June 18th, 2010 // No Comments
Photoblog themes on WordPress are relatively all equal when it comes to their ability to rank in search engines (SEO). Thesis is the only true theme that has all the bells and whistles, but the average photographer can use any standard WordPress theme along with the All in One SEO Pack plug-in to achieve acceptable search engine optimization.
The features offered by a self-hosted WordPress blog deliver search results heads and shoulders above all other blog platforms, like Blogger or Typepad. In this post I outline WordPress themes that I am affiliated with because I think they provide the best functionality and design for photography-based businesses or photoblogs.
PortfolioSitez
Great themes, customization options, customer service, and support. The best part is they will handle the technical setup and hosting for you for minimal cost.
ProPhotoBlogs
Get $10 off your purchase with code ZPRE3014. Great themes and impeccable online tutorials like Installing WordPress and Importing a Blog Into WordPress. Setup and installation options available.
Photocrati
Get 15 styles in one super theme, plus access to a member area. This theme requires you to install WordPress and acquire hosting elsewhere.
Thesis
Thesis boasts the strongest SEO of any theme. It has about 50 custom search related fields you can tweak for optimal performance. Most notably it allows:
I use the custom SEO features of Thesis everyday on my Photographers SEO Blog. Matt Cutts, outspoken search guru at Google, also uses Thesis.
This site uses a theme from Templatic, because I wanted a theme that was designed well around my Blog SEO Zen eBook. I didn’t need something that was built with photography in mind.
Sarah Arrow at Blogmistress offers a standard package at £99 for a selfhosted WordPress blog and domain name. You will have three themes to choose from and we’ll upload your company logo.
Patrick Allmond at Focus created a special hosting plan for readers of this site. His WordPress hosting costs $20 a month with a one time fee of $240 to migrate over your existing HTML based website to WordPress.
Blog SEO Zen for photographers and vendors offers everything you need to optimize your photoblog or photography-based business blog to rank higher in search. Get recommendations for all the best SEO features, framework, and plugins for your blog. Learn how Google works in non-technical terms and how to take advantage of text placement, image optimization, and building links. Come away with an easy to implement strategy for ranking your photoblog homepage for competitive phrases, and blog posts for niche phrases that can drive huge amounts of qualified searchers to your site. This solid 35-page ebook provides everything you need as a photographer or vendor to understand and exploit search.
