WordPress SEO question...

by Johnny12345

Posted: 16 years ago 8 replies

I'm designing a custom WordPress blog theme.

Here's my question...

I want to have three columns. If the content column is in the middle (that is, between two sidebars) will it hurt my SEO efforts?

Here's why I ask...

If the content column is all the way to the left, it's content would be higher in the HTML of the page, so Big G's robot would (supposedly) find it sooner.

But does that really matter? Is Google really so stupid that they can't figure out where the content is on a page?

Thanks,

John

#question #seo #wordpress

socialmediawarrior 16 years ago

Its not a matter of having some content "early" on the page. As long as your main content section is properly optimized for your target keywords and uses a header title tag like <h1> to signify that its an important section, you should be fine. Make sure not to have any competing header tags on your other sections.
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- bgmacaw 16 years ago
  
  First of all, you can design a page that is 3 column and features content first. You can find examples at several CSS positioning sites.
  
  Next, it is likely that Google will figure out your core content. Where there might be a problem is having various sidebar widgets that confuse matters, such as a tag widget or other unrelated content. While this can be a problem no matter the position on the page, it does seem to be made worse by having it up front.
  
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ferriswannabe 16 years ago

This will also help on your wordpress.

I use this seo plugin.

WordPress › Platinum SEO Pack WordPress Plugins

There are several to choose from.

Good Luck
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- markharrison04 16 years ago
  
  It will make no difference to your SEO efforts at all
  
  As long as you build good relevant content, they will come...
  
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- VegasKid777 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by ferriswannabe
  
  This will also help on your wordpress.
  
  I use this seo plugin.
  
  (link removed, I'm a noob )
  
  There are several to choose from.
  
  Good Luck
  
  Cool plugin, thanks for posting this, I've been wondering about how I'm supposed to get my blog optimized when using wordpress.
  
  Thanks
  
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caseyallen 16 years ago

Yes it shouldn't make a difference at all. But if you really want it to pick up first, use a stylesheet.
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Johnny12345 16 years ago

Thanks for the great info.

I know I can use CSS to force the position of the columns, but I like to keep my CSS very simple to reduce the likelihood of cross-browser errors.

I'll probably use very few (if any) widgets... we'll see. In the past, I've just coded the sidebars manually. That way, I have total control over them.

I'm actually more comfortable writing raw HTML, CSS, or PHP code than dragging widgets around. I guess I'm "old school."

John
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~kev~ 16 years ago

Go to google, do a search for news - the first result should be CNN.com. Part of CNN uses a 3 column layout, part uses a 4 column. Most of the content on the main page is preview text and links.

The search engines will find your content, dont worry about the rest.
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