Does google hate "tables"?
Submitted by tidhar on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 21:49.
Hey
Almost all of my pages have 2-3 main tables so that graphics will display where i want them to. (I know it's maybe kinda old fashion.... but it works for me....)
I also work with joomla.
When i opened my adwords account it suggested to scan my site for suggested words, and i said this will be interesting, so i press the button and all i get is a bunch of joomla related keywords
needless to say my site is'nt at all about joomla, and my site is about 3 landing pages + 3 comparison pages + 5 articles + all other nessecary contacts etc, so....
Did the scan ignor all my data because of the tables?
The tables are'nt that complicated, just 3-4 main really big tabs, usually one for a text and next to it the graphics....
thanks
I wonder if there are a bunch of Joomla related images and comments in your source code? Have you had a chance to look under the hood?
The first version of Joomla templates were pretty bad (before 1.5). Most Joomla 1.5+ templates use CSS for layout, rather than tables, which makes them render faster, and have less markup code in the HTML.
Thanks for the quick reply
Well, I'm pretty new to all of this, started using Joomla a week ago... so don't really know how to "look under the hood" yet :)
the only way i know how to align graphics and text nice and tidy is threw tables... so if I realize now it's a "no-no" as far as optimization go, I will need to learn other ways to do that I suppose....
Do you think it's because of the tables I made? or can I be relaxed in this regard?
Thanks again for the fast reply!
I think CSS is the only way to go for layout. It's hard to break the tables habit, but well worth it in the long run. I was like you and used tables for everything for the first 5 years of my web development career, but once I started using CSS for layout I never looked back.
Best,
Jeremy
Joomla comes pre-installed with all of its meta data and whatnot populated with Joomla-centric info. You'll have to very conscious to change all meta tags as well as add proper keywords to your articles if you're using Joomla. I've worked with Joomla a fair amount and, to tell you the truth, I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be. It's pretty slow and the back end can be confusing. And yes, the layout is all tables-based which is not very future-proof. Plus, you have to rewrite all of your URLs to make them SEO-friendly. I would suggest getting a good Joomla book if you want to get serious with it. It looks deceptively easy but is, in my opinion, pretty complicated.
CSS is a steep learning curve that just keeps going up but it's really amazing what can be done with it especially as newer browser versions come out that support more of its advanced aspects. If you can wean yourself off the tables habit, a whole new world of possibilities will open up. Tables are getting less and less useful as SEO begins to play more of a role and sites get more competitive for top rankings in on-page factors. CSS is a big part of that new wave.
1. Joomla 1.5 is now css based, however I'm going with Drupal for my next site as I feel it is the better option for a CMS.
2. I really don't think CSS is all that hard to learn, once you play with it a little bit, you get a feel for what you are doing and Dreamweaver makes it all that much easier. Then again, This could be because When I started editing code, I did nothing but CSS.
Also, CSS makes your pages load faster when used as an external file.
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tidhar, send me the link and I'll take a look. COuld be in some meta info or alt/title tags.
got twitter?
www.twitter.com/kensavage