While there can be no argument over the benefits of CSS stylesheets in opposition to inline styling, there is still a great deal of controversy over the adoption of new web site design layout.

On the one hand we have the tried and trusted method of Web page creation using Tables and on the other we have the contemporary method of using DIV's. The core problem is which method to use? Which method is better?

Web Development purists in London will argue for complete and full adoption of W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), which means only using DIV tags to build and layout your website pages. There are a few major points they use to back up their argument, most of which surround and support SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

The Benefits of using DIV's

?The DIV tags original purpose is for the design and layout of website content.

?Using DIV's means less code needed to construct a webpage, which means less code for a search bot to navigate through. This means quicker and more comprehensive indexing of your website. ?Content is King? for search bots.

?Because of the ?Top down? method in which data is displayed in the website page, search engines are able to search and rank the importance of your content on your webpage.

But the ideas of the are being challenged by industry professionals who claim that DIV layouts are simply not robust enough. Their major arguments for using Tables focus around Web browser compatibility.

The Benefits of using Tables

?The Table tag and its properties are universal across most if not all web browsers, meaning less technical ?work-arounds? to make your design display properly. This means more time is spent on improving designs than trying to make designs simply display correctly.

?Table layouts allow the designer a level of measurement and accuracy which is difficult to obtain with a full DIV implementation.

?Tables make creating a visually intensive design easier. Why? Because what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) as Tables set out content in a manner that is visually logical to the human eye.

So, back to the question, which method to use and which method is better?

Each website design or web development project should be evaluated for its needs and purposes before building can begin. You have to ask yourself what is most important for this site.

Most website builds have one major focus. This focus is either economic, informative or visually extravagant. All good websites contain elements of all three but tend to put emphasis on one of these areas.

Economic Focus

Economically driven websites focus heavily on driving traffic to their website in order to sell goods. These sites need great SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and tend to use the latest technologies to give them the edge. In this case using DIV tags for structure would increase the overall of this site and could potentially offer a better solution than a Table layout.

Information Focus

Informative sites tend to have a great deal of content which is usually dynamic and populated from an integrated CMS (Content Management System). Your template needs to be malleable enough to expand with changing content. In this case using a combination of Tables and DIV's is not a bad solution. Using Tables to setup a strong outer structure which will be cross browser compatible and using DIV tags within the Table structure to minimize the ?code clutter? and give the site a little boost in SEO.

Visually Extravagant Focus

Everyone's favorite kind of website. This type of website focuses on the visual impact on the user. Sites like these can be very intricate and building a website that doesn't compromise the original design is vital. This style of website also needs to look good in all browsers. Using Tables would be the best approach for intricate designs because of its robust nature, browser compatibility and its ability to be precise.

In all three of the above cases there are a hundred counter arguments for using only DIV's or only Tables. But before you tear your hair out over which method to use, remember that what this all boils down to is what is best for the client. As a website designer and builder your responsibility is to produce a website that fulfils their needs on time and on budget to the best of your abilities.

No one ever said there couldn't be a compromise between Tables and DIV's.