Effect of Switching Wordpress Theme on Established Site

TammieJJ · 03-04-2010, 02:57 PM

I have an established site that is using a wordpress theme. The site has done very well, however, there are actually too many adsense ads in the theme. Lately, this appears to be having an effect on the earnings per click, as well as the quality of ads shown, therefore, I am considering switching the theme to one with less adsense. I would remove the adsense from the current theme, however, it's one of those "maximum adsense" style themes, so it would leave noticable "holes" in the layout. I want to switch it to a much simpler (and far more customizable) theme.

Have any of you had any experiences you could share regarding switching themes on an established site? Most importantly, I am interested in what it will do to the placement in the search engines, how long it will affect the placement, and if you've seen a noticable change in your earnings per click when there are fewer adsense ads on the site. The site is also monetized with several different affiliate products from more than one vendor - it's a review style site.

Your advice is appreciated!

Abledragon · 03-04-2010, 05:27 PM

Hi Tammie,

WordPress themes have widely varying standards of coding, and that affects the ease with which the search engines are able to crawl your site and discover what it's all about, as well as the speed with which your site loads and the stability of your site - particularly after upgrades.

At their worst, some themes contain embedded links to wherever the theme author wants them to go.

So when you change a theme make sure it's a good one - in that it's well coded and well structured, as well as being customisable and giving you the look and feel you want.

Premium themes and many of the good free themes are more than themes - they're platforms that enable you to maximise the potential of WordPress and reduce the number of plugins you need to use.

So to that extent yes - changing a theme can have an impact (either positive or negative) on an established site.

But if you switch from one well coded, well structured theme to another? No - that won't have any major impact on a site.

Cheers,

Martin.

TammieJJ · 03-04-2010, 07:58 PM

Thanks for the advice! I've hesitated changing the theme because I didn't want to affect the ranking on the site.

03-04-2010, 02:57 PM	#1
TammieJJ Active Warrior Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 82 Thanks: 85 Thanked 12 Times in 9 Posts	Effect of Switching Wordpress Theme on Established Site I have an established site that is using a wordpress theme. The site has done very well, however, there are actually too many adsense ads in the theme. Lately, this appears to be having an effect on the earnings per click, as well as the quality of ads shown, therefore, I am considering switching the theme to one with less adsense. I would remove the adsense from the current theme, however, it's one of those "maximum adsense" style themes, so it would leave noticable "holes" in the layout. I want to switch it to a much simpler (and far more customizable) theme. Have any of you had any experiences you could share regarding switching themes on an established site? Most importantly, I am interested in what it will do to the placement in the search engines, how long it will affect the placement, and if you've seen a noticable change in your earnings per click when there are fewer adsense ads on the site. The site is also monetized with several different affiliate products from more than one vendor - it's a review style site. Your advice is appreciated!
	TammieJJ

03-04-2010, 05:27 PM	#2
Abledragon Advanced Warrior Join Date: May 2007 Location: Hong Kong. Posts: 961 Thanks: 3 Thanked 173 Times in 153 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Effect of Switching Wordpress Theme on Established Site Hi Tammie, WordPress themes have widely varying standards of coding, and that affects the ease with which the search engines are able to crawl your site and discover what it's all about, as well as the speed with which your site loads and the stability of your site - particularly after upgrades. At their worst, some themes contain embedded links to wherever the theme author wants them to go. So when you change a theme make sure it's a good one - in that it's well coded and well structured, as well as being customisable and giving you the look and feel you want. Premium themes and many of the good free themes are more than themes - they're platforms that enable you to maximise the potential of WordPress and reduce the number of plugins you need to use. So to that extent yes - changing a theme can have an impact (either positive or negative) on an established site. But if you switch from one well coded, well structured theme to another? No - that won't have any major impact on a site. Cheers, Martin.
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03-04-2010, 07:58 PM	#3
TammieJJ Active Warrior Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 82 Thanks: 85 Thanked 12 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Effect of Switching Wordpress Theme on Established Site Thanks for the advice! I've hesitated changing the theme because I didn't want to affect the ranking on the site.
	TammieJJ