A DTD (Document Type Definition) Statement will go before the <HEAD> section of your web pages. This isn't just for your home page, but every page of your site.
A statement allows your site to get indexed faster and deeper in Google. Using it also shortens the time your site spends in the Sandbox by an average of 12 days. However, using an incorrect DTD Statement can hurt your site. For example, if you use a 4.01 statement, but your code was written in 3.2, the engine will make note of it and there is a strong likelihood that the page (or site) will be dropped or penalized.
Why It Works? When GoogleBot comes to your site and sees the DTD Statement, it knows how the code was written. Because it knows how the code is written, it can spider the site much faster. If every web page was compliant, Google could perform their massive monthly update and recrawl of the web much faster than the 4-5 weeks it currently takes.
The strongly recommend is the Transitional tag. It allows you some flexibility with code, especially with the use of GoLive and DreamWeaver.
Here's a recommended DTD statement to be used:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
A statement allows your site to get indexed faster and deeper in Google. Using it also shortens the time your site spends in the Sandbox by an average of 12 days. However, using an incorrect DTD Statement can hurt your site. For example, if you use a 4.01 statement, but your code was written in 3.2, the engine will make note of it and there is a strong likelihood that the page (or site) will be dropped or penalized.
Why It Works? When GoogleBot comes to your site and sees the DTD Statement, it knows how the code was written. Because it knows how the code is written, it can spider the site much faster. If every web page was compliant, Google could perform their massive monthly update and recrawl of the web much faster than the 4-5 weeks it currently takes.
The strongly recommend is the Transitional tag. It allows you some flexibility with code, especially with the use of GoLive and DreamWeaver.
Here's a recommended DTD statement to be used:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
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