CSS and SEO?

how can css be used in terms of SEO?

 

Seems to be a lot of posts on this. Here's my take on it.

Good 'on page optomisation' does not have to be done in css - it can be done with tables as well. But there are many benefits for switching to a css layout - not all are SEO related.

First off the NON SEO bonuses of using css

1. In most cases you will use much less bandwidth for your site
   - leads to faster loading pages
   - saves you money on bandwidth
2. It's easier to update the look / style of your site

SEO bonuses

1. It encourages you to use good semantic markup
2. You can choose what order to show your content in
   - this can be done with tables as well - but it's less elegent
3. You can remove all styles and see how your page looks to pure text readers (like spiders)
4. At the moment Google still seems to be ignoring display:none
   - so if you want to stuff your page with hidden content you can

The main benefits as I see them is the lower bandwidth use, faster page loading and ability to position your page content before your navigation within your html code.

 

so in terms of improving actual SERP rankings, the effects are minimal?

 

I would say that there would be no reason to think that just because a site uses a tableless design it would rank better.

But making a good tableless site does (for me) help make sure that to start with I am using <h> tags, that they are in the right order, and that my content is higher up in my html code.

Other than that there is no SEO benefit as far as I can tell - it's also the opinion of many others on dp

 

I don't think there is any seo benefit from using css rather than tables.

I DO think there is a benefit from using css to get rid of the huge amounts of font tags that seem to be prevelant in lots of non-handcoded sites.
It makes sense that if your code is smaller you have a higher percentage of good content per page. Remove all the rubbish and let the good bits stand out.

 

There are two truths that I know of SEO.

1. SEO is a game of inches. Every little bit helps, including having your indexable content higher in the HTML source and having fewer font tags and embedded tables cluttering up your HTML.
2. Spiders are lazy - the sooner they see the more important content on the site the better.