Is a website designed with a CSS-based layout more SEO friendly than a table based layout?

I was expecting Matt to say, yes in fact there are reasons CSS+XHTML works better for SEO.  He did not.  He basically said, use whatever works best for you. WOW.  Okay here are the problems I have with that:

1.) Less code = quicker load –   That’s right, less code means the page will load faster for both users and searchbots.  Tables tend to be riddled with td=align and a host of other tags that add up rapidly and throw off the content:code ratio. That translates to a less-then-stellar experience for both users and search engines and in the case of the latter with more time spent on each page less time can be spent indexing the rest of the website.

The ‘whatever works best for you’ logic is dangerous.  SEO aside, it’s all about the user’s experience and what’s best for the user.  Last time I checked a shorter load time is definitely appreciated by the average surfer.

With all that extra code comes a greater percentage of error.  Not closing a tag or forgetting a quote can create some interesting visual and content anomalies not only for the user but for the search engines.

2.) Placement on the page  – CSS allows us to place the more important content at the top of the code regardless of where it is on the page.  We know that content closer to the top of the page gets higher priority so why not utilize that knowledge.  I’m not trying to suggest gaming the engines by manipulating the code, but if your content is on the right and navigation and ads are on the left shouldn’t you make sure your content is the first thing the search engines see?

3.)  Purpose and Intent -  Tables were created for 1 thing and 1 thing only: displaying tabular data.  Then one infamous day we realized we could ‘hide’ the table with border=0 and the rest is history.  Here is a great look at how bloated tables are inherently and how needless table positioned websites are.

Despite all of this, Google claims to treat table and CSS-p the same regardless.  My opinion is that the claim made by Matt is misleading – the intrinsic value CSS positioned sites have over table sites make it by default a better option for SEO.

Analyzing your current store of incoming links for both anchor text optimization as well as optimization of the page itself is key to maximizing your ROI. Too often a link looks like this:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun! Check it out here.

Yes, you do have an incoming link that they are probably not going to no-follow and yes it is surrounded by relevant text, but there is so much more SEO to be mined. Wouldn’t this be brilliant:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun!

Of course, that might be a bit of a stretch to request but it’s worth a shot. Think about it, it’s easier for the visitor of their site to see exactly what is being referred to. However, The following version, while not as perfect as the one just mentioned is still hands down a better option than the original:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun! Check them out at My Wedding Favors.

You see the benefit in having keywords within the link, that’s a no-brainer. This however is where the finesse needs to comes in. You need to pay attention to a little thing called diversity. Keeping your anchor text varying is important.

Think diversity with your anchor text. Natural is the key.

For example what looks more natural? Having 400 out of 600 incoming links identical (My Wedding Favors) or 100 links that read ‘My Wedding Favors’, another 100 ‘ Wedding Favors Online’, another 50 ‘Unity Candles’, and so on and so forth? The answer is obvious, you must keep the phrase natural link building in mind all the time because 2/3rds of your incoming anchor text being identical is NOT natural.

Now that you know how to better make use of that link here comes the hard part: requesting the change of text. The best bet is to a.) catch the link early (as I’ve found people are more apt with making a change to recently posted content) and b.) practice your best manners. Remember there is no intrinsic benefit to the individual so keep that in mind.

Treat the request as a favor and maybe even trade. Use your knowledge of SEO to offer them some free advice. Give them a specific tip to help them, and remember as their website benefits your link value on that page increases: win-win.

And that segues perfectly into my next point: examine the on page optimization and off site promotion of the page that contains your incoming link. Now, some of you may be thinking why should I waste time doing optimization and promotion for a page I don’t own. The answer is simple: while you may not own the page you will benefit from the page. The more ‘link juice’ a page has the more it can pass on. Not many people consider that in their optimization strategy. Making the most out of a link doesn’t simply mean anchor text anchor text anchor text, you need to incorporate a little bit of promotion. And who knows, the owner may notice that page is doing well and offer you more links in exchange for more optimization or maybe you’ll earn a new SEO consultant contract out of it. And in all of this, your link gets more and more credability and passes more and more link juice. It’s win-win-win.