CSS sites just list better

[NuBlue]

Hi All,

Not getting the exposure you expected from your website? Try a CSS coded site and see the difference for yourself.

I work for a web design studio in Lancs, UK. We have recently changed the way we design sites from standard HTML to CSS,XHTML sites. So far the difference in our site rankings is phenominal. So much so that I thought we should share it in this forum.

Anyone thinking about starting a company or if you already have one should consider having a site made/remade in CSS to make a real difference to your search engine visibility.

Unlike standard HTML, all the code relating to the style of a page is in a seperate CSS (cascading style sheet) document. This means that when your site is found by search engine spiders, they only find the actual written content and not all the mumbo jumbo that goes with it, making your site look more relevant and more proffesional. give it a go and see for yourself!

Good Luck

 

[Richard Conyard]

Nice site

Andy Budd (http://www.andybudd.com/) does a nice run on CSS + a list of companies that have adopted this route.

 

[kyber]

Nice to see you here. I do tend to rant and rave a bit about web developers announcing themselves on this forum and demonstrating little or no skill and application on their home website of webstandards, decent copy, effective layouts. Nice looking site you have

Certainly, using CSS and simplifying HTML does help the search engines. Search Engine Optimisation goes much further of course considering not just the visual presentation and streamlined markup but the ordering or elements and the impact of keywords and phrases amongst other things.

For many, the most important thing that CSS can facillitate is accesibility. Of course, some developers can still make a site hard to use for potential clients with poor eyesight, limited motor coordination, etc.

Your point may well attact the wallet. Well designed CSS sites generally do better in the seatch engines, service a wider range of customers and are generally cheaper and easier to maintain.

Stuart

 

[JoyDivision]

I am just starting a web development company and I would not dream of making a site in anything other than XHTML and CSS.

I made a site for my parents which complies WCAG AA and W3C XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2.0 standards.

There was no browser problems at all, it works properly in every browser I have tested with including my £20 mobile phone!

I can't believe that only a year ago I was making table based sites. They seem so wrong in every way now.

So I echo your comments, XHTML and CSS is the way to go. I don't use HTML 4.0 now either as it lets you get away with too much.

 

[SmallBizSoftware]

For clarity, for those not familiar with CSS, Mike is talking about external css not inline or embedded css which does not do too much for SEO.

As well as SEO, CSS allows for more accurate placement of objects in the browser window without the need for invisible images or tables within tables.

External css usually means that your site loads quicker as the common css file shared between pages is only downloaded once.

Anyone who wants a good read could do worse than HTML Utopia, designing without tables from Sitepoint. If you wanted to you could visit my site and click thorugh to Amazon from the link at the bottom of the page

 

[ChrisOrm]

One of the reasons that CSS driven sites appear higher is that when the spiders read the code it gets mainly content, not much coding and therefore it increases the relavancy of the page.

It's not really a consideration of CSS but it is a side benefit. We also now only do CSS sites and although we got decent rankings before have noticed a much higher chance of good rankings, especially on MSN. In fact, the last 4 sites we have done have appeared top for keyword searches within 5 weeks of the site going live.

CSS is definately the way forward, I'm not sure if it would be worth re-writing a site to use CSS only if one exists though, has anyone done this?

Chris