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Are Wordpress Themes Bad?

by Theoutpostwebs
27 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I started a thread last week asking about certain wordpress themes and some one replied to my post saying that pre made themes are bad for rankings in google, is this true and if so are there ways to get around that and still use the premade themes?
#bad #themes #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Mosa
    No, it's not true. Many wordpress themes are great for seo.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Depends on the Wordpress theme, not all WP themes are built the same way.

    Look at the theme demo Google Cache (text version), that will show you what Google is looking at (text).

    I've seen a trend lately for paid premium themes depending on javascript (lots of javascript) to deliver content on the themes Index page, which sucks for SEO.

    Again, look at the theme demo Cache.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Depends on the Wordpress theme, not all WP themes are built the same way.

      Look at the theme demo Google Cache (text version), that will show you what Google is looking at (text).

      I've seen a trend lately for paid premium themes depending on javascript (lots of javascript) to deliver content on the themes Index page, which sucks for SEO.

      Again, look at the theme demo Cache.
      People cannot get over the fact that simple is best. Even in 2012,
      google still loves plain text and site structure simplicity. If this
      secret ever got out, WP would be a nonissue here. People would
      take 20 minutes and build a text-html site from scratch, very
      easy to update.

      Great looking themes have nothing to do with SEO.

      Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author agmantz
      I've seen a trend lately for paid premium themes depending on javascript (lots of javascript) to deliver content on the themes Index page, which sucks for SEO.

      Again, look at the theme demo Cache.
      Yukon,

      I'm your avid fan and would like to asked what's reasonable number of javascript should a webpage have?

      Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by agmantz View Post

        Yukon,

        I'm your avid fan and would like to asked what's reasonable number of javascript should a webpage have?

        Thanks.
        It's not so much the number of javascript files on a theme (page), having a lot of different javascript files on a page can be bad for SEO (page loading time), but a single javascript file could screw things up just as easily, just depends on what the script is doing, If it's loading content intended to be ranked in the SERPs, skip that theme.

        Again, the fastest way to see what's going on with a web page (theme) is to check the Google Cache (text version), you'll know instantly If the theme page sucks or not for SEO (compare the Cache (text version) to the live page).
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    • Profile picture of the author RyanLB
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Depends on the Wordpress theme, not all WP themes are built the same way.

      Look at the theme demo Google Cache (text version), that will show you what Google is looking at (text).

      I've seen a trend lately for paid premium themes depending on javascript (lots of javascript) to deliver content on the themes Index page, which sucks for SEO.

      Again, look at the theme demo Cache.
      I had no idea about that, that's cool.

      I haven't had any trouble ranking a wide range of different sites on wordpress themes, but then again I am kind of picky about which ones I choose, making sure the code is valid and whatnot.

      It's been years since I used a basic HTML template.
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  • Profile picture of the author Slave1
    They are great for SEO, as long as you have the right plugins and content. I agree that the free WP themes "look" bad....but for $45 you can get a great looking theme
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  • Profile picture of the author edward20
    It depends on the theme and how It was designed . But usually the themes available are good, only themes written by a beginner with bad coding will do harm to your website . You can also hire someone to optimize your theme for You
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      I know of several pro web developers that are awesome at creating WP themes, but they're trending to javascript because pretty/cool sells themes.

      Most theme buyers look for pretty first, buy the theme, then want SEO. By the time the buyer gets around to SEO they're screwed because most of the frontend of the theme is pretty (javascript + bloated images).

      It's like a lot of teenage kids with their first car, they want pretty paint jobs, sound systems, & cool rims. The engine or transmission isn't important (it's not pretty/cool). Same with SEO when most buyers are shopping for themes, SEO isn't pretty/cool.

      My point is smart web developers will create themes that attract buyers (majority rules) even If that means bloated themes, it's a business & the goal is to create whatever sells in bulk.

      With that said, there's still a lot of themes that are simple & based on plain text (SEO), you just have to dig in & look around, do like I said before & check the theme demo Google Cache (text version), that will show you the text Google is looking at (SEO).
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  • Profile picture of the author CashReview
    It's true that 'some' Wordpress themes are not IDEAL for SEO. many of the free WP themes have coding issues that make it harder for Google's robots to "do their thing" -- some have errors according to the W3C markup validation service (google it if you've never heard of it), which I can only imagine would result in a slight 'ding' against you in terms of rankings.

    Other themes, like Thesis, which I love, are coded/built with SEO in mind and are therefore excellent for helping out rankings.

    Bottom line, I'd submit any url to the w3c validation service and check out the errors - if they're high, switch themes to something with close to (or zero) errors.
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  • Profile picture of the author zylun
    No it's not, I think I read a blog post that hes website was hit by the penguin that he though that it's the template, only knowing that its the templated content that was causing the Penguin slap.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheContentAuthority
    Theoutpostwebs,

    Good question here. As mentioned by other member, it depends on the theme you are using. Look for themes from reputable sources. Poorly written code can cause problems with SEO. Themes that are rely heavily on images where content would be more appropriate present missed opportunities for optimization.

    Check out this post on themes for wordpress being bad for SEO,

    Why some WordPress Themes hurt your SEO.

    This site seems kind of biased but it has some interesting content about free wordpress themes being bad,

    Free Wordpress Themes - All Bad for SEO?

    Hope that helps,

    Shawn
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  • Profile picture of the author aadi144
    WordPress themes are not not bad.They are SEO friendly and provide a good overview of sites.Every niche can select their own theme according to the business they are in.
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  • Profile picture of the author seoexperttools
    Overall, i think the Wordpress theme is nice. There are a lot of great themes if you are willing to pay a few bucks to get premium themes.
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  • Profile picture of the author gapinfotech
    no word press is good for some one ales update in your site but webmaster way word press is not support of SEO my means is not word press is bad i m using word press but WP not support of SEO
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  • Profile picture of the author johnnixon84
    Wordpress provides many SEO friendly themes and many themes are free and very affordable cost.
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  • Profile picture of the author kwamster
    What are the best seo plugins to add to wordpress themes?
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    • Profile picture of the author MONEYDON
      Originally Posted by kwamster View Post

      What are the best seo plugins to add to wordpress themes?
      Depends on what theme u are using. For WP 2011-2012 Yoast SEO plugin works well, All-in-One Seo Pack is another solid plugin. Some themes are built with SEO in mind. I rank a Pinterest Board on front page for a local business site (sign company), so u have to ask yourself sometimes, is it content or theme, same with me ranking 2 you tube videos on front page for that search term. Hmm, Titles maybe, but remember too if u use like Rocket Theme with Gantry framework, some plugins don;t play well. I use elegant themes, my site my way, and rocket theme. Good Luck
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  • Profile picture of the author kilobytestechnologies
    infact i would say you should opt for wp themes as they are specially designed keeping seo in mind..
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  • Profile picture of the author markkislich
    Well I'm using Canvas and it's quite awesome, though it requires a lot of set up... maybe not for the complete beginner.
    But it's hugely customizable, and got a ton of compliments already from those who should know...
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  • Profile picture of the author Theoutpostwebs
    well like is said i bought a theme for my bartering site cause setting up memberships and what not just seemed to complicated without the proper theme, if anyone can take a look and let me know my site is below - thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author stenlyr
    Sir Paul is correct, themes are just designs, what matters is the content of the site. You should focus more in SEO, backlinking and other promotional and marketing strategies.

    WP themes aren't so bad, just put in great plugins and great content materials!
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    It's all about the structure of the internal PHP files in the theme template.

    Some themes are great for SEO, while others are just junky or laggy.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author GobBluthJD
    Originally Posted by Theoutpostwebs View Post

    I started a thread last week asking about certain wordpress themes and some one replied to my post saying that pre made themes are bad for rankings in google, is this true and if so are there ways to get around that and still use the premade themes?
    No truth to that whatsoever. It's all about what content you put inside those themes!
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  • Profile picture of the author bilal9999
    Not all themes are bad,,,,,,,,, most of wordpress themes are good for seo,,,,,,,,
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  • Profile picture of the author ertweryt
    what google care about is only how popular your content is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Local SEO Sites
    Although this is sort of a dead thread, I would like to point out that a non custom WordPress theme will have more bloat coding because it is made for many people with many different needs.

    A custom WordPress theme that you build yourself will have the least amount of code possible to reach the same result. Just because the designer does not have to think about the needs of many, and therefore lowering the bloat code.

    This may not be important to many people but if everyone does not seem to care about it, it can be the one thing you have over their SEO process.
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