WordPress.com Forums » Topic: SEO and WP themes

timethief on "SEO and WP themes"

timethief — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:38:48 +0000

@kobenland
Thank you for responding.

@hugskissesandsnot
You're welcome and happy theme hunting.

hugskissesandsnot on "SEO and WP themes"

hugskissesandsnot — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:32:22 +0000

Thanks for the info and the links. TT - I explored your site and watched the videos, they were great. They reinforced that I am on the right track.

For me, choosing a premium theme is about finding something that fits my personality. But since I would be paying for it I wanted to make sure I was making a good decision when I have to chose one other another.

Cheers!

kobenland on "SEO and WP themes"

kobenland — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:49:05 +0000

Howdy hugskissesandsnot,

I think timethief offered very good advice and you mentioned that you are also trying to maintain good SEO habits, which - in my opinion - is the most important part.

WordPress itself does a lot for SEO already: a rel=”canonical” link, rel=”prev” / rel=”next” links, an XML sitemap (this is yours), automatically sending notifications to Google with every post and page update, and much more - which really helps along with indexing your site and making it searchable.
Additionally - as timechief mentioned - the vast majority of (free) Themes on WordPress.com are also SEO optimized: microformat support, formatted titles, post/archive navigation, site structure, post title as the first anchor text, some even show a taxonomy description or have a breadcrumb.

So my number one advice on top of that would have been: Write regularly high quality content. But you already do that! :)

So here are two more things that might help you along:

Use Google's Webmaster Tools to learn more about how Google sees you site and how you can help to make it even more Google-friendly.
Claim authorship for your posts and let them stand out in the search results (may take a while for Google to adapt).

Hope this helps!

timethief on "SEO and WP themes"

timethief — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:25:10 +0000

I don't believe that purchasing a premium theme will "boost" your traffic or increase backlinks. Increasing traffic and earning backlinks is hard work. Social networking is strictly give, give, give to get. The most effective means of achieving both is submitting meaningful comments to blogs with similar content almost every day of the week.

These 5 videos introduce how Google discovers, crawls, indexes your site’s pages, and how Google displays them in search results. It also touches lightly upon challenges webmasters and search engines face, such as duplicate content http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/03/22/5google-webmasters-video-tutorials/

If you are using a WordPress.com theme good SEO is a given. However, going beyond the theme what the blogger has done within that structure is worth evaluating. Whether you write informative, persuasive or controversial content learning how search engines work, and how to apply basic SEO to you content will benefit your blog as it will increase traffic from targeted readers. http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2011/10/21/two-seo-videos-for-bloggers/

hugskissesandsnot on "SEO and WP themes"

hugskissesandsnot — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:15:25 +0000

I agree. I have been trying to maintain good basic SEO habits: fresh, relevant content, post often, link to older posts in my blog when appropriate, link to other websites that I trust and admire (when appropriate), tag and use keywords. But I have not been happy with my numbers and I'm trying to broaden my knowledge of SEO to see what I can do to give myself a little boost.

timethief on "SEO and WP themes"

timethief — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:28:13 +0000

You're welcome. Do keep in mind that no matter how good the SEO is on any theme on page SEO is an important factor. I have seen bloggers who chose excellent themes and then virtually crippled their blogs.

hugskissesandsnot on "SEO and WP themes"

hugskissesandsnot — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:06:29 +0000

Thanks!

timethief on "SEO and WP themes"

timethief — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:55:11 +0000

P.S. This thread will be moved to the Themes Forum where Themes Staff will respond to your questions. Subscribe to the thread so you are notified when they respond.

timethief on "SEO and WP themes"

timethief — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:53:45 +0000

some WP themes are better at SEO than others

Yes.

how do I find which ones are best

I don't know.

hugskissesandsnot on "SEO and WP themes"

hugskissesandsnot — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:50:40 +0000

I've heard that some WP themes are better at SEO than others. Is that true and if so, how do I find which ones are best? I currently use Quintus but am thinking of upgrading to a premium theme. I want to make sure my theme is really working for me if I'm going to pay for it.

I blog at http://www.hugskissesandsnot.com