The theme is fine – use a plugin for SEO if you want that specific functionality.
Some things need to be edited manually. Yoast SEO, for example, does not fix the theme’s SEO shortcomings, e.g.
- Multiple H1s by default
- Once you remove the logo’s H1, the home page gets no H1
- Repeated tagline
- I think that article-content.php also needs an edit to adjust the heading levels
- Similarly, tc_voila_slider.php, content-page.php and nav.php
I can’t recall if I listed all of them. Use a tool such as the Web Developer toolbar for Firefox and its Information > Document Outline option to see these headings on a given page.
Andrew Nevins
(@anevins)
WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
@an52, the theme uses HTML5 and therefore multiple H1s are acceptable and I’ve yet to hear a popular search engine say that using multiple H1s is bad.
@wilkinsontross I’ve installed Yoast and am gradually adding the necessary info to it. Seems to work fine with Customizr.
(It’s the first and only SEO I’ve ever tried, so I cannot give a comparison. But for a newbie like me, it’s fine.)
If you wish, please go to Bing Webmaster Tools and run the SEO Analyzer after verifying a site that runs this theme. I have already changed my site, so I can’t test that, but others have noted that Bing complains.
Google doesn’t *penalise* you for multiple H1s, but I prefer a page to have only one theme. When you write a page for humans, by giving it just one main topic you are helping to focus their attention. Similarly, a search engine needs to deduce the primary theme of a page for establishing relevancy. I am happy to have just one H1 per page. Not trying to change anyone’s opinions. 🙂
Andrew Nevins
(@anevins)
WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
If we’re talking about personal preference it’s best not to class it under Search Engine Optomisation in case you confuse people.
Andrew Nevins
(@anevins)
WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
@wilkinsontross – If a theme is available at WordPress.org then its quality is good and therefore it stands a good chance from a SEO perspective.
It’s also important to hear SEO tips from the search engine organisations themselves, as only they truly know how their search engines operate. For example, see this video by Google regarding multiple “H1” elements http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIn5qJKU8VM . If you’re receiving some SEO tips from a third-party organisation, make sure they can cite their sources & they don’t have an agenda to sell you services in return.
I just tested Bing Webmaster Tools on a page with two H1s.
This is the analysis:
High Severity Issue [Collapse -]
There are multiple <h1> tags on the page.
<h1>Second heading</h1>
Recommended Action:
Remove redundant <h1> tags from the page source, so that only one <h1> tag exists.
I’ll ask Bing’s in-house SEO to point to some publicly visible page that corroborates this and report back.
@andrew Nevins,
Someone at Bing sent me a private note to say that their algos do understand multiple H1s in HTML5 but modifying their tool may take a while to catch up as those wheels move slower than we would like.
Hi
I’ve set up Yoast in my website http://www.lvcommunication.com/
and it works, but I can’t use it in the home page.
Do you know how I could set up the SEO in the Customizr home page?
Thank you in advance!
Giovanni
