Code-to-text ratio
What is code-to-text ratio?
Code-to-text ratio refers to the proportion of visible text content compared to the HTML code on a webpage. It measures how much of your page's source code is actual readable content versus markup, scripts, and other backend elements. A page with a high code-to-text ratio contains more visible text relative to its underlying code, while a low ratio indicates the opposite—more code but less visible content.
How is code-to-text ratio calculated?
The code-to-text ratio is calculated by dividing the number of characters in the visible text by the total number of characters in the HTML source code, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage:
Code-to-text ratio = (Visible text characters ÷ Total HTML characters) × 100
For example, if your page has 3,000 characters of visible text and 15,000 characters of HTML code, your code-to-text ratio would be 20%.
Generally, a good code-to-text ratio falls between 25-70%. Ratios below 10% are considered poor, potentially indicating a page that's code-heavy but content-light. However, these benchmarks can vary depending on the type of website and its purpose.
Why does code-to-text ratio matter for SEO?
Code-to-text ratio matters for several key reasons. First, it can affect page loading speed—excessive code can slow down rendering time, negatively impacting user experience and potentially hurting search rankings. Second, search engines crawl HTML to understand page content; a cleaner ratio helps them more efficiently parse what your page is about. Third, pages with higher proportions of valuable text content relative to code may signal quality and relevance to search algorithms.
The ratio also serves as an indicator of code bloat. Unnecessary JavaScript, inline CSS, or redundant markup can dilute the content signal search engines receive. When crawlers have to wade through excessive code to find meaningful content, it potentially diminishes the perceived value of that content.
How can you improve your code-to-text ratio?
Improving your code-to-text ratio involves both increasing valuable content and streamlining your code:
Minimize external scripts by combining multiple JavaScript files and removing unused code. Place scripts at the bottom of your HTML or use async/defer attributes to improve loading performance. Externalize CSS and JavaScript instead of using inline styles and scripts. Move these to separate files that can be cached by browsers.
Remove unnecessary markup, especially nested divs that serve no functional purpose. Modern CSS can often achieve layouts with fewer container elements. Eliminate commented-out code, whitespace, and other developer artifacts that add to file size without benefiting users.
Most importantly, focus on creating substantial, valuable content. The most effective way to improve your ratio is simply to include more meaningful text that serves your visitors' needs.
Is code-to-text ratio still relevant for modern SEO?
While code-to-text ratio isn't explicitly confirmed as a direct ranking factor by major search engines, it remains relevant as a diagnostic metric that reflects other important aspects of technical SEO. Modern search algorithms have become more sophisticated in how they evaluate content quality, but the fundamental principle remains: search engines want to deliver pages with valuable content, not code soup.
Today's emphasis on page experience metrics like Core Web Vitals has actually reinforced the importance of clean, efficient code. A bloated code-to-text ratio often correlates with poor loading performance, which directly impacts rankings through these newer metrics.
That said, code-to-text ratio should be viewed as one component of a comprehensive technical SEO strategy rather than a standalone focus. It's more valuable as an indicator of potential issues than as a target metric to optimize in isolation.