22 Best SEO Friendly WordPress Themes 2024
There is a 91% chance that you found this page by looking on Google for “best SEO WordPress themes.”
Since we are at the top of SERPs for that keyphrase, we feel obligated to discuss SEO and how WordPress themes can help you achieve first-page rankings on Google and other major search engines.
What makes WordPress theme SEO friendly?
A fast code base that scores high on Google PageSpeed Insights properly used meta tags, good Schema markup, and additional SEO controls to change how your content appears on Google.
This post covers:
Features Of An SEO Optimized WordPress Theme
Let’s look at some of the main features that make a WordPress theme SEO friendly.
100% Responsive & Mobile Ready
A WordPress theme must be responsive and compatible with all modern mobile devices.
Since we all try to be the best palls with Google, it’s important to follow its official announcement about mobile-first indexing from 2018.
Web visitors from mobile devices are rising, way ahead of desktop use. So a theme needs to be responsive to enjoy the success you’re after.
Schema Markup
Google and other search engines receive more information with a well-sorted out Schema markup.
This helps with better rankings because you help G get familiar with your website and content.
Schema markup is also commonly known as a rich snippet that appears in search results before everyone else, taking a lot more real estate (better click-through rate).
Fast Page Loading
No one, I mean, NO ONE, likes slow websites. And especially not Google.
Thus, one of the mandatory features of an SEO optimized WordPress theme is excellent performance, which means fast loading speed.
Better loading means a lower bounce rate. Visitors won’t bounce because of staring at a white screen for too long. Having the fastest WordPress theme among competitors is critical to your SEO success.
This leads us to:
Clean Code
A WP theme with a clean code ensures better performance, which all of the tools we gathered below guarantee.
This is especially key in multipurpose themes, eCommerce and every other with many animations and special effects.
As a beginner, it’s hard to figure out whether a theme is well-coded.
No worries. That’s why we put each theme through a sequence of tests to ensure it has valid and well-performing code.
Regular Updates
This one is easier to understand even as a beginner user because you simply check when the theme was last updated.
We do not recommend themes that haven’t been updated in many years.
A theme with regular updates means there’s always someone working on it. This could be fixing bugs and adding new theme features.
Theme updates matter!
Cross-Browser Compatibility
Unfortunately, we don’t all like the same web browser. Some fancy Google Chrome, some Safari, some Bing, you name it!
However, an SEO-optimized WordPress theme should also be compatible with different versions of the same browser (not all users update it immediately).
A great tool that we use for testing browser compatibility is BrowserStack. But you can also test it manually if you have the skills.
AMP Support
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) goes hand in hand with the theme’s performance and loading speed. Google’s very own project focuses on making mobile experience even better.
And because it’s from Google, AMP pages have a special spot in its heart. You can add AMP support using the official AMP plugin for WordPress.
Note: This isn’t necessarily a feature you must turn on when you start. But it’s highly recommended when your website starts growing.
Great Header Tags Structure
Everyone gets easily confused if you don’t have a proper header structure. Even Google.
Ensure your header tags are in order so users and search engines know better what your posts and pages are about.
While you’ll use H1, H2 and H3 the most, H4 and H5 are great for a detailed content structure. Luckily, themes that we hand-picked have you sorted with the right header tags structure.
Easy Integration With SEO Plugins
Every SEO friendly WordPress theme must be compatible with all the popular SEO plugins.
Hey, not everyone has advanced knowledge of SEO through coding. (Hint: We use Yoast SEO!)
And even if you do, there’s no need to complicate things and make your life hard.
You can enjoy the benefits of an SEO plugin (free versions are REALLY good!) and start with the optimization process immediately.
Best SEO Friendly WordPress Themes (Tested!)
But these are our ultimate 10 in case you need to choose fast:
| Theme | Price | Our Rating | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divi | $89/year | 10/10 | Elegant Themes |
| Jevelin | $59 | 9.5/10 | Shufflehound |
| Webify | $59 | 9.5/10 | Theme Bubble |
| Litho | $59 | 9/10 | Themezaa |
| Bridge | $69 | 9/10 | QODE |
| Ekommart | $58 | 8.5/10 | Opal WP |
| Essentials | $79 | 8/10 | PixFort |
| Betheme | $60 | 8/10 | Muffingroup |
| Pofo | $59 | 8/10 | Themezaa |
| SEOCrawler | $64 | 8/10 | GoodLayers |
1. Divi
Divi is an SEO WordPress theme that you can employ for any purpose. This prominent multipurpose theme follows all the latest trends and regulations, ensuring your website’s stable and smooth operation.
While utilizing its layouts and features out of the box, you can still customize everything to your branding needs.
You do not need to change a single code string to modify Divi. There are no rules or limitations when you decide to start working with Divi.
Powerful and user-friendly theme settings, an endless collection of elements, demos, and the list of goodies goes on and on. With Divi, you can be as creative as you want to Be.
Main features:
- 2,000+ layouts
- Easy online store creation
- User-friendly page builder
- Amazing support
- Endless customizations
- Drag and drop page builder
Best for: Web agencies, freelancers, online stores and small businesses.
Price: $89 per year, but you can also pay a one-time fee of $249 and unlock yourself lifetime access.
More info / Download Demo2. Jevelin
Jevelin is a modern and responsive WordPress multipurpose theme. It supports all major SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math SEO, and All in One SEO.
But Jevelin can create any website even if you’re a beginner. It comes with WPBakery Page Builder plugin integration for drag and drop page building.
It comes with WooCommerce for an easy eCommerce store setup. Enjoy!
Main features:
- AMP support
- 40+ predefined demos
- 1-click import
- Visual page building
- RTL friendly
Best for: Professional and modern websites.
Price: You can get Jevelin on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo3. Gillion (Trending Item)
Gillion is a flexible magazine and blog WordPress theme. You will get it with 15+ demos of one-click install.
Gillion uses the Unyson framework, but it is Bootstrap compatible too. Its live customizer allows you to change things in real-time!
You can also show how friendly you are through social icons. Gillion is SEO-ready and supports Google Analytics.
What else do you need? Come on and try out this awesome specialized tool and make an instant difference.
Main features:
- 50+ modular elements
- WPBakery page builder
- 15+ home demos
- WooCommerce integration
- Child theme support
Best for: Blogs and magazines.
Price: You can get Gillian on ThemeForest for $55.
More info / Download Demo4. Soledad
Soledad is a modern, SEO-ready blog and magazine theme (great if you want to expand it with an online store).
A one-stop-shop solution for everyone to quickly design SEO-friendly websites across many interests and fields.
Start making moves with Soledad!
Main features:
- 220+ ready-to-use websites
- Social media
- Header & footer builder
- Autoloading next posts
- GDPR policy
Best for: News websites with an eCommerce section.
Price: You can get Soledad on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo5. MagPlus
MagPlus is a modern and responsive SEO-friendly WordPress blog and magazine theme.
Customization is effortless, with a visual design interface and 150 deployable elements. Impress your audience with 20 slick sliders, 25 article layouts, and 12 headers.
MagPlus offers many layout styles to mix and match to your heart’s content. You don’t need to know about coding to get professional results with MagPlus.
MagPlus is a competent performer across the major search engines. Its extensive SEO optimization makes It a perfect platform to drive traffic home. With MagPlus, you can broaden your audience and reach a massive, global crowd.
Main features:
- 40+ demos & unlimited layout possibilities
- Mega menu
- Fast loading
- Video tutorials & documentation
- 30+ shortcodes
Best for: Online magazines.
Price: You can get MagPlus on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo6. Webify
With Webify’s versatility, you can expect it to be a top-notch SEO-optimized WordPress theme.
You can employ Webify for any website you want to create. This could be a page for a lawyer, a freelancer, a small business, an agency, or an online store. The options are there.
Out of the box, Webify comes with 20 remarkable demos for a quick start on a new website. There is no need to complicate; stick with the sample that fits your taste, as it is already a full-blown solution.
You are ready to execute a first-class, SEO-ready page with Webify. The customization capabilities also go through the roof, allowing you to edit any Webify section. Webify and the Yoast SEO plugin are an outstanding combination to dominate Google SERPs.
Main features:
- 50+ website demos
- Layouts for every niche
- Great modular system
- One-page option
- 200+ shortcodes
Best for: Businesses, blogs, portfolios and online shops.
Price: You can get Webify on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo7. SEO WP
Look no further than SEO WP if you are looking for a WordPress theme with a high degree of flexibility created explicitly for SEO companies, digital marketing agencies, and social media expert websites.
It is intuitive and easy to use, as it was designed for everyone, not just coders.
You can modify pages in the front-end by simply moving things around and dragging and dropping them.
One of the most incredible things about this product is that it never stagnates or becomes outdated. The developers constantly tweak and improve it.
It is speedy and ensures excellent performance on all devices. It also integrates PPC management, Web development and design, and 8 illustrations for SEO services.
Main features:
- 100% translatable
- Google ranking tracker
- Booking system
- 30+ page designs
- 90 premium illustrations
Best for: SEO and digital marketing.
Price: You can get SEO WP on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo8. Massive Dynamic
Massive Dynamic is a responsive WordPress creative multipurpose website builder. It can handle an extensive range of needs across various websites.
Massive Dynamic combines customizations, shortcode configuration, and layout crafting in a powerful interface.
The inherently SEO-enhanced codebase provides a rock-solid foundation for any online entrepreneur who wants to build a business by monetizing it.
With its online commerce capabilities, placing your products highly on the relevant rankings and cashing in is easier than ever.
Attractive AJAX features like live search or the impressive Notification Center, integrated with shopping carts, make this the best-rounded builder of SEO, marketing, and affiliates websites.
Main features:
- 70 demos
- Easy theme import wizard
- Floating animations
- Parallax effect
- Beautiful sliders
Best for: Businesses and startups.
Price: You can get Massive Dynamic on ThemeForest for $39.
More info / Download Demo9. SEO Engine
SEO Engine is a WordPress theme dedicated to digital market agencies that offer 12 homepages (half one-page and half multi-page designs).
It provides customization options via the Redux framework and WPBakery page builder.
You will find many typography options between Google Web Fonts and Font Awesome Icons. This theme can set up shops with WooCommerce and translations with the WPML plugin.
It works with Contact Form 7 and uses a premium Layer Slider. Additionally, this works with high-resolution formats and includes a child theme.
It also has free lifetime updates and a great premium support team. Get it easy, quick, and with just one click!
Main features:
- 6 one- & 6 multi-page demos
- Layer Slider
- WPBakery builder
- Custom add-ons
- Quick content creation
Best for: Digital marketing agencies.
Price: You can get SEO Engine on ThemeForest for $39.
More info / Download Demo10. Litho
Litho is a powerful, SEO WordPress theme built with the latest web trends. This tool is for everything. That’s it!
Litho is a truly multipurpose theme that can be used by startups, agencies, restaurants, shops, portfolios, and hotels, to name a few.
Even though it already comes with 30+ samples, you can expand its potential to the unlimited with your creative configurations. For which – of course! – you don’t need code to make it happen.
Start online like a champ in a few moments, hassle-free, thanks to Litho’s versatility.
Main features:
- 300+ templates & 30+ demos
- Elementor page builder
- Slider Revolution
- Great navigation
- Multiple elements for quick integration
Best for: Corporate, portfolio, blog and eCommerce projects.
Price: You can get Litho on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo11. Hongo
When starting an eCommerce website, you want it all in perfect order. You would want to use an SEO-optimized WordPress theme, like Hongo, that covers all the technicalities.
When making an online store, you only need Hongo, and everything else becomes history. You will find nothing missing in the Hongo kit.
Different demos, tons of easily integrable elements, killer inner pages, blog, Slider Revolution, you name it, Hongo has it all, and then some.
Of course, it treats you to every possible eCommerce layout and element for a smooth operation. Get on board and enjoy the remarkable outcome sooner than later.
Want to see this WordPress theme in action? Here are stunning WordPress eCommerce examples to see what this platform can do.
Main features:
- 10+ eCommerce demos
- 200+ elements
- Product quick view
- Image hotspot
- Newsletter popup
Best for: Niche online stores.
Price: You can get Hongo on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo12. Bridge
Bridge theme follows all the latest trends and regulations. Of course, it is an SEO-optimized WordPress theme with 100s of layouts.
To be more exact, Bridge comes with 610 demos that cover any niche and industry you can think of. You can build agency, food, travel, medical, photography, music, freelancer, online store, blog websites, etc.
All you need is Bridge, even if you work on several projects!
From advanced search function, social media integration, and infographic elements to automatic updates, smooth animations, and a powerful admin dashboard, Bridge has it all and a ton more. Boom!
Main features:
- 610+ demos
- Video tutorials
- Practical admin panel
- CSS3 animations
- 100% valid code
Best for: Creative websites.
Price: You can get Bridge on ThemeForest for $69.
More info / Download Demo13. Ekommart
Ekommart is a full-blown solution for any eCommerce website. This SEO-ready WordPress theme promises an outstanding online shopping experience across all devices and platforms.
You can kick-start your project with 20+ demos and enjoy all the extra page layouts and components.
Some more specialties of Ekommart are Dokan support, RTL compatibility, header and footer styles, product quick view, and blog module.
Integrating the Elementor page builder allows you to perform any customization tweak your heart desires. Begin on the right track, begin with the all-around and multipurpose Ekommart.
Main features:
- 20+ ready-made samples
- Multi-vendor marketplace compatible
- WPML & RTL ready
- Built-in mega menu
- Product compare
Best for: Any eCommerce business owner.
Price: You can get Ekommart on ThemeForest for $58.
More info / Download Demo14. Essentials
Essentials is an SEO-optimized WordPress theme that gets the ball rolling with a collection of 35+ samples.
You can also practice any of the multiple 100s of ready-made demo templates and choose to work either with Elementor or WPBakery.
Whatever you see is editable to modify Essentials according to your taste to the last detail. What’s pretty unique about Essentials is the editable website width.
Other features are particles, shape builder, Master Slider, animations, pre-defined headers, and videos in the mega menu. Still, this is just a small segment of all Essentials’ features!
Main features:
- Elementor & WPBakery builders
- 700+ templates
- Popup builder
- Global dynamic styles
- Lightbox gallery
Best for: Businesses and startups.
Price: You can get Essentials on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo15. Kallyas
KALLYAS is a dynamic and modern creative WordPress eCommerce multipurpose theme.
Webmasters find in KALLYAS a reliable platform to suit their every need. The visual builder, packed with demos, templates, and elements, keeps things simple.
The gorgeous Slider Revolution increases your content exposure and engagement. With convenient widgets, showcase your finest and trending articles. You can also enjoy KALLYAS as a WooCommerce theme and build your online store quickly.
Versatile SEO features secure your rapid ascent through search engine results.
Whatever you need help with, professional customer support will take care of. Let KALLYAS boost your performance today!
Main features:
- 70+ professional demos
- Quick & smart setup
- Automatic updates
- Smooth scrolling
- Slider & hero scenes
Best for: Creative eCommerce websites.
Price: You can get KALLYAS on ThemeForest for $69.
More info / Download Demo16. BeTheme
BeTheme is a modern and responsive WordPress multipurpose theme. The ultimate WordPress website building platform is to meet and exceed users’ expectations.
To that end, BeTheme has been developed to be a massive theme.
With 650+(!) professionally predesigned, pre-built websites provided for your convenience, BeTheme always has something up its sleeve that is simply perfect for your purposes, whatever those may be.
Main features:
- 650+ demo websites
- Parallax & video backgrounds
- Built-in translator
- Child theme files
- 60+ elements
Best for: Business, personal and eCommerce websites.
Price: You can get BeTheme on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo17. Tower
If you appreciate quality, you should consider Tower. This impressive WordPress theme can enhance your website and improve its layout.
For first-time website owners, an online documentation source was included.
The Online Template Builder Tool allows for online page improvement and customization, guaranteeing that customers can design something that matches their vision.
Pre-made content can be your best friend if you are short on time. This theme has 23 incredible demos, and thanks to the one-click import function, every demo can be easily implemented.
Main features:
- 20+ professional samples
- Wide & boxed layouts
- One-page support
- 30+ portfolio styles
- Custom widgets
Best for: Small and medium-sized businesses.
Price: You can get Tower on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo18. Brando
Brando is an elegant and easy-to-use WordPress single-page theme.
It is a tech-savvy platform where web admins can seamlessly design and develop responsive, modern SEO-friendly one-page websites.
Promote your brand online like a BOSS.
Main features:
- Beautiful portfolio & blog layouts
- Practical shortcodes
- 100+ predefined elements
- Accordions & toggles
- Progress bars
Best for: One-page websites.
Price: You can get Brando on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo19. POFO
POFO is a modern and resourceful SEO WordPress theme for users of any skill level.
Dozens of demos and 100s of templates ensure POFO always has the right fit for your needs. WPBakery lets you fine-tune your pages to your every whim.
POFO is an SEO-conscious theme that helps you increase traffic. It is perfect for introducing content or catalogs to audiences. Cutting-edge visual effects and technologies set POFO apart from the pack.
Your visitors won’t soon forget the trendsetting stylings of your POFO website.
POFO will help you conquer the market regardless of your niche or industry. Staying in touch with your audience has never been easier!
Main features:
- 210+ demo layouts
- WooCommerce support
- Touch-sensitive slider
- WOW animations
- Custom sidebars & widgets
Best for: Portfolios and blogs.
Price: You can get POFO on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo20. SEO CRAWLER
SEO CRAWLER is a highly specialized WordPress theme. The creators built this theme to empower agencies and digital markets or websites with a fast, pre-built design that is easy to set up.
It comes with 6 unique demos and many customizations for the customization of the subpages. SEO CRAWLER is based on GoodLayers and features a well-known drag-and-drop page builder.
It includes pre-built variations for footers and headers to make a distinctive look.
SEO CRAWLER has 30+ excellent options for blogs, portfolios, or gallery layouts. It even gives you an optional top bar that you can enable for social media.
SEO CRAWLER is ready for big things.
Main features:
- Powerful (visual) page builder
- Coming soon mode
- Gallery & portfolio layouts
- Secondary navigation
- 150+ vector icons
Best for: SEO and marketing agencies (and freelancers).
Price: You can get SEO Crawler on ThemeForest for $64.
More info / Download Demo21. Crocal
Working with Crocal, an SEO-optimized WordPress theme, is quick and straightforward. First, you pick from a collection of ready-made samples for online shops, creative agencies, portfolios, fitness centers, and photographers.
But you can craft a professional website even with zero technical and design background.
Crocal’s potential is massive, so make sure you take advantage of its powerful features and take your project to the next level.
You can use Crocal to blog and sell products online. In short, whatever your heart desires, Crocal can help you realize it.
Main features:
- Quick online store creation
- Events Calendar
- Discussion forums (bbPress)
- Advanced (customizable) grid
- Infinite scroll
Best for: Blogs, one-page sites and businesses.
Price: You can get Crocal on ThemeForest for $59.
More info / Download Demo22. Newsmag
If you are looking for a high-tech WordPress theme that can help boost website traffic, look no further than Newsmag.
With this theme, writing articles and maintaining a successful blog are children’s play. This template is suitable for magazines, newspapers, news, review websites, personal blogs, and publishing websites.
Newsmag loads your page fast and optimizes it for search engines.
Depending on your primary monetization method, you might not rely on advertising revenue, but those extra funds will be a welcomed addition. This product can support Google Ads.
New to the online world? Or are you not familiar with the setup process?
You need not worry because the developers have introduced an informative series of online videos that explain everything in detail.
Main features:
- Flexible blocks
- Integrated newsletter
- Weather widget
- Social counter
- Author box
Best for: Newspapers and magazines.
Price: You can get Newsmag on ThemeForest for $49.
More info / Download DemoConclusion: Which Is The Best WordPress Theme for SEO?
We recommend using Divi theme if you’re regularly working on web projects. It easily sorts you out regardless of your niche and industry.
Divi is extremely customizable, thanks to its extensive builder, which suits beginners and professionals alike.
But if you are looking for a one-time-purchase theme, Jevelin is our second suggestion.
It’s a multipurpose theme with great SEO capabilities that easily handles small and large projects.
Take SEO seriously (because it’s so worth it!), starting with a proper WordPress theme.
Frequently Asked Questions: SEO WP Themes
It’s a theme that comes with all the foundations of SEO optimization out-of-the-box. This is usually the technical aspect of search engine optimization, like meta and header tags, Schema, fast loading, mobile-friendliness, etc.
No, not all WordPress themes are SEO-friendly by default. At the same time, the more popular free and premium themes are, the ones that don’t lack the features for successful search engine optimization.
Yes, changing a WordPress theme can strongly impact your SEO. BUT! It can affect it both positively and negatively.
While we don’t necessarily recommend changing the theme (but feel free to customize it), if you decide to do so, pick a search engine optimized one from the collection above.
No, WordPress doesn’t need an SEO plugin, but we highly advise you use it. We work with Yoast SEO, but there are some other really good ones. Optimizing your website or blog for better search engine rankings saves you time and effort.
You can improve your WordPress SEO by picking the right theme, choosing quality hosting, having a great permalink structure, creating a sitemap, ensuring fast loading and responsiveness, using heading tags, and installing an SEO plugin. (This is just a rough overview—you still need to consider many details to go to the next level.)
WordPress is the best platform for SEO. It rose in popularity due to its SEO-friendly nature and has remained on top ever since. Google and other search engines have optimized their algorithms for WordPress because so many websites are built using this CMS.
GeneratePress is the best free WordPress theme for SEO. Thanks to its lightweight nature and flexibility, it is widely used by content and affiliate marketers. You can build any content site with it, and it will perform well on search engines.
We ensured that all the above-listed themes were SEO-friendly and didn’t require tweaks to attract the most organic traffic. For more control over what gets indexed and displayed on Google, we recommend using free WordPress SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO or others.
Colorlib uses Yoast SEO plugin but other WordPress SEO plugins can achieve the same if not better results. It is not how good is the tool but how good is the user of the tool.
Related Posts
Well noted and nice list of themes.
Tested some with SEO markup testing tools and so far I am really impressed with results. Definitely will be switching to a new theme because mine looks terrible and outdated.
DanNy,
Your website definitely needs redesign. It is good from SEO perspective with all the necessary information in place but it is painfully slow to load and it looks like it was designed in 90s.
If you need any suggestion that would work well for your blog, please let me know your preferences.
are these templates “ninja forms” compatible? because many of them are compatible with contact forms 7
Contact Form 7 is by far the most popular contact form plugin. That’s the reason why we mentioned compatibility with it. Ninja Forms is far less popular but it works with most themes listed here.
I totally agree with u Aigars. But I got a say that´s a good post. Do you recommend WordPress for SEO or should I build my own HTML template with all schema markup requirements in place?
WordPress by default is fairly SEO friendly, however, you will still have to use plugins such as All in One SEO Pack or WordPress SEO by Yoast. WordPress by default doesn’t have functionality to set noindex for tag archives and other pages that you don’t want to index and that’s there plugins comes into game. Another thing is XML sitemaps that are highly valued by Google and these plugins helps to create these sitemaps automatically.
One thing that sucks about WordPress and SEO is that it is rather slow by default and you need to use some cache plugins such as these or implement some server side caching that we have on Colorlib. There are some caching in place for WordPress by default but it is nowhere near to be perfect and additional cache is absolutely must.
If you are skilled front-end developer you can feel free to create your own HTML template but it might take a lot of time if you are looking to create standard templates that all over the place. It will save you a lot of time and nerves.
Please let me know if you have any question about WordPress SEO or any of WordPress themes listed on Colorlib and I will be happy to help.
Good afternoon , aigars
I’m from Brazil and I am building a wordpress blog on revenues and would like a theme tip .
Gabriel,
Please be more specific as all above listed themes are meant to be monetized using ads, affiliate products or other methods.
I am a musician/educator. Which theme should I use for a homepage/blog combo that needs to run soundclips and video/Youtube?
I know Enfold, but am not sure that’s the best theme for the job.
Is there somewhere I can compare the different themes side by side?
Lena,
It would not be possible to create a service where you could compare themes side by side. Themes are just too unique to be compares specs vs specs. It all comes down to design and personal preference.
Enfold could get job done for you but since you are looking for very basic functionality it means other themes will be able to handle it as well. Such as Jevelin or Uncode.
Hi,
I am looking for a WordPress Theme for my website that is optimized for SEO across devices. I need a clean, crisp and modern look and feel for my website and would appreciate any advise as there are so many to choose from.
Thanks
Over the years WordPress have proven to be the most SEO friendly CMS and blogging platform. It has proper meta information such as description, title and other useful information in place. However, there are no option to tweak this information manually and these tags are taken from your content. That’s where SEo plugins such as WordPress SEO by Yoast and All in One SEO Pack comes into game. Other than tweaking SEO settings for individual posts these plugins helps to generate XML sitemap, robots.txt file and allows to choose what Google should and shouldn’t index.
With all this in mind you can choose any WordPress theme listed above. The main thing is to focus on functionality and design and WordPress and my above mentioned plugins will take care of SEO for you.
Let me know if you have any questions about SEO or WordPress themes in general. I have been involved with SEO for the past 6 years and I can offer you some advice in case you need it.
its look more powerfull template for wordpress for me, i like it and i want download this template, thanks very much
Purnomo,
Which theme you are referring to as there are over 20 different SEO friendly templates listed above.
One thing that I want to point out right away is that you are now using Blogger which means that none of these templates will work on your website. However, migrating your website from Blogger is not difficult as WordPress does have import tool available. If you have any questions about website migration from Blogger to WordPress, please let me know and I will he happy to help.
I think i’ll choose Schema Theme, It looks really good.
Thanks for the info.
Piers,
Thank you for your feedback!
Schema is a great theme and as it name indicates it’s SEO friendly and features a proper Schema markup. This markup is taken into consideration by Google and it will help you to boost ranking in search engine result pages.
Hello guy ! Free version of Shema is ok for SEO ?
Yes, there is no difference in SEO when it comes to both version.
I do not aware for this time to use seo friendly themes. After read this articles I decide to use one of them.
Thanks for sharing this good news.
Morinda,
Search engines is a great source to drive traffic to your website and SEO friendly website is a must have. WordPress is SEO friendly by default but it doesn’t hurt to have a good theme and some SEO plugin to get even better results.
Once I started Colorlib is didn’t know much about SEO and I was working mainly to drive traffic from other websites and social media. Results were good but once I started to learn more about SEO, I realized that there is a huge potential. Few years later there are thousands of visitors a day coming from search engines and mainly Google, Yahoo and Bing. It’s still important to think about other traffic sources to make sure that your website can grow.
Hi Aigars,
Thanks for the very informative post! I recently set up my website and wondering if you had any thoughts on my theme? I like the feel of it, but it doesn’t go too well on mobile view and isnt performing SEO wise. Does the Arcade theme have SEO tools in built or am I best swapping over to another theme to get better SEO results?
Ramona,
Your theme is SEO friendly and there is no need to change it unless you want to. Themes no longer include dedicated SEO settings and usually depends on plugins such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO. Plugins for SEO are much better approach because you won’t lose any SEO settings when switching between WordPress themes. Also ranking will not be affected when you do a switch. Therefore I strongly recommend to use a plugin instead of looking for oldschool theme with a built in SEO settings. It’s no longer a way to go.
Hi, what are the checkpoints of theme before buying SEO Friendly theme. please advice
All of these themes is powerfull seo friendly. Is there free themes? For these time I do not use premium themes yet. Please tell me if there is free themes that recommended that support seo friendly.
Thanks a lot.
Gunawan,
All above listed themes are premium ones which means that they are slightly more flexible, with more options and in some cases better built than free themes. If you are looking for free themes you might want to check this theme collection. There you will find free themes that are SEO friendly, responsive and easy to use.
WordPress by default is SEO friendly and it has all it takes to rank well on Google. To get the most out of WordPress you can use plugins such as WordPress SEO by Yoast (we use it on Colorlib as well) and All in One SEO. These plugins offers more advanced functionality to optimize your website for search engines. It helps to write custom meta tiles, descriptions, limit what pages to index and helps to generate XML sitemap. These things will help to achieve even better SEO results when used properly.
Thanks for sharing this important news. I want to use themes seo friendly. For the prices, it is forever?
Is there can I get $ 10 for one of the themes?
Thanks for your information.
Obertina,
Premium WordPress themes these days costs around $50-70. While some theme developers does sell them for around $20 these are usually really poor quality themes. If you are looking for a WordPress theme and can’t afford to pay asking price you can always use free themes. Here are some great examples. Most of these themes are really high quality and are responsive and SEO friendly. Themes that are listed on top of that collection also comes with great support which is also completely free.
The main difference between premium and free themes is that premium themes are much more flexible. They usually come with visual page builder and hundreds of theme options to help you to create professional and awesome looking website without hiring a developer or designers. Free themes are much easier to setup but they aren’t that flexible. Usually you can create the exact same looking website as on theme demo but other options might be unavailable or are very limited.
I want to start a niche website around romance authors and reviews of new author ebooks that come to market. One important piece is to monetize it by affiliate marketing with google, amazon’s, and apple’s digital programs. I need a site that will allow me to have that ecommerce slant with somewhat of a blog/other medium in which to organize reviews and solicit comments from readers of the site. Could you recommend a few of your themes that would help me get started?
John,
Above listed are SEO friendly themes that are great for many different things. There are few magazine styles themes that have their own review/rating system but I think that it would be better to start your research with this theme collection on which we have listed themes created speficially for reviews.
WordPress by default is SEO friendly and almost any theme will serve you well. For advanced SEO optimization you can use WordPress plugins such as All in One SEO and Yoast SEO. These plugins will help you to create XML sitemap, create custom meta information for each post/page and much more. You can easily live without these plugins but to get the most out of Google and other search engines I highly recommend these plugins. We use Yoast SEO on Colorlib and we are happy with results but All in One SEO is the same grade plugin and it all comes down to your personal preference.
Thank you for the feedback, I’ll look at the themes on the link you have provided and the SEO plugins.
Hi, my client want same theme as singlegrain.com which is basetheme but i don’t able to find this them
he want so many plugins and graphic yet he also want website to load in 2 sec 🙂
pls help me
Faraz,
Single Grain is based on WordPress but it uses a custom built theme. They use base theme as foundation for their website but by default it looks nothing like this website. If you are developer you can use the same framework and build a website on top of it but be prepared to spend months on it. Much better and easier alternative would be to use some multipurpose theme such as these or landing page themes. These themes are flexible enough and will help you to build similar looking website without writing a single line of code. These themes have a built in Visual Page Builder that doesn’t require any coding and everything is done via drag and drop interface.
Was just searching “Seo wordpress themes” on Google this is in the #1 spot and I can see why. Glad I hit this list been using Canvas WooThemes forever and haven’t checked out any of these themes yet. Also, proof in the pudding your themes aren’t too shabby either since this post is #1 lol..
Mike,
Thank you for noticing that we dominate Google SERPS for most WordPress theme and SEO theme related terms. 🙂
For your main website you are actually using The7 theme by Dream-Theme which is a well designed and coded theme. It has proven to be successful and have been sold almost 30,000 times and that’s impressive for a single WordPress theme. You have made the most out of this theme for your website and it is almost impossible to tell that it is based on The7 theme. Only the most experienced WordPress users will be able to tell it.
Your mentioned Canvas by WooThemes is an amazing theme and it was my default theme for all my websites for several years. It has changed a lot over the years and is still competitive. Still some of my old websites use this theme and I have no plans to change it because it just works and that’s the main thing. No need to spend countless hours on maintenance and updates because everything is done behind the scene. If I would have to choose a new theme for those sites running Canvas, I think I would have a really hard time because I am spoiled with this theme and its quality. It’s not the most beautiful one but it is so well coded that it’s hard to find other themes that would come close.
Let me know if you have any questions about The7, Canvas or any other WordPress theme listed on Colorlib and I will be happy to help.
I’ve read one of your replies Aigars and you’re right. Google loves WordPress, that’s a given. But if you have a SEO Optimized Theme, for me, it’s like WordPress loves Google back.
William,
Thank you for your comment!
One thing that I noticed on your website is that you are using completely outdated version of Startling theme which means that it is prone to several XSS vulnerabilities. I strongly recommend to install the latest version to keep your website safe. Getting hacked would destroy your SEO entirely as Google takes security seriously. It’s better to play safe than sorry.
Thanks for the feedback Aigars. My team and I will work on it as soon as possible.
Hello,
Thanks for the great post! I’m hoping you can help me because choosing a theme is doing my head in!! My company is a start up locksmith business and I’ve started planning the site but haven’t built it yet.
It’s a very competitive SEO market, a lot of people will find the site on mobile and won’t necessarily care about imagery etc if it’s an emergency and they just need a number to call.
So I want some page layout options for the various service pages which don’t automatically require a huge header.
I do have a plan to do a blog, collect emails and try to create some marketing funnels. eg for Strata companies, property developers etc who might be good for repeat business.
Can you suggest anything?
Thanks in advance
Clare
Clare,
WordPress is SEO friendly by default and theme doesn’t do much to improve it even further. If you are looking for more advanced SEO functionality you can look for plugins such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO.
All features you see on theme demos and screenshots above are completely optional. Which means that you are not obligated to use large header images, slider, parallax sections or any other fancy features. Just leave them disabled as all themes comes completely blank and you can enable one functionality by another and in your case you will have a much easier task because you will leave most functionality disabled.
Based on your description any theme listed above will get the job done because all of them have a blog functionality included as these are WordPress themes after all and WordPress originally was introduced as blogging platform and this feature is still there.
If you can’t find there right theme on this plist you might want to check this collection instead. Like I said, all featured are completely optional and if you want a simple blank page you will get it even tho this theme is also compatible with WooCommerce, has a portfolio, parallax section, masonry grid and many other fancy things.
Thanks Aigars!! Much appreciated.
Hi Aigars; Nice list. However, when I think of a good wordpress theme for SEO, it means the designers don’t use h1 and h2 tags for formatting but for SEO. A lot of these, including The7 use h tags for formatting. Any suggestions on themes that are good in this sense? Built from the ground up with SEO in mind? Thank you in advance. Corey
Corey,
Thank you for your question!
I am not surprised that your website doesn’t rank well on Google. Over the years Google have made their search algorithm much more advanced and now are using Artificial Intelligence to provide more accurate results. Which means that most onsite optimizations are redundant and a proper use of heading tags won’t bring any benefits. Make sure to use title tag properly and write as good content as possible. By good content I mean well researched, completely unique, valuable to readers and that can be used as reference in your niche. Which means that you have to offer much better content than Wikipedia has. These articles should set a new standard in your niche.
I have been involved with SEO for the past 6 years and have helped to optimize thousands of websites and none of theme ranked better because of heading tags but because I made them noticeably faster, with better content and better structured for simpler navigation.
Which means that you can use any of above listed themes because their heading tags are used correctly.
Hello Aigars!
I am currently looking for a WP theme for affiliate product marketing, but not able to find a suitable one thus far.
Basically, what we do is providing a review for product and then provide link/links where visitor can go to purchase the product at the merchant website(for example Amazon).
Most of the WP themes are made for e-commerce, where you sell the product directly, and work only with woocommerce plugin. Whereas it is not applicable to us as we do not use cart, checkout, etc.
Do you have any suggestion on WP theme which is good and ready for affiliate product marketing theme?
The main reason for choosing WP versus HTML is the responsive design. It is an advantage to have a mobile-ready website as Google is giving it extra juice nowadays.
Daniel,
Thank you for your comment!
WordPress is based mainly on PHP but it generates HTML output therefore user only sees HTML and not PHP. Which means that both WordPress websites and HTML websites can be made responsive. Most of HTML website templates released today are responsive and mobile friendly. Of course if you are looking to use some outdated tool such as MS Frontpage or Adobe Dreamweaver then your website is not going to be responsive.
To monetize website using affiliate products you might want to either check this theme. If review themes are what you are after then you might want to check this theme collection. All themes on both of these theme collection can be used to sell affiliate products.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
SEO WP is great theme…!!!! simple fast and SEO.. i like it
SEO WP would be a great fit for your website as well. Your current design looks outdated and I think that it’s the right time to change it to something more modern such as SEO WP.
If you have any questions about this theme, please let me know.
thanks
I search free theme wordpress games
where can i find it
thanks again
Some of above listed news, magazine and blog style themes can be used for gaming websites. If you are looking for dedicated gaming WordPress themes you might want to check this theme collections.
Thanks!
Have an good themes in a your content. I am thinking your suggestion themes.
Again thanks.
Can you please make a list of best SEO friendly FREE themes and help the poor people like me. Or atleast provide me the link to the relevant source. Thank you.
Arjun,
No problem wit that. You can find some great and SEO optimized themes on this theme collection.
Hi there,
Is the SEO WP theme usable with WooCommerce or something similar? e.g. on the demo it says ‘get a quote’ does it have the functionality to have actual prices and a ‘buy it now’ button that allows people to buy through the website directly?
SEO WP doesn’t have WooCommerce support but they have option to add pricing tables and payments. Payments are handled by Ninja Forms in combination with PayPal. You can also just use Ninja Forms to receive requests and then process everything manually.
Hi Aigars! I used your Sparkling theme for one of my clients and with your help, they are super happy with the results. Thanks!
I am now back seeking your recommendations on a SEO WordPress theme for another client. I narrowed it down to the Tower theme and the Route theme. Both seem well equipped for their needs. Route has a great track record, but since Tower just came out, it might be good to get a jump on it before it becomes popular. Is there one over the other you would recommend?
Thank you for all your help!
Mark,
Thank you for using our free WordPress themes!
I think that there is no clear winner between Tower and Route themes. Personally I would go with Tower because it looks a bit more modern but Route theme is tested by thousands of users. Which means that all things are already polished and there aren’t any rough edges or otherwise that theme wouldn’t have lived for that long. That’s just my personal opinion as both themes are great and will get the job done.
VERY nice collection although I wish there were more blogger-like or tumblr-like wordpress themes around.
Your wish is my command 🙂 SEO friendly blog themes are available here and SEO friendly tumblr-like WordPress themes are available here.
Nice collection. Thank you.
hi..
i want develop one websit …it is educational support. can you give suggestion for the developing website…
i want to theme like lifehacker.co.in page tittle with image…
can you give back to mail
Since you are looking for magazine style website you might want to check this theme collection instead. Above are only few magazine style themes therefore it is going to be difficult to choose the right one. On my mentioned theme collection you will find plenty of SEO friendly themes with your described functionality.
Dearest Aigars,
Kindly overlook that I haven’t chosen a theme yet and just set up the Hosting comp. a few days ago.
I am in the life-business coaching business, and I need a Theme with 2-3 sliders across page, modern sleek, crisp, retina ready, SEO optimized, commerce ready, landing page, tracking opt-in..etc..
SEO, commerce and retina ready is of outmost importance…
Hello Eivor,
Your described functionality is available is available for all multipurpose WordPress themes. We have a dedicated theme collection that covers multipurpose themes and you can find it here. Any of listed on that theme collection will get the job done for you.
admin i need ” top news ” wordpress theme please help if you have
Plays,
We have a dedicated list of the best news WordPress themes and you can find it here.
Hello Aigars,
Great article!
I have a question, this is what i heard from seo specialist these days, i don’t know whether this is true or not? Please correct me if im wrong. By default WP is a search engine friendly platform, the problem occurs when adding plugins, each plugins generate its own codes, the more you add plugins the more codes will be generated which are harmful for search engine in terms of readability. Imagine if you have to look for something in the forest with lots of tree, the more trees are standing the less your sight is will be.
Chino,
You are right that WordPress is SEO friendly by default. You can also slightly improve SEO if you know what you are doing by using plugins such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO plugins. Installing other plugins doesn’t affect SEO directly. It mostly affects website usability and performance that drives down your SEO. Google will still be able to read your code and understand what your website is all about as they algorithm is smart enough. These days Google understand complex JavaScript code and nothing goes unseen by the big G. But loads of unnecessary plugins will slow down your website and users are spoiled and they demand performance and they won’t return to your website if it’s very slow to load. Google will take that into consideration as well and won’t send visitors your way.
What you can do is to use WordPress optimized hosting such as one offered by SiteGround and WP Engine. These hosting providers have WordPress specific caching technology that will help to load any website really fast. It doesn’t care how many plugins you have installed as these hosting providers will still be able to keep up with all of them. Some other hosting providers such as Hostgator, Bluehost, Godaddy and others doesn’t have this kind of caching in place any you will lose few positions on Google just by choosing the wrong hosting provider. Even when you will have only few or even no plugins installed.
Even when you can use as many plugins as you want with a good WordPress hosting provider I would still recommend to keep plugins to minimum. That way you will achieve much better usability because users love simplicity and you should provide it whenever it is possible. Less is more.
Hmmm. nice and truly comprehensive description.
I guess I don’t have such a nice SEO theme for my blogs 🙂
Altough it makes me wonder, can it be difference in marketing success only when it goes to theme or is it about the work behind the website?
I am posting regulary three years now on small Slovenian market – and believe the second one is the case. Regards,
Matija,
Content is the king in SEO. Themes have very little to do about SEO but it wouldn’t hurt to have one with a good Schema markup such as ones listed above. Regular website updates with fresh content are crucial and even if you don’t have the most SEO friendly theme or website setup you will outrank your competitors just because you have a fresh content. Keep on publishing new articles and you will remain on top.
Social Viral doesn’t cost $35, it costs $59 now
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Thank you for sharing. I found this extremely useful.
Please can you help me with choosing a theme. I hardly use social media and have struggled to get my message online for two reasons
1. I’m technically challenged when it comes to posting stuff online
2. I have a web developer who manages my content and that takes alot of time.
Can you recommend a theme that’s super simple to use once it’s up and running. Just today I have explored the updated Yoast plug in for SEO and find that very useful for writing content. I’m currentl using DIVI and can’t change my home page that easily at the moment because it requires some coding. I want to change things in realtime.
Hope you can help
A theme that does not require any coding will suit me best.
Yasmin,
Personally I would recommend to stick with Divi WordPress theme. You have already invested a lot of time and money in this theme and switching to another theme will be a time consuming and expensive switch. Especially since most of the tasks on your website is done by your designer/developer. Multipurpose themes are vey similar from one to another and other themes are not going to become magically easier to use if you don’t have basic WordPress knowledge in place. One you master one theme it will be easier to switch to the next one but just switching to another multipurpose theme won’t help.
Make sure that you are using the latest version of Divi theme which is 2.5 as this version finally features live preview for your website as you build it. This update should help you a lot to build website on your own without help from developers. If you still think about switching to another theme you might consider these multipurpose themes that comes with visual page builder.
Lol your “user” comments look so fake here. Next time try to make them look less alike.
Passerby,
None of users comments are posted by us and they are a real comments. However, several of theme were posted in attempt to drop some links without really reading the article therefore they might not look as natural because they aren’t.
I’m a little bit confused, are all these themes free? Or is the schema theme free? I’m new to WP. And still on blogger. Thanks for sharing.
Okolie,
Unfortunately, all above listed are premium WordPress themes. If you are looking for free SEO friendly WordPress themes you might want to check this theme collection.
I fail to see the actual blog post featuring the themes… only comments?
Mia,
Clean your browser cache and try again. If it doesn’t work please send as a screenshot and info about what browser, device and OS you use and we will look into it.
This information would help a lot to understand what is going on with the site as we couldn’t reproduce this error ourselves.
Currently I am using Hueman theme. I know it is free but I have seen its good feedback from others.
Can you suggest me if i should purchase for another theme for better ranking?
Hueman is a nice theme and you can continue to use it. Switching to a new theme won’t bring any SEO benefits because that’s not how SEO works these days. The thing you absolutely must to is to change hosting. Your website is in Hindi and your target audience is India. However, you are hosting your website in United Stats with Bluehost. It means that if your neighbour wants to visit your blog he will have to connect with server in US. Which will take way more time than it would if you would host your website in India. Your server must be as close to your audience as possible.
For example, Colorlib’s target audience is in United Stats and that’s why we host our website there. We are also using CDN that helps to load static content such as images, JavaScript and CSS files from closes servers to our visitors. With your hosting choice you have mad a fundamental mistake and you absolute must do something about it.
Hi Aigars
Can you please suggest me good comments plugin. Thanks for aggregating such nice list of themes.
Hey Abhishek,
We are using WordPress default comments on Colorlib and we haven’t had any problems. The most popular options are comments that comes with Jetpack plugins. Those comments are very similar to WordPress default ones but comes with an option to comment using social profile information. This might boost engagement as users won’t need to enter their details manually.
Another option is Disqus that are very popular among WordPress blogs but it works on any other platform as well.
Lately many popular blogs have switched to Facebook comments. Many claims that these comments helps to reduce spam and offensive comments because of personal information which is visible for everyone. But the reality is that most commenters will still use fake Facebook accounts that looks like a real ones. You can see spam on all popular blogs that uses Facebook comments. Some examples are TechCrunch and The Next Web.
The main thing is to have moderation in place or otherwise your comments section will turn into a dark place.
I was searching for the SEO Optimize wordpress theme and I came across this. I had almost finalized my theme and now I’m confused again 🙂
Hi,
How due you feel about Avada? I have heard mixed reviews that it’s great and fast and Seo optimized then I hear its over bloated causing it to load slow? I currently have a site built with Avada and I am thinking of using it on my main business website.
Any advice would be great!
Thank you
Theodora,
The main thing is to invest in a good hosting. That way you won’t need to complain that Avada is bloated and/or slow. Avada is a great theme with loads of features but running it on a cheap hosting that doesn’t have any WordPress specific optimisations in place is going to be a pane. While hosting providers such as Bluehost, Hostgator, Godaddy and other claim that they are WordPress optimized, they actually aren’t. They don’t have WordPress specific performance optimizations like ones you can find on SiteGround, WP Engine and others. These hosting providers will make your website fly and doesn’t matter if you are going to use Avada or some other multipurpose theme.
Really a awesome theme for more reason, have direct SEO experience with these theme ? Best Regards
Maurizio,
You don’t need any experience with SEO to make these themes SEO friendly because they are already well optimized and you can work on things that matters, such as content and your brand.
Hello Aigars,
Thank you for all the useful WP templates and information. I currently have a website that I built on Weebly by way of Bluehost. While the site ranks at the top of all of the search engines, most likely due to it being a niche market & little competition for my keywords, I am seriously overdue for a new & fresh site. My questions are as follows: I am technically challenged (as you can probably surmise by my site :), and wanted to know if the premium WP sites you have listed above would be as easy for me to build as the drag-n-drop weebly platform? If not, what could I reasonably expect to pay for someone to build me a site from one of the WP templates you have listed with similar amount of content & pages that I have now, and is that something you do? My main concern is the affect on search engine rankings once I change my website to one of the WP premium themes & host to SiteGround. Would you suggest that I stick with what I’ve got or make the change now before Google starts penalizing me for having a non-responsive site? I appreciate your advice & look forward to hearing from you!
Barry,
The main thing when switching from one theme to another theme or from one platform to another is to keep the same URL structure or create redirects from old pages to new ones. For example, if your website has page “example.com/about-me/” it should still there after the update and not something like “example.com/about-me-page.html”. Keeping the same permalink structure will mean exact same ranking in Google as long as content is on the similar quality or it’s the same content only with different template.
Building website with WordPress is a simple process since you can use demo content to start with but it will take some time to move everything from the old platform. Switching from one WordPress theme to another would take far less time but it doesn’t add complexity but it will require more time.
I am not available for freelance work. Prices for this kind of services depends on freelancer experience and their location. Ones that are based in India, Vietnam Philippines will charge less but it might also reflect in quality.
Hello Aigars,
I’m looking for a wordpress theme that is seo optimized and responsive at the same time for my recruitment agency website. Most of the themes that are available on the market are more suitable for job boards (job board layout with login for candidates and employers…) rather than recruiting agencies. Do you recommend any theme that is suitable for my business, ideally with the WP Job Manager plugin because it’s already integrated in my old design?
Thank you.
Karl
Karl,
There are no themes that comes with custom WP Job Manager plugin while not being job board theme by default. However. WP Job Manager plugin is very flexible and you can use it with any WordPress theme our there. Therefore I would recommend some multipurpose theme such as these. From there you combine these themes with WP Job Manager plugin and build recruitment agency website with an additional job board functionality.
Is avada a good option for seo optimized theme? Please list me with 3-4 best news magazine themes which are seo optimed too.
Vibhor,
I am slightly confused about your request. You first ask about Avada which best suited for business, landing page and other similar websites and then you ask about magazine themes and Avada clearly isn’t a magazine theme. Of course you can tweak it to make it as one but it would be much easier to use dedicated magazine theme as that will make your life much easier.
Avada is SEO friendly and will help you to rank well on Google and other search engines. But don’t forget that content is the most important thing about SEO and not theme. If your content is going to be low quality don’t expect to get any SEO results even when using Avada theme. It’s just not how it works.
For magazine themes you might want to check this theme collection.
Wow all the WP themes you recommend here are really amazing in designs, functionalities and there is no reasons for us to not considering them to be installed on our WordPress blog.
amazing, I really like to see these themes
Hi Aigars,
Thanks for the informative post. My site was built a few years ago using the Vivacity theme, when I was just starting out. I’ve been unhappy with it for various reasons. As a result I’m ready to get started on a brand new website.
What I’m unsure about is whether to go with a theme or do this as HTML, which I am more than capable of. It’s just finding the time. While the themes you’ve listed are clearly functioning well in terms of SEO, I can’t help but feel from a design perspective they are a little dated. The theme I’ve been leaning towards purchasing Jevelin. But if I can’t get a theme this sophisticated looking that ranks well for SEO on the WordPress platform I’m inclined to just do it myself on HTML. Would love your thoughts and recommendations around this.
Much thanks, Justine
Thanks! I always check your website for best themes. Your reviews are awesome!
Thanks for the useful post! This is what i’m looking for, several seo optimized themes. You cheer up my day. Thanks!
Cool selection! I think you might also be interested in magical features of Jupiter WP Theme and how SEO-friendly it is!
Do you actually think it good for seo? I think it is not so good
Thank you for amazing SEO themes! I like all themes.
What do you think about Total theme. i think this theme is not very good for SEO
I have purchased Tower Template (Themeforest) linking via your website
can you plz tell me the theme which is adsense optimized seo optimized and fast loading
Rabin,
For you I can recommend Newsmag and GoodLife WordPress themes. Both looks great, loads fast and are well suited for SEO.
Looking to upgrade my site using WordPress. We are a custom manufacturing company; website will be more informational based with a gallery and most importantly a product catalog through pdf form. Not too crazy.
Leaning towards Tower theme. Do you think that would be a good template? Any other options?
Thanks!
Bhavik,
Any multipurpose business theme such as these will work perfectly well for custom manufacturing company such as yours.
I was searching for the SEO Optimize wordpress theme and I came across this. I had almost finalized my theme and now I’m confused again 🙂
I want to test Soledad WordPress theme for my website. Now i use Genesis Framework (child theme).
Cristi,
Unfortunately, there are no way to test WordPress themes before buying. It is way too easy to copy them that’s why developers doesn’t offer any trials.
IS OK, tnx! 🙂
Great article. I’d like to recommend SEO Post Content Links Plugin from WordPress. It’s an automatic SEO for websites and fully supports internal linking for all languages.
Hello !
i’m surprise to see BeTheme on this page talking about SEO cause this theme dont manage microdatas correctly. I’m just redoin whole my professional website but usin a genesis framework theme, and probably for all my customers from now.
Christophe,
Metadata is no longer managed by any WordPress theme but instead it is done by WordPress core or 3rd party plugins such as Yoast SEO, All in One SEO and other plugins. Themes used to add their own SEO settings but it is long since this functionality is diconsinuted as plugins does much more than that and does it better.
Hey Aigars,
I am really happy, for you to give such a nice list on the e-commerce themes. I had a query… i want to start a blog for affiliate marketing purpose. But i am stuck on the thing that ,should i start with a readymade theme or a start with building a theme through a framework like genesis or gantry for my blog???
Amit,
It really depends on structure you want to have for your website. Readymade works better as landing page while genesis is better suited as blog theme. There are many different possibilities for Genesis to build ecommerce, landing page, real estate websites and much more but I really don’t like they way it works. I have always thought it as blog framework and nothing more. And furthermore it is also very outdated and there are thousands of far better themes available today. It is just the community around it that still makes it worth it but other than that it is no longer the best tool for building WordPress websites.
You can choose a fast theme this has an impact on SEO, but apart from that I don’t think the theme itself has that much of an impact – you need to SEO optimize it anyway.
Dave,
Exactly! Theme won’t do keyword research on its own. It won’t write proper titles, descriptions and so on.
Well i am searching for a good theme which people like with a full screen do you any theme like that
I wold recommend Jevelin and Uncode for this purpose.
Nice post Aigars!
I read your post and I picked some themes randomly, from the above mentioned themes in your blog. I have checked the speed of those websites and the results are as here
GoodLife
Page Speed Score (C grade) 79%
Yslow Score (D grade)67%
Jevelin
Page Speed Score (C grade) 72%
Yslow Score (D grade) 66%
Brando
Page Speed Score (C grade) 72%
Yslow Score (D grade) 66%
TopSEO
Page Speed Score (C grade) 73%
Yslow Score (D grade) 65%
Simple & Elegant
Page Speed Score (F grade) 48%
Yslow Score (D grade) 65%
Don’t you think their speed must be optimized to be SEO friendly, because website loading time is one of the main factor behind the increasing bounce rate of a website.
I have some recommendations to update the list with SEO Friendly themes having One Click Installation, A grade speed, Clean and Sleek Design.
Please check: Clean East Food Blog Theme by NavThemes.
James,
Thank you for your valuable insights and tests!
Your mentioned theme would be a good option as a free theme as it is a very basic one but I would never recommend it to anyone for $59. Yes, it does load fast but a blank page will always load faster than very detailed landing page built with drag & drop page builder such as Visual Composer.
Also, theme and plugins accounts around 20% of website performance and the remaining 80% are done by hosting itself. For example, you can test our own website which will score very low on most automated test tools. However, it loads faster than the most website. The thing is that we are using HTTP/2 which uses parallel downloads which means that things such as multiple CSS and JavaScript files no longer matters and they are loaded all at once. None of automates test tools check if a website is using HTTP/2 or not, so results are very, very far from accurate. These performance test tools show how optimized is your website for technologies that are no longer relevant in 2019.
If someone really cares about website performance he needs to invest in a good hosting provider instead of choosing a theme that looks like a blank page just to make it load slightly faster.
Hi,
Do understand you point regarding HTTP/2 but still page speed does matter to google as per my knowledge.
Google has indicated site speed (and as a result, page speed) is one of the signals used by its algorithm to rank pages. And research has shown that Google might be specifically measuring time to first byte as when it considers page speed.
I am recommending this theme for great speed. It is a blog theme that’s why it doesn’t contain so many effects, animation and drag and drop features.
I agree that a good hosting may lead to boost the speed but using too much CSS files and JavaScript files will lead to increased page size and ultimately lead to increased resource consumption. Hence increasing the cost.
As you said that the above-mentioned themes are SEO-Friendly. So I think that the speed must be optimized for a theme to be SEO- Friendly that’s why I am saying that website speed is the vital aspect of SEO friendly website. The given below facts will clear it easily.
P.S. – I am not the advocate of this theme, I just found this theme good for bloggers.
You are right and Google does take time to first byte into consideration but that can be reduced by good hosting and cache. Theme very little affects time to first byte therefore you shouldn’t worry about that. But if you have a terrible hosting and no caching (server side or plugin based) you are going to have a really bad time. Once first byte is loaded it can take even 10 seconds to load the website and Google won’t care but users will. So you can call that your site is SEO friendly but users hate it. That’s why I am always think about users first and not Google.
Yes, I agree with you that we must focus the users. But when we are talking about SEO(Search Engine Optimized) friendly website, we have to think about Google. 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
I’ve been using Divi for all my sites, and was wondering how it stacked up against these?
Thanks!
I should also probably mention I have three main commercial sites: one is a store with a blog, one is a photography site, and one is a site offering services, education, a blog, and a store (linked in this reply). For simplicity, it would be nice to have one theme for all three, plus my personal freelancing portfolio site, unless I really need to use niche themes for each.
Diana,
In your case, the most cost efficient solution is going to be using Divi theme. Other themes have a different licensing which means that you can use a single license for a single website. Which means that it would get expensive real quick since you have several websites. Divi is an outstanding theme and will get the job done with ease.
Hi, I am looking for some Seo Optimized WordPress premium Themes, please suggest me
That’s what this list is for. You can choose any of above-listed ones and you won’t go wrong.
Hi Aigars! Hope you can help me finding best theme for my website. I need WPML (2 langs), I plan to use Yoast, w3 Cache free, compress files, Pardot & AdRoll integration.
Am I missing something? WP SEO or some other?
Thanks!
I think that the best themes for your website are going to be either Jevelin or Uncode. Both are an amazing themes and can handle everything with ease.
Thanks, I think SociallyViral is best because of its simple design and outstanding flexibility.
Inspiring theme! I’m going to get back here for a theme for my future clients. Comment from other business minded people and designers are likewise very helpful. Awesome collections and kudos to the team!
Ciao!
JAMIR
Great post all of the above themes are great. I will also create the same kind of post in the future. Anyway, thanks for the post and will be looking forward to seeing more in the future.
Hi Aigars! Hope you can help me finding best theme for my website
I think that Jevelin is going to be the right one. You can read more info here.
I really like the theme of Jevelin, it looks very simple and nice to look at.
Hi Algars,
How are you doing?
Great article!
I’m trying to choose a WP template for my website.
At the moment the website is mainly in HTML and CSS and I host it in AWS/S3 Amazon.
I’m thinking seriously to host it using Siteground or Lightsail Amazon and I’m looking for a
Wordpress Theme SEO friendly and responsive. I work as a private English teacher.
If you were me, which theme would you choose for your business?
I would profoundly appreciate if you were kind enough to spare some of your time
and give me your opinion.
Thank you!
Fabio,
I would go with either Jevelin or Uncode. Both are very flexible WordPress themes with great design and functionality.
I think the News Mag will be my choice since i run a tech blog
I would love to get a free WordPress seo theme for my news blog. Can anyone help me on that?
I can recommend Gillion which is currently the fastest selling blog theme.
All the theme listed on this post are amazing.
Ain’t know what else to say than to say Thanks for the post…..
Thanks for your best List of SEO WordPress themes. all of your reviews is friendly talk, It will be awesome if you add more review for a free themes. Thank You
Rangga,
Free WordPress themes that are also SEO friendly can be found here.
Great themes suggestions! I’m developing a wiki-style website but can’t decide if I should use a knowledge base (wiki style) theme or find a decent theme and use a knowledge base plug in. Any thoughts on this?
Also, most importantly, what theme are you using for this website? It’s great!
We use a highly modified version of Jevelin. Which is a theme we have build ourselves and tweaked to work for Colorlib. By tweaked, I mean there is not much left of it 🙂
If you go with a plugin solution you get things such as page builder, slider and other premium plugins that comes as part of the themes. If you just use a wiki theme they are usually are limited to wiki functionality with no page builder. But it will also reflect in the performance and complexity.
Thanks for such a comprehensive list of WordPress themes that are seo friendly. I have used Be themes before and the only thing I didn’t like about it was the Muffin Builder. The pages simply don’t back up when you create them in Muffin Builder. The workaround is to just use visual composer when creating new pages if you like one of the premade themes.
Hi. Nice article. I’m looking at the SEO Engine WordPress theme. Can you please explain how its admin panel is SEO enhanced? I tried to look on its youtube installation demo but the admin panel looks normal as to what a normal WordPress admin panel will look like. The design panel also looks similar to the other theme I tried before. What are the differences in terms of SEO performance of SEO Engine WordPress theme compared to just installing SEO plugins (eg Yoast SEO)? How did SEO Engine WordPress theme enhanced its SEO performance compared to other WordPress themes? Thanks.
Lisa,
It uses Redux Framework for options and that’s what makes it different. It is not like the dashboard will be turned purple and butterflies will be flying around. It is all about subtle differences when it comes to WordPress themes.
SEO Engine is a theme that will work well with SEO by default even when not using plugins. It has may of the Yoast SEO functionality built it. However, we highly recommend to use Yoast SEO or other SEO plugin anyways as it is better to have a tool that does one thing really well than tool that does several tasks good.
Great article. A good SEO friendly theme is crucial when you are launching your site in WordPress.
In case you want to fine-tune your on-page SEO some more, I’d like to point out a new, light-weight WordPress SEO plugin. It is called Poor Man’s WordPress SEO – since it has no premium features like for example the current giants Yoast SEO and All In One SEO Pack.
In addition to being wallet-friendly, the plugin is also user-friendly. It contains all the features a basic or more advanced WordPress site owner could ask for. New features are also coming all the way. The plugin is released under GPLv3 in the same manner as WordPress we all love. 😉
Dear Aigars,
thanks for this great review and all your comments. I am just getting started with my first affiliate website and wondering whether I should use a WordPress Theme from you list above or a page builder like Divi. It seems to me that Divi is very intuitive with lots of designed resources to build on. However, I have heard that it is not very SEO friendly and that will be my backbone of getting traffic. I am not able to code and would like a range of designed options and features such as customer reviews etc.
Thanks
tahnks for the compilation… bit please i need a simple theme with simple grid layout and simple post slider on homepage…
This is going to be the one.
Socially viral is outdated in WordPress.org, so it will work perfectly?
Very awesome post. Really using an SEO optimized WordPress theme is very helpful to get good visibility on search engine. Recently, I have found one amazing SEO optimized theme which is known as Bloggers. This theme is very impressive, has many stunning features and also gives you a better SEO ranking.
We are using some of these cool and SEO friendly themes!
This is a fantastic roundup, love that the themes are both useful and beautiful. I admittedly tend to use the same themes over and over for most projects, but it’s nice to have a few new ones to try out and test 😉
Hey
I am from denmark
I am looking for a simple FAST mobile FREINDLY and best SEO template there is. I have a blog about fishing tehnics and article on news and more. Want it to look like a magazine. Most important! VERY FAST, MOBILE FREINDLY and BEST SEO
what to choose?
Best Reagrads Mads
Hello Mads,
All themes for like last 10 years are now SEO friendly thanks to what WordPress team did with their core. For more control over SEO we recommend using a SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO or any other.
Website performance is very little to theme you use. It mainly comes from optimisations (cache plugins) and/or your hosting provider. For example, we use Kinsta which comes with its own caching therefore saving us ton of time trying to optimize our website.
Mobile friendly and responsive. Every single theme released after 2013 must be and is mobile friendly and responsive. Otherwise, they are no longer accepted on any theme stores or marketplaces.
In short, Performance comes from hosting and its setup, SEO from WordPress itself + plugins and mobile support is there by default. Which means that you can choose any theme that we have listed on our website by looking for that looks in a way you want it instead of looking for features that are no longer worth looking for.
I have feeling that best set theme are ugly 😉 sort but we need speed time, no js / or a little / minimal kb weight etc.. tones of text on front page and subpages … that make them a little bit old-time .
Hello Aigars! I am thinking of starting a video blog soon with the mind of ranking it with some long tail keywords to outrank my competitors. I have good knowledge of worppress optimization with yoast. Which of the above themes will deliver my job perfectly . I have also thought of Genesis framework . Please m confused on which theme to use as a base.
WordPress by default is SEO friendly but if you are serious about ranking your website then Yoast SEO or other SEO plugin is a must. Themes are all about design and not functionality. WordPress core and plugins are what delivers functionality. With that in mind, just look for a theme that you like the most from design perspective and the rest will come with plugins.
Some really nice themes. Thanks for the compilation.
Found what I was looking for.
Best,
Gerd
Hi Algars,
Thank you for such a wonderful post. I have Divi in place for my website and I was using it for my blog as well but I am currently in search for another more optimized and lightweight theme which would boost my website Speed as well as SEO. I don’t need many functionalities, I just need a proper lightweight and SEO friendly theme. Please suggest me one. Money is not a matter of concern for me but a good theme is.
Thanks,
Paul
There are two ways to approach it:
1. Go with a free theme such as these. Yes, a free theme. They are much simple, doesn’t come with any bloat such as page builders that makes your website to load slower etc. They just serves the basic needs and they does it very fast and will always load faster than any premium offering.
2. Invest in a good hosting provider such as Kinsta. We use it for Colorlib as well and our website loads incredibly fast even tho we have a very, vey complex setup with loads of scripts and processes.
Hi,
Thank you for your insight into SEO optimized WordPress templates. Which template would you recommend for dentistry that is simple to implement? I want a modern look and many companies that offer to build dental websites are very generic and unattractive. I love the clean design and artistic look of the templates you listed but which one is most suitable for video plugins and links for making appointments for speed and seo local ranking?
The best WordPress themes for dentistry can be found here.
When it comes to SEO, themes are not going to impact much in either positive or negative way. Your content is what going to make the biggest impact. To make your content rank better I would recommend using Yoast SEO or some other SEO plugin for WordPress. That way you will be able to implement all the necessary things for Local SEO and beyond.
Hi Aigars,
Having read all of your posts and replies, I very much appreciate your incredible efforts in personally replying in-depth to so many people. I hope I might be one of them, as I could do with your point of view!
My site’s WordPress theme (it’s a Themedy Genesis theme called ‘DERBY’) is a few years old now, but is still current and seems to serve my purpose of presenting live cover bands for hire in the UK. But I really don’t know if themes age after a while, or get left behind… To me, it still does what I want it to do, but I’m not educated enough to figure out bounce rates, or if Go0 gle views it poorly – it gets very low traffic, and of that traffic has high bounce rates, but I don’t know why – it is now reflected in the poor SERP results it’s had for a few years. I’ve run tests, spoken to quite a few experts, but everyone has a different opinion, and none really accurate or focused. Could I ask you for your opinion, if you get a moment?
Sincere Thanks and Regards,
Stu
Hello Stu,
The theme you are using is not to blame because it is still responsive and mobile-friendly according to Google. However, what I can see right away is that your website has a very little and very thin content. It is nowhere near to be an authority in the niche because you have so little going on on your website. For example, you have 54 pages on your website while one of your competitors lmmuk.co.uk has 2,000. All his meta descriptions and titles are perfectly optimized as well while you have just dropped keywords in there. Also, all your meta titles don’t have anything unique just plain KW spam that comes from your website title (name + keywords) that is reused in every meta title.
In your case, I would start doing SEO or hire someone who can help you with that because right now it is a complete disaster. From there, work on fresh content for your website and the results will come.
Changing the theme in your case won’t make any improvements. Themes are left behind over the years but usually, it results in incapability with the latest version of PHP, WordPress or plugins but as long as that is not the case you can use the theme (that comes from someone who is selling themes for a living 🙂 ) and Google won’t evaluate your website.
Soledad is awesome but developers need to give more attention to mobile layout. font-styles customization etc.