Good morning all: I thought I’d stir things up a bit on a discussion we’ve been having internally on designing with tables vs div’s. We have traditionally used tables and table cells because we’re doing some pretty interactive stuff with multimedia and PHP/MySQL. We’ve talked about the SEO aspects or impact, div’s being a little harder to or slower to design/develop with (which might be dis-info) because someone prefers designing with tables… I know of course each have their benefits in a given scenario. I’d just be interested in some general feedback. Thanks.

What is it you want to know exactly?  Div’s use up less code so will be easier on your Bandwidth and may also help with SEO as your code will be less muddled when a search engine spider comes to visit.  They can be a bit more of a pain to code with as you need to specify the div properties in your css file but once you have a few template sites done it doesnt take too much longer.

Like I said, just wanted to open up some discussion on the subject. I’m relying on my develpers’ feedback exclusively and I wanted some other opinions. My primary focus is that we are doing everything we can to make sure our client’s sites work as efficiently as possible and are as friendly to the spiders as possible, so I appreciate any input on the subject. I’ve not read that Div’s are better as far as SEO goes? That’s interesting…

In my opinion DIV is much better than Table. Divs are light weight, simple and more seo friendly than tables.

So a second vote for Divs. Thanks Zoozle.

Divs are the only decent way of designing a website (in my opinion), being lightweight and offering more support from more browsers. Additionally, it is easier to organize your content, so you can easily move things around. Tables, on the other hand, are meant to display data rather than content. As a result they will tend to stay in the form of Table, Table Row, Table Cell, Table Cell, Table Row, Table Cell, and Table Cell. Misuse of tables for layout usually just makes things harder for designers and increases the size of files.

I also prefer divs to tables. Tables are used for tabular data and should not be used to layout websites. While learning curve might be steep, it will pay off in the end.

Here is why I prefer to use divs: accessibility, search engine optimization, bandwidth, and easier maintenance in the long run (don’t have to waddle through all the trs and tds).

Hope this helps,

Anna Vester

tables are for tabular data period.
avoid for layout, or you are to put it simply, “a total noob”.

Agree also easier output for mobile, PDA,  etc
Ease maintenance en style updates, better for SEO and better for disabled people who use different screenreaders.

Coming from an SEO background the definite answer is Tableless design.  The main advantages is the savings for Google not having to duplicate your design in its cached which can add up quickly.  And the main reason is to get your content higher up in the document giving it more value to the search engines.  Cheers.

Thanks loads everyone for the ever candid feedback. Looks like it’s safe to say DIV’s win this debate.

*GrinZ*  Your going to enjoy CSS… and when I say enjoy I mean the way you enjoy pulling out your hair :)  Just wait until you get knee deep in IE6 display bugs (there are around 8 good ones).  But we’re here to help :)

My opinion: You should try to use div´s only. But if you need a real table, for example for sports-highscores etc. - then use tables, because that is, what they where made for :)

Useful Discussion. I vote for Divs. Websites designed without tables loads fast. Fast loading of website is primary requirement. Use tables only when it is necessary to present tabular data.

div! div s a lot better, it may be harder to do, but it will be so worth it… also, i tend to notice that tables dont load very fast…

I also vote for div’s :)