Are you wondering how to view a website’s code? Viewing source code is important for anyone looking to know more about their website’s code. It can be done by an expert web developer, or someone who just started out using the internet a couple of days ago. Learning more about the browser you are using for internet access includes knowing how to view its source code.
Also, source code is very important for ensuring that a website has good search engine optimization (SEO.) Search engine optimization is important for all types of web pages, and especially those that rely on their page for an income. So understanding source code is important for that aspect of business.
For this specific article, we will be focusing on Google Chrome. One key thing to remember is that while you cannot control what Google does, you can control what you put on your site. Whether it is for a blog, or for a business website, viewing source code is done by following some simple steps.
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How to View Source Code in Chrome
If you have ever wondered how to view source code in Chrome, fear not. Viewing source code in Chrome is a simple process that we will outline in the steps below for both Windows and Macintosh computer devices. The good news is that the steps are simple to follow along to.
For Both Devices
- Click the menu icon on the browser’s toolbar
- Select More Tools, then View Source
Macintosh
- Hold down Command + Option + U, and the code opens up in a new tab
Windows
- Hold down Ctrl + U, and the code will open up in a new tab.
As you can see, learning how to view source code in Chrome is quite simple. It is either a one or two step process that works on both types of major operating systems. The results from doing either actions are the same. Google provides plenty of information on viewing source code, and there are more guides for other operations that can be done in Google Chrome.
What is Source Code?
While we have discussed how to view source code in Chrome, and the importance of viewing source code, we have not yet touched upon what source code is. Source code is the code that is under the hood of websites. It is not something to be afraid of. At one point or another, you will be viewing source code to help your website out. Source code has many aspects. While we won’t go too in depth about those aspects, to know what is source code requires you to have a basic understanding of these aspects. Also, we will discuss why source code is important to search engine optimization.
Important Aspects of Source Code
We already know the definition of source code. Next up, let’s talk about the basic elements that make it up. When viewing source code, the first thing you may notice is a title tag. This title tag tells Google what the title of your page is. This is important as Google uses this to display it on the search results. Meta tags are also important. Meta tags contain data about the web page, and are helpful to SEO because they describe the content of the page. There is plenty of information about meta tags online.
There are also internal links and anchor text that are part of source code. An internal link just links to another part of your website, and the anchor text describes what it does. The anchor text essentially tells the search engine what the link will be about, so it is important for SEO. The three aspects we have just gone over are key parts of viewing source code. Knowing them in depth can help you a great deal if you want to develop your web pages like a pro.
Web Page Source Code
Web page source code is the basic language that the web page is written in. Most web page source code is written in HTML developer text, but there are instances where it is written in JavaScript. As we have discussed above, viewing source code for a web page is rather simple. Knowing what the web page source code contains will take more time to master, but it is not difficult to know what is source code. If you are struggling with the development of your web page, you can learn how to select a consultant that can help you with website development.
Example of Source Code
An example of source code that is not web page source code is the code that is put in installation instructions, and then that leads off to two types of source code. When you agree to the installation instructions of a software you want to install on your device, you are agreeing that you will not unlawfully use the code of that program. The code has two classifications, both which differ from each other. Those types are proprietary and open source code. These codes may apply more to applications, but may still contribute to web page source code.
Proprietary Source Code
While we have discussed viewing source code, proprietary source code is much more difficult to be viewed. It is copyrighted, and the rights belong to its owners. When we agree to those Terms & Conditions pages, we agree not to breach that copyright, so viewing source code when it is proprietary is more difficult. An example of something with source code that is proprietary is Microsoft Office, as Microsoft licenses it with a lot of security so that its code does not get stolen.
Open Source Code
On the other hand, open source code is a type of source code that is free for anyone to edit, so that they contribute to the overall development of the application or web page source code. These applications oftentimes are free and available for anyone to use and contribute to. Both types of source code contribute to a greater part of website and software development, as it will dictate how the future of your code will look like.
Source Code and SEO
While there are many good examples of why source code matters, we will go over the most important ones. We will also discuss some important SEO indicators which contribute to the ranking of your web page. Source code matters because at some point, you will have to do an SEO audit to understand how your site is performing, and how you can help improve your site.
Make sure that your anchor text is always properly formatted, and that it leads to the right location. Google’s algorithm checks to make sure how relevant an external link is, which is used to rank your site. The lower the relevance, the less likely your site ranks high. If the link is from an unsecure website that is trying to attract traffic by having a catchy headline, Google may penalize you for that. If anything has been tagged in the source code, it should be appropriately done. Like it does with anchor text, Google’s algorithm will give a higher ranking to sites with properly optimized tags.
Some important indicators of SEO performance include having a mobile-friendly site. Having source code that is optimized for mobile devices will make the website more accessible to all types of users. Since most users are mobile anyways, developers should focus on developing their source code for mobile devices. This may reduce bounce rates and increase web page viewing times. Other aspects of source code that contribute to SEO performance include making sure your phrases in the code are relevant. When the phrases are relevant to the content of the site, it contributes to having better SEO. Overall, source code is important to SEO as it contributes to multiple performance indicators, so when conducting an SEO audit, pay good attention to what your source code contains.
Source Code’s Underlying Importance
Viewing source code for a web page is not very difficult to do, as we have examined above. It takes a few simple steps, and you will know how to view source code in Chrome. The good news is, for Apple and Windows operating systems, it is very similar, so users won’t have trouble when changing operating systems. When a user views source code, they are probably interested in more than just how the source code looks like. They may have an interest on how source code contributes to the SEO of the web page they are viewing. It contributes in many ways, as we have discussed.
Source code can be read by Google’s ranking algorithm, and ultimately contributes to the ranking of your page on the search results page of Google. It can affect the rank positively if the proper steps are taken when doing an audit on your site’s SEO, and ignoring source code as an aspect that contributes to better performance is not a good idea.
If you are having issues understanding how to properly have search engine optimization, fear not. There is plenty of help on the SEO Design Chicago site, on how to find a specialist that can help your business out. After all, source code is just one of many aspects that help online websites and businesses achieve their goals.
FAQs about How to View a Website’s Code:
- How do I view the source code in Chrome?
- What is an example of source code?
- How does source code affect my SEO?
- What is proprietary source code?
- What is open source code?
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