to.
Summary
If you see the "low text to HTML ratio" issue in your SEO audit report, you can ignore it.
The issue of a low text-to-HTML ratio on a web page simply means there is a lot of code compared to the amount of text visible to users. In the past, this issue was relevant for SEO purposes, as search engines like Google would penalize websites that tried to deceive them with different content for users and search engines. However, with the widespread use of platforms like WordPress and Squarespace, which require a lot of code to function, this issue is no longer a concern.