Is there a big SEO advantage to switching to CSS from table layout? Most of my pages are light and get to content quickly but I may want to position some content higher in the source code while keeping it positioned in the lower or right part of the page. I'd also be interested in making sure some of my outbound links are seen by search engines but they may not because they are at the bottom of a text heavy page. Am I correct in thinking I can help my self in SEO by using CSS for my layout?
Its not really a big advantage because the google bot ignores the tables anyway. But you can do some neat stuff with the CSS layers. Still, nothing big and css isnt a big deal with seo.
i think 1 of the big advantages is the positioning of text capability. the first lines of HTML can be the most search critical, yet they can be in a spot of less importance ... it's easy to make the content people see first ... the very last in the code ... of course, if you feel you need this edge. MSN eats up well formed CSS ... i've created and ranked sites in top 3 on MSN with ease ... BEFORE getting inbound links ... but that was moslty pre-beta ... if it's changes that much in this regard since ... i can't say.
CSS (if used properly) can dramatically shorten the amount of code you have in a document... highly recommended by me.
heck yeah ... all my pages are sub 15K before images ... and they aren't bare. toss the JS in a file ... use div tags for layout ... it's amazing.
I think toddieg points out the biggest benefit, size. If you can use CSS to layout the vast majority of your page(s) then you will likely have much less HTML and more content per page...and the pages will much much smaller.
CSS can help to position content more exactly on the source code page but it usually doesn't matter. It will probably all get indexed.
I could be barking up the wrong tree but I was under the impression that SEs don't like layers. Something to do with being a hang over from the spam technique of hidden text. Has anybody had experience with this? -s.
Yeah ... For SEO , CSS does not have an impact. But for USEABILITY, a tableless design, features less kb, more organized source and maybe less work afterwards
I assume that you are talking about using <h1> tags for keywords and having then look like normal text via an external stylesheet. I thought google an co were smarter than that. WEB CEO warns against such things as using tiny text via a style sheet. If you know of other ways of spamming and not being caught I'm listening - for purely theoritical purposes. -s.
css has an advantage for on page opt ... with css you can put the most important spider content in the top of the page, but have it appear anyway you want for a user. you can also put you css file in a folder that your robots page shows has disallowed ... i guess that would allow you to trick the robots.txt compliant machines until a human comes across ... if they ever did ... and even if they did ... do you think they are gonna bust out a pixel ruler and measure all the sites suspect? or even CSS cloak. but i think that's giving search engines too much credit. css is the future, on MSN you can clean house with it. i've gotten sites in #1 slots using CSS & good seo design alone prior to MSN's official launch. not sure if it's still that easy.
Yep, I agree with those who advocate css use as part of an overall seo strategy. It not only gives you the ability to position data (as seen by bots), it also reduces markup to content ratios. Ratios are not all that significant until you are using small amounts of content per page on a large site, but quite relevant when you are working with say a directory site, with not too much content to go around. One of my all time favourite scripts (directory wise) is biz directory script - for exactly that reason. Cheers, JL