Optimization is a major buzzword for website owners both new and old. Every aspect of your website; from the design to the content, all has factors that need to be optimized for SEO. It can be a daunting task, which is why it’s best to look at one piece at a time.
Today, we’re going to look at your themes and plugins. How can you tell if these integral parts of your website are optimized and working properly? It’s time to find out!
The Ultimate Checklist For Your Plugin and Theme Optimization
Themes and plugins are some of the main features that WordPress offers. These things make the platform unique, but not all of them are created equal. Today we’re going to look at a checklist of items to run through every time you decide on a new theme or plugin.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in my first decade of blogging and running websites, it’s that these things can spell success or doom for your website based on the choices you make. Let’s help you make the right one:
Checking Your Theme For Optimization
A website owner faces a lot of decisions when it comes to their site’s optimization, which is why many turn to a quality seo chicago - seo services usa to help them stay informed and on top of their optimization efforts. As they will tell you, your theme is the foundation of your success.
When choosing one for your site, consider this checklist:
- Make sure it’s mobile responsive, Google treats this as a ranking factor
- Avoid homepage sliders as they add multiple H1s to a page and slow it down, which are both bad for SEO
- Look for themes that use Schema.org markup for rich snippets. These make your page more informative and attractive in the search results (SERPs)
- Choose a WP developer with SEO experience (like the Yoast Themes for example)
- Make sure it’s compatible with popular SEO plugins
Keeping these things in mind, and doing your independent research about the reviews on the theme of your choosing will ensure you have something that benefits your SEO.
Verifying Plugins For Optimization
Plugins are a little more complicated than themes. With your theme, you can verify a lot about its optimization from the checklist above, but plugins hide a lot of their true nature within the coding used to develop them.
For that reason, it’s best to research plugins that you’re considering by looking at the developer who made it, and how many reviews it has. If there are very few reviews and they aren’t all positive, you may need to move on.
On the other hand, if there are plenty of positive reviews, that’s usually a good sign that the plugin is well-made. Of course, installing too many plugins will slow your site down, so it’s also beneficial to be picky to an extent.
If you have plugins that you suspect are causing problems, you can scan them with a free tool called P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler).
This tool quickly scans your plugins and lets you know how each of them are affecting your site’s performance. You’ll easily be able to see which ones are pulling down your site’s performance and ultimately its optimization.
Removing the plugins that are causing problems will immediately remedy some of the issues you’re having.
Final Thoughts
Plugins and themes are the foundation of your WordPress site, so it’s important to make sure they are optimized. With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to find a theme and plugins that contribute to your success. Let us know how you ensure optimization with your website.
About the Author
Divya Thaker has helped launch countless sites and built their email campaigns to generate leads and conversions. She believes email marketing is an absolute must for any site success.