Sunday, February 20, 2011

Optimizing table tag, using summary attribute


You might have often heard from search engine optmizers (SEO) that table tags are not a good thing to go for. They always recommend using <div> tag for structuring a website. Well I will also recommend <div> tag instead of <table> tag, but what to do when it becomes necessary to use <table> tag. Can we optimize it, if yes then how?

So here is the way to optimize <table> tag and get best results out of it in terms of getting good search engine rankings.

Use "summary" attribute, it serve the same purpose which "alt" attribute serve for image (<img>) tag. The summary attribute specifies the summary of the content of a table and it makes no visual difference in ordinary web browsers. Table summary attribute also provide structure for user agents rendering to non-visual media such as speech and Braille.

One example:

<table SUMMARY="Red, green and blue cells" border=1>

<tr>
<td bgcolor=red>&nbsp;</td>
<td bgcolor=green>&nbsp;</td>
<td bgcolor=blue>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

</table>


Share and Discuss