When Should You Pay Attention to HTML5 | Simplicity Marketing, Inc.

For many business owners, paying attention to HTML5 could be quite expensive. You’ll have to go through your website(s) and change all your old tags. You’ll have new features to implement. You may have to spend dozens, even hundreds of hours revamping your website.

So when is it time to start paying attention to HTML5? The answer: it’s time to start learning about HTML5, but you don’t need to seriously implement anything just yet.

==> HTML5 Specs Have “Last Called” but Aren’t Implemented

In May 2011, W3C held the “Last Call” for HTML5. The Last Call was the developers’ last opportunity to protest any feature or request any feature.

That means affected companies like Microsoft, Apple, Firefox, Chrome and so on had their last chance to pitch in on how HTML5 should be built.

Now the specifications are more or less set for HTML5. However, the recommendation date for HTML5 is still set in 2014.

That means that although the major tags and features in HTML5 have already been announced, it’s still not recommended for websites or browsers to switch from HTML4 to HTML5. That’s still some time away.

==> Why Should You Pay Attention Today?

HTML5 is going to be a big game changer on the internet. It’s going to affect SEO, it’s going to affect web video, it’s going to affect layout and it’s going to affect every developer on the web.

The earlier you learn about all the things HTML5 can offer, the better. It’ll allow you to get a foot up on your competitors – or ensure that you won’t fall behind.

Read through the changes that HTML5 is bringing to the table. Ask yourself: Which features will affect my website? Which features will affect my industry?

==> Important Things to Look Out For

Perhaps the most important thing to look out for moving forward are HTML5 features that could be pitfalls for you later down the line.

For instance, if you’re using any code that’s not supported in HTML5, now’s the time to start phasing that code out. For instance, if you’re using the

tag, which is being phased out, you should start thinking about moving on to CSS versions of that tag today.

HTML5 marks the beginning of a new internet. The change won’t happen overnight, so you’ll definitely have some time to adjust. However, webmasters who get on the train early will definitely have an advantage over those who wait until everyone else is on board.

When social media became prominent, webmasters who were on the train early saw boosts in rankings as well as traffic. When Schema was released, early adopters also saw rankings boosts. HTML5 implementation is likely to give you the same kind of edge over your slower competition.