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After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Div tags vs. Tables
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Is there any reason NOT to code in tables (other than it being outdated) for SEO reasons?
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Tables render slightly slower than divs, but it's not the end of the world. In general, you should avoid tables unless you're working with actual tabular data, but if tables make your life easier they're not going to have much impact on SEO, if any.
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Typically table layouts takes up more code than div layouts (and thus increase load times). Faster websites typically rank higher (with all things being equal),
See Matt Cutts video on the subjected (though--pretty old).
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Using tables in your HTML will produce a poor mobile experience. Because the world is moving more towards mobile everyday, we can't ignore it, and neither can search engines.
I don't think search engines will punish you for having table tags in your HTML, but if your site is consistently producing high bounce rates from mobile users - you're not really winning are you.
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