Are tables OK in e-commerce sites?

[Lael]

I know that for best results with search engines, tables should not be used.  However as I look to redesign our older e-commerce site, I find that not only our website but many other e-commerce sites use tables. Is it acceptable to use tables in e-commerce or am I just viewing outdated e-commerce sites.  Could you recommend a good shopping cart solution? We currently use volusion.

Thanks for your time and see you in Boston next week!

[fenderseo]

If you're redesigning your site, why not switch to using DIVs? As far as I've read, there's no direct "penalty" for using tables, but tables to generally involve much more code to accomplish what DIV tags and CSS could do in much less code, which means your pages will load faster, which is something google takes into consideration when ranking. Not to mention that CSS layouts are much easier to customize, and can give your site a much cleaner and newer look.

Chances are if you're seeing other ecommerce sites using tables they are simply using outdated shopping carts, but if you're going to take the time to redesign your site, why not do it the future-proof way using CSS?

[Entrusteddev]

Tables are designed to display tabular data, not to be used for site design layout.

Though Google doesn't penalise you for it, Its an ancient way of coding, which may result in a 'Low Quality' signal.

As Marcus and EGOL mention, its best to avoid using table for layout, but they are fine for detailing information which may require a table format.

Regards

Aran

[Marcus_Miller]

Hey,

I don't believe that the search engines can penalise based on this at the moment and I am sure I have heard Matt Cutts from Google talk about this at some point so I would not worry about it too much. It's the content that is important rather than the tools used to put that content online.

That said, with the current push towards 'quality sites' tables are a very old hat way of doing things and are not exactly mobile friendly. If you are looking at building something from the ground up then try to avoid HTML tables if you can with an eye towards the future.

Cheers
Marcucs

[EGOL]

I don't believe that tables count against you in the search engines.

My sites are heavy with tables and they are hard to beat in their niche.

I compete in both retail and information SERPs.

I have never heard or read any information directly from a search engine company that says they reduce rankings of sites built with tables.

Building sites without tables has its advantages.   For new sites and redesigns it would be best to use CSS options instead of tables but has nothing to do with search engines.