Comments on: Why not tables? Is CSS really better?

By: Nashville

Nashville — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:53:14 +0000

“For questions having to do with ranking on Google, that’s a good place to go. However, this issue really doesn’t have anything to do with ranking — it has to do with information processing. Google talked about it in a blog post: using named anchors.”

Excellent and very timely. Thanks so much.

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:12:04 +0000

For questions having to do with ranking on Google, that’s a good place to go. However, this issue really doesn’t have anything to do with ranking — it has to do with information processing. Google talked about it in a blog post: using named anchors.

They aren’t specifically using headers; but headers are the best way of delineating the anchored sections of a page discussed in the Google blog post for many reasons.

By: Nashville

Nashville — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:12:45 +0000

Thanks for your answer, and thanks for the information on this page. It is very helpful.

You said, “Already, Google is making use of page headers with internal anchors to provide quick access to information..” I wonder if you could point me to the source of this info? I tend to send folks who have questions on Google page ranking to http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#3. I’m not seeing anything in there regarding page headers or anchor tags. Is there a better source for this info?

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:30:20 +0000

Code which semantically represents the content appropriately provides better information for machine translation: screen readers, braille readers, or other methods of information discovery. Already, Google is making use of page headers with internal anchors to provide quick access to information which is found at a greater page depth than the top of the page - this is an example of semantic discovery.

Since all visitors are using some form of information translator to access web sites, using semantic sense in your code can provide users with a benefit.

By: Nashville

Nashville — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:32:08 +0000

“Writing code well *might* be better for search engines, but is definitely better for visitors. I advocate the use of CSS-based layouts, on the grounds that they are semantically more appropriate for site design.”

How does being “semantically more appropriate” help visitors?

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:49:00 +0000

That point has pretty much been gone over, although not in this discussion — and the answer is ‘not a lot.’ There are those who might argue that CSS has a benefit due to load speed or code to content ratios, but in fact this is a specious argument — even if these ‘benefits’ did have a significant effect on SEO. Load speed and code to content ratios are really the effect of good coding practices, not your choice of layout elements.

Writing code well *might* be better for search engines, but is definitely better for visitors. I advocate the use of CSS-based layouts, on the grounds that they are semantically more appropriate for site design.

By: Dalan

Dalan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:39:44 +0000

No one seems to have touched on a point that was brought up by the guy who started the forum discussion, that is, what effect to tables or CSS have on SEO. I am a business major, but specifically I am fascinated by internet marketing, and specifically SEO. Is CSS really “better” for search engines? I am just beginning to teach myself website development through YouTube tutorials and online discussions (such as this one). I would like to teach myself the best (if there is one) way to build a site for business. What are your thoughts?

By: Taina P. // Sitegrinder

Taina P. // Sitegrinder — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:40:50 +0000

Hmmm. Thought-provoking, I must say. I myself use tables most of the time, I am not that familiar and comfortable with doing table-like outputs using CSS. Mostly I use CSS for the style and design, but as for the actual layout, I go for the tables. I might just try to create a CSS layout in the future. Nice read, keep it up.

By: bean

bean — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:50:40 +0000

It is surprising to see unobjectionable reporting, fox, cnn…. could get lessons from this article. I too use tables (for my header and footer layout) and CSS (for the main content in order to put the content before tthe side column). Great article keep up the good work.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:39:15 +0000

Rarely do I get a chance to read one of these articles that is not one side bashing the other. Thank you for that. I use both tables and CSS floats. It has the advantage of cross browser support, easily editable, W3C validated and was a breeze to design.