Blog template factor in SEO
There is an interesting post at ProBlogger concerning blog templates (or themes as they are called in WordPress) and the role it plays in SEO. Although I never gave that much thought to it, I think there is a fair amount of truth in this.
The most important thing is and will always be quality of posts and originality. But how about a little boost from your blog theme? Now, how do I know if a theme is good?
A good theme can help get your site indexed in a matter of days
The thing is to find a theme that loads the content first, be it a 2 column or 3 column theme. Speaking from experience with other sites, you can set up a domain, put in a post, and watch it get indexed in as little as 2-7 days, IF you have all the factors in place, one of which is the theme.
So what are the usual criteria for a good theme from an SEO perspective? The usual culprits for a theme, as far as SEO is concerned:
- XHTML validation. Transitional 1.0 is best for now.
- Relies heavily on CSS stylesheets, the more the better.
- Less or nil tables. Tables are becoming more outdated by the day.
- Post content is first in the HTML coding.
- Dynamic page titles display. Chris Pearson has a good description.
- Semantic markup. XHTML <definitions> that define the code within the opening <> and closing </>tags in a semantic/related way.
Speaking of WordPress themes, I have yet to find an all round free or commercial theme that encompasses all those attributes above while looking great at the same time and all the while, widget and banner friendly. Throw in Ajax functions, and I guess you have the dream theme,…………if ever there was one 
I’m actually in search of good WordPress themes that meet those criteria, and I’m doing a series on them. I’ve found some that seem to fit reasonably well (though not so much for Ajax
) and have posted the first batch this morning.
Thanks Sarah for the tip
Really? A theme matters to Google? I’m not sure I believe that.
Hey Jim, thanks for dropping by. Actually every little bit that could help, which includes the theme, should be considered by any blogger.
I dont believe a theme would matter all that much to Google, but I have two niche blogs using a different theme from this one, that cannot seem to stop Google from coming every single day and indexing the bits that I didnt want, despite very few posts on one and nil posts on the other, (plus no sitemaps, etc).
Before I put Wordpress (and the themes)on them, I couldn’t attract Google to index them from a mile away.
But, as you can see, I’m (still) using this theme because it looks cool to me, regardless whether it’s more SE friendly or not, and I’m not so sure that it is,… more a personal choice.