All web browsers are not developed equally. View your site through different browsers and screen resolutions; you will see how your visitors will view your web site.

A good way to see how your web site will look through various browsers is to download and install a copy of various browsers like Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla Firefox etc.

CSS provides powerful ways to control the appearance of a page— but also leads to serious browser incompatibilities. You can limit these problems by using the HTML 4.01 Strict document type. When you design in “strict mode,” Internet Explorer 6 and above will show behavior much closer to that of Firefox, Safari and other modern browsers. But only if you specify the strict DOCTYPE at the very top of your page.

Otherwise, Internet Explorer runs in a “quirks mode” where it attempts to emulate the behavior of older browsers. Strict mode greatly improves cross-browser consistency of page layout even with Internet Explorer 6, and with Internet Explorer 7, compatibility is further improved although Microsoft unfortunately failed to implement the entire standard.

Strict mode does introduce some changes that may come as a surprise to those who have designed only for Internet Explorer in the past, without testing their pages in browsers like Firefox that aim to be standards-compliant even without a DOCTYPE. You can learn more about the differences by reading about quirks mode and strict mode on the excellent website www.quirksmode.org.

AnyBrowser – Provides a variety of free services for your web site, including browser compatibility testing, link check, HTML check, meta tag creator and more.

Make sure you view your first web page in different browsers and screen resolutions. Once you get it looking great for everyone, you can use it as a template for the rest of your web site. This technique can save your a lot time.

Head SEO, Marketing at AIT India




Image taken on 2010-04-17 21:30:52. Image Source. (Used with permission)