‘80-90% of SEO already done for you in Wordpress’ Am I missing something?
-
Hi there, I’m looking for some feedback on a statement made on my Facebook Page re Wordpress and SEO. Please understand I wouldn’t class myself as an expert but I am competent and achieve satisfactory results for clients, more so since becoming a SEOmoz Pro user, I’ve just had some great results for a client using SEOmoz guidelines in ‘On Page SEO Reports’ thank you very much!
A comment however made on my FB page has got my interest….
“as you (kn)no(w) google loves WP and will get listed quicker as 80 to 90% of your SEO is already done”
Does Wordpress (or Joomla for that matter mentioned in the same conversation) have some SEO advantages that Google loves as the poster would have me believe, can I save time and effort working in word press from an SEO point of view?
I use the age old techniques of targeting key phrases and words and distributing them accordingly. Creating internal link structures with ‘key worded anchor text’ etc before embarking on any off page SEO.
Do any of you vastly experienced (in comparison to me) SEO folk have any insight into what this statement refers to?
I did not gather any references to SEO advantages in Wordpress or Joomla in the Enge and Fishkin et al book The Art of SEO, or any of the other books I’ve read, to develop my knowledge on SEO for the benefit of my clients and of course my pocket. J
-
I think that WordPress does just as nicely in the SERPs as a page posted on some other platform. I don't suppose that it has any magic bullets that can't be performed on even a hand-built format which includes Dreamweaver. For more details see it on bikes passion and take some detailed guidance.
-
Do you know, I'm blown away by the answers here, this is great info, many thanks.
-
Wordpress can get very fast once you properly configure a cache plugin. You could even use CloudFlare.com to enjoy some great CDN enhancements for very cheap.
This assumes you have reliable and speedy hosting - a constant of all websites. It also assumes you are careful about optimizing the images and don't load the page with megabytes of JS libraries/plugins.
(edit note: In my experience cloudflare makes a significant impact if you are on a slower, shared hosting plan. On a pro level host, it isn't as beneficial)
-
Thank you, you have all answered my question. I note your comment on light weight and fast load times but hear complaints of very slow loading content managed sites including WP, Joomla and others, is this not the case? Or is like any chosen platform where the inexperienced or those with little care can though error create burdens that may slow the site down?
-
Thank you, the reply above and yours are putting me in the picture, I didn't think there was a magic bullet, 'seo friendly' is a different concept entirely from 80-90% of the work being done for you. Best regards.
-
Thank you, that was my understanding and I am in complete agreement with your second paragraph. Steven Spaldings reply below clarifies for me further, thank you gentlemen.
-
I thought this would be the case, but does Wordpress have built in functions to automatically optimise a page?
-
no .. that statement is lazy. On-page stuff like heading structure, title, semantic tagging, inner links, etc can be made all easier by wordpress + plugins .. the rest will require work depending on what you're trying to rank for and what your goals are.
If you're the only person in the world selling "evil unicorns" then you will rank on search engines for selling evil unicorns with only putting up a page that says "I sell evil unicorns"
If your market is more competitive, you will need a strategy of content, social, links, etc. to be on top.
Wordpress is only "seo-friendly" not instant SEO.
-
Out of the box WP handles on-page optimization fairly well especially for the "SEO unaware". Titles and descriptions are customized from article content and the entire site can be easily index. The pages tend to be light weight thus load very fast. From there, it depends on the theme and plugins.
But that is far from 80-90% of SEO. It isn't even 80-90% of on-page optimization which highly dependent on the content and content category.
As a blanket statement, it is false. If all they are saying is the sites will be easily indexed, sure.
-
I think that wordpress does just as well in the SERPs as a page published on any other platform. I don't think that it has any magic bullets that can't be done on even a hand-built format such as DreamWeaver.
I think that the more important part of SEO is the selection of topics and categories, the composition of title tags, and the linkage structure of the website. The most important part is getting quality content and pitching in a way that will make your visitors respond. Although some might not think that is SEO, it can have a greater impact than a lot of off-page work.
-
Could you explain a little please? I know a little about SEO but Iess about Wordpress. Are you saying that 80-90% of SEO work regardless of site subject and target audience is done by Wordpress already?
-
“as you (kn)no(w) google loves WP and will get listed quicker as 80 to 90% of your SEO is already done”
This is probably true if you don't know much about SEO.
-
that statement should be "....of your **on-page **SEO...." and even that percentage is high for on-page.
no matter what platform you use, you'll still have to do the leg-work of getting quality content, and sufficient natural links ..etc..
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Html4 menu system which is seo-friendly while moving to html5
I have a complex site and very large site that we are moving to html5 as quickly as possible given our resources (long overdue) but I was wondering if anyone knew of a menuing system that would work on mobile that is seo-friendly in terms of do-follow and does not use javascript that the spiders often cannot read. We need code/css that works for both the menu and for select boxes. I know few write such code anymore, and the idea is dated, but it is a temporary stopgap while we move to HTML5 when such tools are available. Does any such code, free or commercial, exist anymore? Thank you in advance as this is very important in terms of not usuing too much mobile real estate with side menus... Best regards
Web Design | | gheh20130 -
I want to create a 301 redirect on a WordPress site, nothing's working...
Hello all, I'm hoping someone out there can give me a hand with this. I'm trying to modify my .htaccess file so that the site will go from maxcarnagemusic.com to www.maxcarnagemusic.com and also, so viewers will be redirected to www.maxcarnagemusic.com/home when they try to access the site. I've tried a few different things, including adding the 301 redirect plugin for Wordpress, but nothing seems to work. Can someone out there show/tell me how to create an htaccess file that will execute as much. I apologize in advance, my Apache experience is very, very limited. Thank you all in advance!
Web Design | | maxcarnage0 -
Does anyone know how to find functions/codes/etc in WordPress?
Right now, I'm working on solving a relatively easy WP issue (easy, because someone told me what to do. Thanks iNetSeo). I have to replace: <span class="post_date"></span class="post_date"> and replace it with <span class="post_date date="" updated"=""></span class="post_date> But, I can't find the "_<span class="post_date">"</span class="post_date">_For a number of my WP problems, the hardest part is just located the code/function/markup I need to replace. Does anyone know where this might usually be stored on a website? Also, does anyone know if there's any tool that would allowed to just put "various function" in a search box, and wordpress take you to where it was on the backend of your site, so you could edit it? I included a screenshot of our editors, but I already opened them all, pasted the code in Ctrl-F to no avail, but maybe I missed something. Thanks for helping with my frustrating scavenger hunt! Ruben ASTPPfA
Web Design | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Will changing product from Grouped to Simple on my magento category page affect my SEO?
Hi all, A category page on my site http://www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/wood-effect.html currently ranks number 3 on Google for the keyword "Wood Effect Tiles" We're currently reorganising some of our product and I would like to know if this is going to affect the SEO and ranking for the above page and keyword. The majority of products on that page are magento grouped products. I would like to change the page so that it displays only the different constituent simple products rather than the grouped products on the category page. My question is, will this have any impact on SEO? I intend on leaving all other data on the category page the same - so the metadata and the description/title etc. Any help/comments would be much appreciated! Ben
Web Design | | piazza0 -
Wordpress - redirecting tags
I just ran a webmaster tool from Yoast SEO premium and notice I have a lot of problems with tags (restricted-robots-txt) For example : http://www.soobumimphotography.com/tag/wedding-group-photo/ Do I have to redirect to http://www.soobumimphotography.com/wedding-group-photo/ Should I do this to each and every posts Thank you
Web Design | | soobumim0 -
Online Catalog (E-commerce like) Wordpress Themes?
I'm currently looking for a Wordpress theme similar to e-commerce/shopping websites like ebay. I'm planning to put up a buy and sell site for shoes where people can upload shoe listings on their own.. The site we're planning doesn't have a buy/checkout button and paypal integration so it will look like more of an online catalog and not a shopping cart. We will just add a contact number/email in the product listing so a buyer can contact and personally meet the seller. Let me know if this can be done in Wordpress + e-commerce plugins. I would also like to know if there's a WP plugin that will allow users to use Facebook or Twitter to login/sign up in our website/platform. Let me know if this is possible in Wordpress by installing a plugin. Thanks in advance!
Web Design | | esiow20130 -
Responsive design or mobile website for SEO
Because domains with a mobile version have better rankings in Google then domains with only a deskop version we're considering a mobile website. My web developer says that a m.domain.com is duplicated with the domain.com, and he recommends a responsive design. What is better for SEO positions in mobiles devices. A m.domain mobile website or a responsive design. What are influential factors?
Web Design | | remkoallertz0 -
What are some good places to read about SEO with Joomla CMS?
I recently was asked by a potential client to work with them on Joomla based website. I very rarely come across people with Joomla based websites and am struggling to find good resources outside of Joomla's own community site. At this point, I am not very comfortable working with them on Joomla. Any tips or advice?
Web Design | | GCSMasone0