A text/HTML Content-Type is an internet media type and a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. The Content-Type representation header indicates an original media type of the resource. It provides the client with the actual video, image, audio, or other media. This type of header is a recommendation rather than a requirement.
If you want to learn more about this element of a website or webpage, check out the video by dcode below.
Do you want to skim through written content instead? You can also read about what Content-Type representation headers are and their roles within a website by checking out this page.
What Does “Invalid Content-Type” Mean?
When coding a website, you can’t ignore problems. If you see this error, it means that the linked text, image, audio, video, font, model, or application isn’t a valid MIME or does not match the type of content.
When this occurs, the tag will not display anything on your webpage. It also means that the browser, search engine, or another web client can’t process the data because it lacks the appropriate representative header.
What Triggers This Issue?
As mentioned, the issue gets triggered when the HTML header isn’t a valid MIME. For example, the content might be an image, but it isn’t a common media type accepted or readable to websites and search engines.
How To Check the Issue
The best way to know if the file or entry matches the data returned is to check if the data shows up on the webpage. You know the header is ineffective or not operational if the image, video, audio, text, model, application, or other content/media doesn’t show up on your webpage.
Also, you can try Sitechecker. This tool tracks pages that have content-type other than text/html. You can easily find this issue after auditing your site.
By selecting the issue, you can view a list of all the impacted pages.
Is your content being displayed correctly?
Ensure your page has the right Content-Type for optimal web performance.
Why Is This Important?
The web clients need to process the header properly. However, for this to occur, the Content-Type header needs to match the data returned by the URL.
For example, let’s say you included an application link in the URL with a Content-Type text/HTML; it will appear as a broken link on your webpage or fail to load. After all, it is not text. The proper text to write is application/octet-stream, application/pdf, or application/zip.
How To Fix the Issue
The best way to fix invalid Content-Type errors is to check all the URLs and make sure they match. Also, make sure all the Content-Types are valid MIME types. If this isn’t the case, replace the image source or src attribute with an image URL of a valid Content-Type.
