If I Switch my WP Theme will it bring a SERP Penalty?

TeenAngel · Dec 2, 2011

Hey,

I've got a site that's #1 in G, Y, B, but the theme I am using is just not very good. No good places to place ads or videos or anything. I would like to switch to a sleeker magazine style theme but I'm afraid that if I switch my theme my site will fall in the SERPS. I've read elsewhere that changing a theme could lead to a penalty.

My question: Can I switch my theme without penalty? Any of you guys had a similar experience?

Thanks,

neo3187 · Dec 2, 2011

Not exactly a penalty but your site might start dancing and no one can tell when it will become stable, don't mess with the theme if its not that urgent...

kazhkaz · Dec 2, 2011

It won't result in a penalty but your site position may change. I have experienced a great jump in SERP after changing theme but as you are at #1 spot it may be to risky...

TeenAngel · Dec 2, 2011

I'll tell you guys what, I'll give it a shot and I'll get back to you. I can't monetize the site properly as it is currently set up.

Getwhatchuwant · Dec 2, 2011

TeenAngel said:
I'll tell you guys what, I'll give it a shot and I'll get back to you. I can't monetize the site properly as it is currently set up.

There you go, nothing ventured nothing gained. You have a #1 rank site not bringing in bread but you feel a theme change with good ad placement will help...

So what if it drops to #3 but you actually get sales? Then you can go back to getting it back up! Good Luck!

JimmyConway · Dec 2, 2011

TeenAngel said:
I'll tell you guys what, I'll give it a shot and I'll get back to you. I can't monetize the site properly as it is currently set up.

Exactly. Take action. Trial & error is really the only way to get a good grasp of SEO & SERPs. You can read up on it all you want, but you really dont start learning until you start using what you've read.

ritesh · Dec 2, 2011

There wont be any penalty.But you might dance a bit before you settle.

bulldogzg · Dec 2, 2011

I know that everyone said that it's safe BUT I did get a penalty (+700) that lasted for 6 months.

That being said, if I protected my site using robots.txt I would have made ti without penalty.

See my theme was crappy and G indexed some of the words like "admin" etc to be the KW on my site and tried to rank me for those. Took me 6 months to repair the damage so all I can advise you is to make sure your robots.txt file is tight before making any changes to your site.

Good luck

nikolaalx · Dec 2, 2011

You will certainly NOT get a penalty. However changing the theme is likely to change the way headings are organized. Same goes for alot of other on-page factors which in the end will result in a changed on-page score.

The site might slip off few positions. If you really need to improve the monetization I say do it, but make sure the new theme has exactly the same on-page SEO factors.

The best way to do that would be to make a checklist with all the h1 and h2 headings and run it on the new theme. If something is missing, hard code it.

good luck

flx89 · Dec 2, 2011

definitely not....i've changed my website from Joomla to wordpress....so basically everything was changed on the website....but i kept the same links.

The rankings were still the same, nothing was changed...

As for wordpress templates...there's no reason to get serp penalties for that

bigballin6161 · Dec 2, 2011

I changed mine and nothing happened. I still stayed at my spot.

phpbuilt · Dec 2, 2011

Changing your template can screw you up. I made a post about it.

Just google this ...

Code:

help rank dropped after changing theme

Zouper · Dec 3, 2011

My rankings didnt change after a theme change. Also Terry Kyle says that there shouldnt be any changes after a theme change - although in posts of fellow marketers I sometimes saw a lot of dancing.

verilix · Dec 3, 2011

I've changed a site of mine's theme every month for the past 2 years, no penalties.

TeenAngel · Dec 3, 2011

phpbuilt said:
Changing your template can screw you up. I made a post about it.

Just google this ...

Code:

help rank dropped after changing theme

PHP, thank you for your comment and previous post.

You wrote in a response to that post that:

if you are not significantly changing your content or your URLs, changes that affect mainly the appearance of your site will not cause any problems.

You also wrote that it's OK to change theme if:

You are not changing your URL structure.

Your changes are designed to reduce keyword stuffing issues.

Your changes are designed to enhance your internal linking between related pages (such as with the YARRP plugin).

Your changes are not significantly adding to the content of your pages, necessitating a Google reevaluation of all your content.

I'm really only changing the appearance of the site. Content, links, structure (and keyword density) will all stay 100% the same. I just need more space for ads otherwise the site will not be able to be monetized properly.

This also isn't big dollars we're talking about here. If the site gets bounced, then I don't care. At the very least it will be a good experiment for everyone to see.

Catt Mutts · Dec 3, 2011

i also changed the theme, from thesis to some random one and nothing happened at all. still where i was before. website layouts are changing all the times, don't see why should that be an issue.

phpbuilt · Dec 3, 2011

TeenAngel said:
This also isn't big dollars we're talking about here. If the site gets bounced, then I don't care. At the very least it will be a good experiment for everyone to see.

It's no problem then, you shouldn't have any issues (obviously if its not even making money).

jacky8 · Dec 4, 2011

If you are already ranking #1 I wouldn't change anything just yet. It's not that Google will penalise you for doing it, but what you're doing at the moment is working for their purposes. A change - even one that's just cosmetic - might trigger the notorious Google Dance. If you want to change it, it might be worth keeping that under your hat for if your site falls from #1.

I sympathise with your situation, I have run blogs that I've looked at and thought they really needed to be totally overhauled. But if people are visiting and you're ranking at the top of the big three search engines, then a change is more likely to make things worse than better. This way, at least you have a secret weapon if you need another boost.

If I Switch my WP Theme will it bring a SERP Penalty?

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