5 Things To Look For When Choosing An SEO Friendly Theme

5 Things To Look For When Choosing An SEO Friendly Theme

Your website theme plays a crucial role in the overall performance of your website. The choice of theme can vary depending on the website of type and design. One of the most important things to consider is the SEO friendliness of the theme. A theme that is SEO friendly can help boost your search engine rankings and improve website traffic. 

Although there might be several themes under the category ‘SEO friendly’, however, it can be a daunting task to figure out which theme is best suited for your website. 

To simplify your task we’ve listed down the 5 key features that you should consider when choosing an SEO friendly WordPress theme for your website. 

 

1. Speed 

 

Your website loading speed is of utmost importance, if your website loading speed is slow then it could invariably impact your website traffic. Apart from your web hosting, the theme of your website plays a critical role in determining the success of your website. 

A theme that is heavy with innumerable elements can slow down your website, which in turn can affect the overall SEO and page ranking.

When choosing an SEO friendly theme check out the size of the theme, and the elements that are installed. An optimised theme with minimal page load speed can help boost your website’s ranking. 

 

2. Responsiveness

 

Aside from desktops several users these days access the web over their mobile phones, tablets, portable laptops and other hand-held devices. To provide a seamless experience to your customers irrespective of the medium of viewing your website, it is important that your website is responsive. 

A responsive website typically means that the layout of your website is automatically adjusted based on the device it is used. A non-responsive website can hamper the performance of your website. To avoid this, it is important that your website code is written in accordance with being responsive. 

A simple solution to having a responsive and mobile-first website design is by choosing the right theme. Most themes these days are built in a way that they are responsive. Moreover, several SEO friendly themes are both responsive and mobile-first design-friendly. A responsive theme eventually helps in improving your website page ranking and SEO on the search engines.

 

3. Plugins compatibility

 

Plugins are an essential part of any website, not only do they add functionality to your website but also reduce your coding efforts. Although installing too many plugins can slow down your website speed, it is important to install plugins like Yoast SEO, contact form plugins etc. 

Prior to selecting a theme make sure that it supports popular plugins. Mostly, all popular themes support plugins, it is always better to check beforehand. If it isn’t mentioned in the documentation, you can check reviews or get in touch with the developers directly. 

 

4. Browser compatibility 

 

Aside from being compatible on various devices, your website should also be compatible when viewing them on different browsers. If a particular browser doesn’t support your website theme’s code then it might not load properly and the design may appear skewed. 

This may happen even if your website theme is responsive and has a mobile-first design. If your theme isn’t cross-browser compatible then it will invariably affect the website traffic as users may abandon your website soon after it loads, this will eventually impact the SEO of your website. 

To ensure this doesn’t happen it is crucial to check the theme on popular browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, and more. 

 

5. Support

 

If you make a mistake in your theme’s code it may lead to a messed up theme on the front-end which could affect the website’s performance. If you’ve chosen a free version of a theme there is no guarantee that support will be offered. However, this is not a deterrent as most theme providers offer plenty of documentation on their website and even support via chat/email. 

When choosing a theme whether free or premium make sure that there is customer support available to help you if at all things go wrong. 

The Choice 

Although there are several SEO friendly themes available in the themes marketplace, make sure that the theme you choose matches the niche of your website, and is SEO friendly. Also, make sure that the theme satisfies the above five-point criteria.  

After all, an optimised SEO friendly website is the first step to being a successful website. 

In case of any questions or suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment below. Also, check out more articles that can help you navigate the digital world as a Beginner!

 

WRITTEN BY:

H. Fatima used to be an Engineer by profession and Writer by passion until she started pursuing full-time writing. She is presently a Content Marketeer at Newfold Digital (APAC). She mostly writes what she deeply perceives and analyses, it is her way of unwinding. Her interests include writing, reading (an avid reader), watching foreign-language movies and public speaking.

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