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<p>&nbsp;</p> or <br />

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by dj_gie, Apr 5, 2007.

  1. #1
    I would like to start a SEO discussion on <br /> and <p>&nbsp;</p> for line spaces.
    What would be better to use in regards to SEO?

    Does it have any effect at all?

    I was thinking that using <p>&nbsp;</p> wouldn't be good because the paragraph doesn't contain any content so Search engines may not like this.

    What's better? Line break or non spacing break.
     
    dj_gie, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  2. bochgoch

    bochgoch Peon

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    #2
    Not sure there's any difference from a SEO perspective.

    From a standards perspective you should use <br> or <br /> depending on your doctype.
     
    bochgoch, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  3. sukantab

    sukantab Well-Known Member

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    #3
    From SEO perspective it doesn't matter if you use <p> or <BR>.

    So Page break, Line break or non spacing break doesn't affect your site's SEO.
     
    sukantab, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  4. uttoransen

    uttoransen Prominent Member

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    #4
    only thing that matters from the seo point of view is,
    if a tag is opened, it must be closed. that's it!:D
     
    uttoransen, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  5. jgjg

    jgjg Peon

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    #5
    I like br 10x better. I never understood why there where always so many p tags in WYSWYG editors like DW and Frontpage
     
    jgjg, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  6. KC TAN

    KC TAN Well-Known Member

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    #6
    I would say there is no difference in both cases :)
     
    KC TAN, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  7. ShiftChip

    ShiftChip Well-Known Member

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    #7
    <br> tags are empty tags... so it has no end tag.
     
    ShiftChip, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  8. JochenVandeVelde

    JochenVandeVelde Peon

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    #8
    In XHTML 'empty tags' like BR such be closed like this: <br />. I don't think this has any effect on rankings.
     
    JochenVandeVelde, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  9. deedeedum

    deedeedum Peon

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    #9
    no difference
     
    deedeedum, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  10. mrjonman

    mrjonman Peon

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    #10
    Could you elaborate on the difference between <br> and <br /> a bit further? I guess I don't understand the difference in doctypes.

    Thanks!

    John
     
    mrjonman, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  11. mdvaldosta

    mdvaldosta Peon

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    #11
    As far as SEO goes, I doubt it matters. My money would be on whichever method takes us less code, therefore <br /> would be the way to go.
     
    mdvaldosta, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  12. d16man

    d16man Well-Known Member

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    #12
    I agree with everyone in saying that it doesn't really matter...but if you are looking to code something quick and efficient that go for the <br>.
     
    d16man, Apr 5, 2007 IP
    GTech likes this.
  13. MTbiker

    MTbiker Well-Known Member

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    #13
    <br> is fine in HTML, but XHTML requires every tag to be closed. Hence its use of the self-closing tag <br/>.
     
    MTbiker, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  14. deques

    deques Peon

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    #14
    I use <br /> for only row breaks
    <p> is good for paragraphs since it breaks apart paragraphs. empty <p> is stupid, dont use
     
    deques, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  15. prof_site

    prof_site Peon

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    #15
    100% agree!!:)
     
    prof_site, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  16. Kalyse

    Kalyse Peon

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    #16
    There is definately a difference.

    <br> is definately stronger.
    Dont use <p> for a line break. not only is it not what its for, but it will increase your code to content ratio.
     
    Kalyse, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  17. Felu

    Felu Peon

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    #17
    There is not much difference between both. I'd say use <br /> for line breaks and <p></p> for paragraphs, new content, etc.
     
    Felu, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  18. zenite

    zenite Peon

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    #18
    i use <p></p> (w/o the &nbsp;) for my site as a divider. the hr tag shows up funny in IE and FF/Netscape (no colour change, height difference..etc). so i have to use background image attribute (CSS) in my p tag. doesn't really affects anything though.
     
    zenite, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  19. dj_gie

    dj_gie Peon

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    #19
    Some good point here.

    I agree with Kalyse Comment below:

     
    dj_gie, Apr 12, 2007 IP
  20. jl255

    jl255 Well-Known Member

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    #20
    don't understand why would someone think that <p>, &nbsp or <br> affect SEO? Is there a reason for this suspicion?
     
    jl255, Apr 12, 2007 IP