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SEO and Widgets

Posted by CrystalRaven • 5/28/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: SEO, widgets

I have been searching for a theme that not only suits me and reflects my topics, but one that is also SEO.
What I have discovered is that though there are themes that are SEO perfect, or almost perfect, there are WIDGETS that mess this up:
Nextgen Gallery
Add to Any Save/Share Bookmarks
Twitter Tools
WP-Polls

so I thought I would give a heads-up on these wee widgets and also ask about possible replacements or fixes...
thoughts, suggestions and opinions wanted!!!

User Comments

5/28/09

timethief

I use the SEO all in one plugin 1.4.91
Out-of-the-box SEO for your Wordpress blog. Options configuration panel Support By Michael Torbert. wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

As you are experiencing conflict with your other plugins the place to go for plugin compatibility information is wordpress.org/support/forum/10 and if need support then post to the forum there.

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5/28/09

CrystalRaven

I have SEO all in one and it is configured, it makes titles, posts etc more SEO friendly but won't fix problems in the theme and especially not widgets

And the widgets are not causing conflicts, they work just fine, until you run them through CSS and XHML Validation and then they do not pass and bring your SEO down. So for a theme such as Copy Blogger with 0 errors and perfect xhml validation, add these widgets you now would get 11 errors, 6 warnings etc

[reply]
1. 5/28/09
  
  timethief
  
  Right so off to wordpress.org support you go looking for help. Good luck.
  
  Alternatively you could dump the widgets. I have dumped the ones that don't validate. Every widget is an outbound link that needs to be balanced by an inbound link if your are shooting for the best SEO and PageRank possible.
  
  The sharethis plugin will replace the Add to Any Save/Share Bookmarks widget. It doesn't interfere.
  sharethis.com/
  
  IMHO Twitter Tools and WP-Polls are not really required but you may feel differently.
5/28/09

CrystalRaven

I appreciate the suggestion, however, these widgets are not made by Wordpress but by third parties and unless/until they fix them, if one wants that great SEO, then we need substitutes that do not have these problems and I could be wrong but I don't think WP support is going to help much
I also wanted other Bloggers to be aware of this, suggest other options, tell of any similar problems they have encountered etc

[reply]
1. 5/28/09
  
  timethief
  
  Sure go for it here on this forum too. All plugins over at wordpress.ORG are third party widgets. They are created by members of the wordpress open source community, which must not be confused with the Staff of the Automattic Corporation, which has wordpress.com as a project.
5/29/09

JP2112

You might try contacting the plugin authors and see if they can fix their plugins. Or even edit the plugins yourself and release them as "better" versions.

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