If you’re running a blog, you need to be running it on WordPress. Why? For one, the ease-of-use and out-of-the-box functionality is second to none in the blogging platform world. Also, WordPress has some pretty stellar plugins that handle your on-site Search Engine Optimization without too much tweaking and coding. On top of that, there are tons of WordPress themes built to get your blog ranking well on the SERPs for your chosen long-tail keywords. To get started, here are some themes I’ve come across (and used) for SEO:
- Thesis theme. The Thesis theme is probably one of the best for SEO you can buy (yeah, it’s not free). In addition, the theme allows virtually unlimited customization right from the backend, so you don’t need to worry about breaking something when editing template files.
- Classic Beauty. Court has a great resource for SEO-ready WordPress themes on her own site. Each theme is tweaked and optimized for keywords and relevance, and Court runs an SEO blog that has some awesome advice and guidance for your own SEO adventures.
- Civilized. Another of Court’s themes from CourtneyTuttle.com, Civilized is a brown, simple, and well-constructed template that will fit with personal blogs well.
- Mosaic. SEOWordpressThemes.com has some great themes that don’t “look” like SEO themes (they’re decorated well and are much easier on the eye than a standard bare theme). Mosaic does a nice job of being both at the same time, with a widgetized sidebar and a 2-column layout.
- Level 2.0. Another SEOWordpressThemes.com template, Level 2.0 makes a great business blog template with a 2-column, left sidebar layout and a red and white color theme.
- Leafy. Pretty much the same as the above two in terms of SEO quality, but this one’s a 3-column theme that looks great for a busier business or professional blog.
- Sodelicious. This theme is bit dorky to me, but it has a nice feel to it. Once again, it doesn’t seem like a blank, bare, boring SEO theme like so many others. A bluish-gray theme with rounded corners and a 2-column sidebar (3-column template).
- PassionDuo. I like this one a lot. It comes in red, blue, and green, and sports a great 125 x 125 ads area above the 2-column sidebar.
- Redie 3.0. From WPHacks.com, Redie 3.0 is a red 3-column theme that has some awesome SEO functionality built in. Couple it with some SEO plugins and a bit of grunt work getting the title tags right, and you’ll be in a good position for keyword relevance.
- Ambient Glo. Not as well-structured as some of the others, but Ambient Glo can be customized easily and looks great right away. A bluish-green template.
- Prosense. Prosense is one of those templates that everyone should at least try once. Created by the DoshDosh guy, Prosense comes in a few different flavors and can immediately drive your AdSense earnings through the roof. While it’s not pretty, it turns out it’s great for SEO as well…
- Tranquility. Tranquility is a high-rated SEO theme that looks amazing and would work well for a personal or gamer-type blog. It isn’t the easiest to mess around with under the hood, but it does provide some great SEO customizations.
Check these out to start, but also check out the sites they were on for other great SEO-ready WordPress themes. Understand that your search engine optimization doesn’t begin and end with a good theme, but if you take pains to detail your site’s keywords and relevance to searchers, a great theme can make the difference between a first and fourth-page Google listing.
If you’ve made or found another great theme I should check out (believe me there are MANY more out there), just add it to the comments section below and I’ll get on it!
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