Q & A:
Upgrading to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Will Upgrading to CSS Help with SEO?
In Theory ...Yes. In reality ...Maybe. The Major Search Engines really are very good at getting to the data they want, no matter how it's wrapped, and the technology continues to improve.
But using External CSS does make sense:
- Style changes can be made quickly and easily, simply by editing a Cascading Style Sheets file.
- Using External Cascading Style Sheets does make for some tidier source code. And tidy code can make crawling and indexing a website faster and easier for Search Engine Bots and Spiders.
And, as Will Bontrager says in the excellent "Cascading Style Sheets (CSS); Getting Started" tutorial - "...making style changes to your site's web pages is not only quick and easy, but also fun."
Why Isn't Every Website Using CSS?
The Top Reasons why websites are slow to implement CSS include:
- Cross-browser compatibility issues - Different browsers will display the same defined element in different ways. This has always been an issue with HTML, and it is with CSS as well. And since CSS is 'newer', there may be issues with no solution or work-around, yet.
- A steep learning curve - If you're already used to hand-coding html, and perhaps have a OOP or Network Administrator background - Basic CSS is not too bad. Not surprisingly though, the further into CSS you delve, the more complex it becomes.
- "Cascading" styles - In Cascading Style Sheets - 'some' defined parameters 'can' be 'inherited' by elements below them on a page. There's many a web site designer who's harbored a few less than angelic thoughts about "Cascading Styles" while trying to track down the 'inherited' style error that just transformed their Website Masterpiece into an unreadable jumble of overlapping elements, images and malpositioned text.
Should I Upgrade to CSS?
I can answer that question in just one word. - "Probably"
There are many things to consider when making changes to your website - but, if your site needs a boost, is struggling to get indexed and listed in Search Engines, or if your just ready for a change - then Yes, by all means, upgrade your website to CSS.
DLPerry
dlperry.com
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Get this 3-Column CSS Layout here - FREE.
This 3-Column website layout includes Header, Footer, Navigation areas, and Ad Spaces.
External CSS is used to define website style elements including; page layout (columns, header, footer, etc.), background, colors, fonts, sizes, positioning, etc.
Changing design and layout elements can be done by editing a single CSS file.
Any Changes made in the CSS file are automatically applied to all pages of the website.
