Using tables in html

[PCTechGuy2012]

I have a question about tables in html.I heard that you shouldnt use tables in html,you should should use css instead.Ive used free html templates that use tables but those tables are styled through css:td,th,table and other table elements are ale styled through css.I'm curious is this ok for SEO or should tables should be dropped altogether?

Thanks for your response

[PCTechGuy2012]

Thanks that explains it succinctly!

[soltec]

In the early years of the internet, tables were the best options for controlling the layout of a webpage.  CSS changed that; layout should be controlled by div & CSS.

Table can be styled like any other html tag.  The problem with tables and more importantly with tables, within tables, within tables eta, is that the order of the content show on the screen is different to the order they are listed in the html.  This can cause problems for search engine bots and with screen readers.

There are still places for tables, when you are displaying tabular data for example.

For Google and Bing the order of links within html is important and the further down the page the less significant they are (with all other factors being equal). The use of tables for design layout may cause important links to be treated less important than you would like.

I hope this answers your question.