WordPress SEO – The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Theme Search Engine Optimization

August 8, 2008 • 87 Comments

Gravity Forms Contact Form Plugin for WordPress

The WordPress Codex says that “WordPress, straight out of the box, comes ready to embrace search engines“.  Well, that may be true … to a certain degree, but there is more than enough work that you’ll need to do after you’ve installed WordPress in order to get it playing nicely with Google (and other search engines).

What most people don’t realize is that, while Google does love WordPress, it’s WordPress THEMES that actually interface with search engines … not WordPress itself.

So, that means that a WordPress theme could very well be hurting your rankings in the search engines … not helping!

So over the last several months, I’ve been developing a list of tips for bloggers that will help them embrace the natural flow of good SEO in the form of a well optimized theme.  This guide can’t guarantee you first page rankings, and certainly can’t get you quality links, but it will teach you every step you must take to ensure that you’re site is completely search engine optimized.

Posts in this Series

The following posts give a detailed explanation on how and where to modify your theme in order to optimize its search engine rankings:

  1. Generating a sitemap for Google
  2. Getting your site indexed by Google
  3. Getting Google to index and follow the right stuff
  4. Using Keyword-Rich Permalinks
  5. Optimizing your <title>
  6. Optimizing your header tags
  7. Using META descriptions
  8. Using META keywords
  9. Keyword Density
  10. Deep Linking

For those interested, I’ve already done all the heavy lifting in my newest theme Proximity News.  All the theme mods I’ll be discussing have already been implemented in Proximity News, so if you’re looking for a theme that’s ready to attract search engine traffic right out of the box, then why not go pick yourself up a copy of my latest WordPress news theme!

Ff you haven’t done so already, go ahead and subscribe to my RSS feed so you’ll get these tips like these delivered straight to your RSS reader!

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Guide to WordPress SEO – Indexing Control
  2. Ultimate Guide to WordPress SEO – META Keywords
  3. Ultimate Guide to WordPress SEO – META Descriptions
  4. Ultimate Guide to WordPress SEO – Optimized Titles
  5. Ultimate Guide to WordPress SEO – Deep Linking
87 Comments

  1. seo singapore

    Hi Nathan, Great article. You mentioned wp not optimised or using wrong themes could hurt rankings. I couldnt agree more. Especially since they’re many wp plugin and theme developers who make themes for wp that dont have good knowledge of how Seo,rankings and usablility in wp apps tie in.

    August 9, 2008 at 9:06 am

  2. SEM Company Pune

    Google is known to ignore other features on a page except text. Therefore, it helps to use relevant text/keywords on a page generously. But be sure not to overdo it. Otherwise, it may tag your page as spam and give you low rankings.

    August 11, 2008 at 2:14 am

  3. Todd Morris

    Hi Nathan,

    Love the new theme … I’ve been trying to learn a bit more about SEO here lately. I’m looking forward to reading your series.

    Thanks,
    Todd

    August 16, 2008 at 3:38 am

  4. Brian Lis

    Hey Nathan,
    Found your corner of the net. Like the feel of this site and your proximity theme. Looks Great!

    I’ll check back from time to time. Have a safe flight.
    Brian

    August 17, 2008 at 10:26 am

  5. David

    Sounds great! I’ve just subscribed and look forward to reading!

    August 28, 2008 at 11:17 pm

  7. Mike Dammann

    Darren just tweeted this, so let us know how much traffic you will get on this post!

    October 5, 2008 at 7:29 am

  11. Greg S.

    Like this site. Good Info. What does your daily traffic look like?

    October 15, 2008 at 3:07 am

  12. Nathan Rice

    @Greg S.:
    You can see my traffic numbers for the past few months on my advertise page. I can say, however, that this month will probably put last month’s numbers to shame.

    October 15, 2008 at 12:01 pm

  14. How To Solutions

    Nathan,

    I’m writing a very similar beginners guide covering how I SEO my own WordPress installation. I would imagine over time it will cover most, if not all, of the areas you have detailed.

    Maybe some of your readers might find it useful.

    http://how-to-solutions.com/beginners-guide-seo-wordpress-blog.html

    Thanks.

    October 20, 2008 at 2:44 pm

  19. Yo SEO

    Hey Nathan,

    This is a great series of posts and anyone using WordPress really needs to read them all to get the most benefit.

    Many webmasters think that just using WordPress will boost their rankings and increase traffic, but by applying the simple SEO modifications that you have outlined for any Theme that they choose will make a much bigger difference!

    November 1, 2008 at 5:53 am

  24. hendri susanto

    awesome, this is a blog fully with information for blogger to optimization, thanks so much

    November 2, 2008 at 9:03 pm

  25. Jerry Maurer

    Tremendously useful wordpress information.

    I applaud you on providing a much needed website for the masses.

    Thanks again.

    November 5, 2008 at 4:51 pm

  26. Trevor Watkinson

    Hey Nathan,

    Great post! I’ve implemented all the changes you suggested in this series. I never even considered using keywords for the permalink. That’s pretty sharp man. Thanks for the help!

    November 5, 2008 at 5:14 pm

  27. Free Marketing eBooks

    There are some nices wp addons for creating an xml file so there is no reason not to have one.

    November 9, 2008 at 11:31 pm

  28. guy

    Hey nathan, great info you here. Have a question, as far as keyword density, how much is too much?

    November 10, 2008 at 1:21 am

  29. guy

    Sorry nathan, didn’t see you had a page specifically for that. Will head over and check that out..thanks again for the really great info.

    November 10, 2008 at 1:22 am

  30. Adi

    Hi Nathan,
    I just make a blog less than a month, just make 3 post. I try to search from Google with words/phrase from my articke title and found it in 1st page of google. Im not an SEO expert and found your blog very useful for me. I want to learn to keep the SERP. Do you think it is because of the theme I use ?

    Thanks
    Adi

    November 14, 2008 at 9:48 am

  31. WordPress SEO

    First, this is a great list of resources, and something every WordPress user who cares about search engine traffic should read. What I found particularly interesting is the point that it’s the theme that communicates with search engines, not core WP. Nice point. And if any blogger has ever changed themes and seen a change in search traffic (for better or worse), they know this first hand.

    November 16, 2008 at 1:52 pm

  34. CoderScripts

    Very helpful guide! I’ve bookmarked it. Keep it coming, looking forward for more improvements.

    November 22, 2008 at 12:56 am

  38. Rick

    [...] WordPress SEO – The Ultimate Guide to WordPress Theme Search Engine Optimization:- [...]

    December 2, 2008 at 2:02 pm

  39. Top Ten Ranking

    You need on the 1st site on google or yahoo?

    December 5, 2008 at 7:28 am

  40. Website Traffic Dennis

    Thanks for the tips for WordPress. I had a feeling it had something to do with the themes. Now I know for sure!

    December 9, 2008 at 12:56 am

  41. the moneymaker

    Thanks for sharing. I have used a all in one seo pack plugin for my wordpress. And hope it works

    December 9, 2008 at 7:17 am

  42. SEO and Traffic Guide

    Great post! i especially found it useful where you started. Most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results in the first page. Making it to the first page, more so to the top three is a barometer of a sites success in search engine optimization. You will get a higher ratio of probability in being clicked on when you rank high. The more traffic for your site, the more business you rake in.

    But, it is essential to grab a hold of that spot or make your ranking even better. As I aforementioned, each day is a new day for all e-commerce sites to make them selves rank higher using search engine optimization. It is imperative to make your site better and better everyday.

    So just what is search engine optimization and do you have to use it? The answer to why you have to use it is an easy one. You need search engine optimization to be number one, or maybe at least make your site income generating.

    Thanks for the tips!

    December 20, 2008 at 3:25 pm

  43. SEO and Traffic Guide

    Great post! i especially found it useful where you started. Most people that use search engines use only the ten top search results in the first page. Making it to the first page, more so to the top three is a barometer of a sites success in search engine optimization. You will get a higher ratio of probability in being clicked on when you rank high. The more traffic for your site, the more business you rake in.

    December 25, 2008 at 11:03 am

  44. Improve Search Engine Rankings

    Nathan, thanks for the detailed post. I’ve been using Blogger for some time and finally woke up to WordPress. I know, don’t hold it against me. At least I finally made the leap.

    I was able to update meta tags on my last blog but couldn’t do many of the things you’re suggesting here. In particular, that other Blog site doesn’t let you add a sitemap or any customized pages for that matter. Thanks again!

    December 31, 2008 at 3:22 pm

  45. Jozef Antony

    Great post!

    I learned a lot, thank you!

    Jozef

    January 8, 2009 at 6:34 am

  48. eJob

    Hey, awesome series of posts and awesome blog. Im just starting out blogging and the seo tips could prove very valuable. thanks a bunch

    February 2, 2009 at 3:03 pm

  49. Free Samples

    Great point. A lot of people don;t realize the theme can really hurt your sites rankings

    February 6, 2009 at 5:15 pm

  51. webhostingpro

    I agree with your opinion.

    February 14, 2009 at 12:22 pm

  54. Catherine

    seo can be headache but if you know the tricks, it can be fun…….

    March 16, 2009 at 4:26 am

  56. SEO

    Great article. I rarely use WordPress, but your SEO information gave my good advice as to what I should look out for in a WP theme.

    Thanks.

    Paul R.

    March 18, 2009 at 6:40 pm

  57. Steve DeVries

    Awesome post. I love WordPress and it’s really ideal for SEO projects. Using it as a CMS can make development for SEO a snap. Thanks for all the info!

    March 26, 2009 at 5:47 pm

  58. Madhu

    Really useful article. I have been working on most of the SEO tips you have said but there are a couple I had no idea about. Thanks for that!

    April 1, 2009 at 8:35 am

  60. UK SEO Consultant

    Hi Nathan.

    Great series of posts.

    As an SEO consultant I was a bit late to get on the blog band wagon, but it didn’t take long to discover how powerful wordpress blogs are if the right steps are taken – the steps you’ve just described.

    Cheers

    Kev

    April 13, 2009 at 4:44 am

  61. Geoff Clark

    Hi Nathan,
    Thanks for the SEO tips. Google has been a hard nut to crack for me.

    April 25, 2009 at 2:31 am

  62. Liz

    Very interesting.. Thanks

    May 2, 2009 at 3:50 pm

  63. Tom Troughton

    Hi Nathan,
    I just found your site. I appreciate your straight-forward manner in presenting information so that is easy to understand. I am going to refer friends to your site.
    Tom Troughton

    May 6, 2009 at 6:33 pm

  64. rizky

    Thank’s for the great post. I will try the method. But do better in Google Search using our blogspot or WordPress?

    May 17, 2009 at 2:41 pm

  65. wisata seo sadau

    you’ve done a great job. really for search engine optimization. thanks alot

    June 2, 2009 at 5:40 am

  66. nasirhuq

    Hi Nathan. by the way this a great article.

    June 20, 2009 at 6:23 am

  67. Green Power

    Great Blog !! Site Bookmarked. I personally think the best way to create traffic is to create backlinks, to your site for a better Search Engine Ranking.

    June 20, 2009 at 3:26 pm

  68. lhoylhoy

    I really would like to learn wp search engine optimization, I’m porting css/xhtml templates and I would like my clients have this value added services! nice job!

    June 21, 2009 at 11:39 pm

  70. Gavin Reddrop

    Hey Nathan,

    Great post I have implemented most of them on my site and will be suggesting you to my readers.

    Thank You

    June 25, 2009 at 4:32 am

  71. Jan-Olov

    Can I draw a lance for registering new sites with Google Local Business Centers? This has generated some great results here in Scandinavia.

    June 28, 2009 at 9:34 am

  72. Michael

    Fantastic series. I’ve been having difficulties with the new version of All in One SEO and your series has shown me how to replace it. Great job.

    July 12, 2009 at 5:23 pm

  73. Sökmotoroptimering

    Thanks for great info! I need to pay more attention to deep linking for sure. Bookmarked!

    July 12, 2009 at 10:51 pm

  77. joyoge designers' bookmark

    very professional guide for wp seo, thanks a lot..

    August 15, 2009 at 7:39 pm

  81. Miller7

    Steve Harold: It looks like you are still using WordPress’ default URL structure. To get the post title to appear as keywords in the URL, enable permalinks via the WordPress Admin

    December 13, 2009 at 3:17 pm

  82. Miller7

    Thanks for the SEO tips. Google has been a hard nut to crack for me? Seo I really would like to learn wp search engine optimization

    December 13, 2009 at 3:17 pm

  83. ahmet

    merhaba beyler

    December 13, 2009 at 3:19 pm

  84. KraL

    But, it is essential to grab a hold of that spot or make your ranking even better. As I aforementioned, each day is a new day for all e-commerce sites to make them selves rank higher using search engine optimization. It is imperative to make your site better and better everyday

    December 13, 2009 at 3:19 pm

  85. KraL

    Seo Optimaze Full Seo Joomla !!!

    December 13, 2009 at 3:22 pm

  86. hotel boutique singapore

    I usually use blogspot, but I saw many bloggers use wordpress and they are very happy to use it, so I will transfer to it, thanks

    December 18, 2009 at 3:31 pm

  87. KOR HALICI

    habere bak janem

    December 27, 2009 at 7:31 am