Tampering with the theme coding won’t matter too much. What does matter is using strong titles and keywords. You can install SEO plugins to help. I use All in One SEO which got me ranked pretty fast. But it’s not the only SEO plugin out there.
Debra
That depends upon how SEO-friendly the theme was in the first place and what you changed within it.
so it’s a hit or miss then where SEO is concerned?
See Search_Engine_Optimization_for_WordPress. You will note that the theme only impacts the first of the many factors that go towards SEO – Good, Clean Code. Everything else is about what you publish in your site.
Ok, thanks, i have been reading on the ALL in One SEO plugin, is this correct that if I should use the Pro version that I won’t have to do ANY SEO work at all?
No! Please read the page I linked to. Everything – and I mean everything – hinges on the quality of your content.
I had read that page prior to trying out WP, thing is, the way I see it, ALL of those requirements on that page is exactly what is need for any site of any platform so I am not seeing any advantage using WP over html or any other type of site. Am I wrong or is there any added advantage to using WP over other types of sites? Please note, I am not here to start any arguments, I am now thinking that since I already code all of my sites using html then it does not make sense for me to learn a new system for SEO purposes when that new system will not provide any SEO advantage for me?
the way I see it, ALL of those requirements on that page is exactly what is need for any site of any platform
Absolutely! SEO on WordPress is no different than SEO on any other CMS platform. WordPress core outputs pretty clean code and the whole system is created so that you can concentrate on presenting good content without having to worry about some of the other issues – like keeping navigation menus up to date, positioning specific page elements etc. But, whatever system you use, the onus will always be on you to create high quality content.
I can create page markup by hand using a plain text editor without any problem whatsoever but, even for me, marking up every paragraph etc in every page does make page creation quite tedious. WP removes the vast majority of that tedium once you have your system set up with your theme, preferred plugins and design in place.
When it comes down to choosing a theme, I’d recommend that you choose one from the wordpress.org Theme Repository. Unlike many other free and premium/commercial theme resources, themes that have been placed in the Repo within the past 13 months have had to undergo a fairly strict review – which ensures some level of code quality.
If you opt to use a SEO plugin (and not everyone does), try a free one first – possibly one of Yoast’s plugins. But do not expect the plugin to do all of the work for you. It is only one small piece of a larger puzzle. You, as a content author, have to to do your bit as well.
Thank you very much for clearing this up.
