View Full Version : div tags
cmcruz
12-06-2005, 03:33 PM
Hello,
I have a question regarding div tags. I am not very familiar w/ SEO, so please bear with me. :0)
We were working with an SEO firm and they suggested moving text up in our code using div tags and css so the text is crawled before everything else on the page.
My question is, is this OK to do? Or, could it possibly get us in trouble?
Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Christine
oddcomments
12-06-2005, 05:06 PM
It’s totally safe and won't get you in trouble ...and is generally a good idea. In fact, anything you do that will make your site more accessible (like switching from tables to css) is a positive move in regard to search engines. (See http://www.alistapart.com/articles/accessibilityseo)
Some firms get really fanatical about it, however, and move it up above the navigation. From personal experience, I don’t believe this is necessary. It generally cost a lot in developer and design time, and could possibly alert the search engines to the fact that you are trying to optimize your site ...although I doubt you would get any penalties for it.
The search engines main concern is that you are not trying to artificially inflate your ranking. Designing for accessibility does not do that. It just makes it easier for the search engines to get the data that is already there. In other words, it removes the obstacles.
Hope this helps.
seomike
12-06-2005, 05:47 PM
since divs can be given a z-index just make sure they don't start putting text under images. Or pushing text off page with -x or -y values :). Other than that you can manipulate the page however you'd like.
cmcruz
12-07-2005, 09:29 AM
Thanks for the speedy responses! I appreciate your insight. :0)
I will go ahead and take the div route. Thanks!
simons1321
12-08-2005, 04:49 PM
Westciv (http://www.westciv.com) has a great tutorial for CSS and lists all the benefits and cons of using CSS in web design. It does cost a bit of money, but its well worth it, especially if you want to design great looking sites that search engines(and your customers) will love, like the ones here (http://www.csszengarden.com)!