Comments on: Does Google Love WordPress? What Actually Drives Search Rankings (Updated 2026)

By: Michael Dimitriou

Michael Dimitriou — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:26:15 +0000

In reply to Mark Mason. Hmm, I do not believe that, Google loves the web 2.0, blogging with some platforms. When I search something in google usually the first results are blogspot (ohh yea, it is google's product, coincidence) or wordpress. Usally with unreliable information.

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:40:58 +0000

In reply to Michael Dimitriou. Nope. It just that Wordpress has many features that custom sites often ignore.

By: Michael Dimitriou

Michael Dimitriou — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:49:23 +0000

I cant get it, Google hates custom sites? Is google push all websites to be in wordpress platform?
The reasons that have been mentioned can also have non-wordpress websites, but the rankings are lower than wordpress websites. Example: many seo comanies uses wordpress platform.
Ok lets stop developing then, like the most seo companies that have their sites in wordpress platform..

By: glen james

glen james — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:31:13 +0000

I have never worked with any other forms of website building other than using a wordpress platform. So i cannot comment on building websites using HTML. Initially it was a bit of a learning curve but now i find it so easy to put up a quality wordpress site in no time at all, and it looks very professional as well. There are so many plugins that you can use that enhances the wordpress experience. And the great thing is as long as you set the site up correctly, Google loves them.

By: Alex Dumitru

Alex Dumitru — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:58:36 +0000

You are right, Mark. A lot of people think that having a wordpress or a blogspot blog will just help you with ranking in Google. The thing they don’t know is that Google doesn’t care what platform you’re using, while you’re doing it correctly.

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:15:50 +0000

In reply to Neil. I don't see a lot of bloated HTML on a well coded WP site with a good theme. WP is just an engine -- all the bloat comes from the theme.

By: Dustin Stevens-Baier

Dustin Stevens-Baier — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:11:17 +0000

Good post Mark. I agree with your philosophy on WordPress, it’s more about the way the sites are optimized for SEO. I just found your site through Pat Flynn’s podcast. It seems that I am in your target niche as I am starting my internet business while working full time. When I first started trying to do this it felt very daunting but now that I see success stories like Pat’s and yours it seems somehow more attainable.

By: TrafficColeman

TrafficColeman — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:06:06 +0000

Mark I have had many people ask me that question more than more over the past year, and by doing my research…regular sites rank just as well, but more people are just caught up on wordpress more than ever.

“TrafficColeman “Signing Off”

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:10:49 +0000

In reply to Kent F.

I would definately use a special theme with no side bar for sales pages. I love WP for sales pages because you can get up and running really fast, and you can easily add extra pages on the domain for SEO.

I don’t get many comments on my niche AdSense sites that are not spam or backlinking — but I do get some. And I do approve them.

Mark

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:08:18 +0000

In reply to Carma Spence. My pleasure Carma. You are welcome.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:07:58 +0000

I totally agree. Google does not love a blog just because it’s WordPress but there are other things that are actually contributing to its higher ranking. I have been seeing a lot of blogs that are ranking but on a different platform.

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:32:55 +0000

I’m wondering if the amount of overhead code generated by default in WordPress could be seen as a detriment when compared with a sleekly coded (and well SEO’d) static HTML site.

If Google is weighting site loading speed more heavily now I think the advantage could go to the HTML site.

By: Kent F

Kent F — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:39:37 +0000

Mark – I am looking at a couple of html pre-sell sites for some new domains I have simply because I’ve had more miss than hit conversions with wp blog sites. Most WP blogs I see are pretty crappy for conversions – including mine. Obviously there is no hard and fast rule here and some of the newer wp themes are much better at presenting a good page for sale conversions. Adsense is obviously a different animal. Lastly – I’m wondering if comments are realistic for niche sites? authority sites – absolutely. Thanks!

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:47:45 +0000

In reply to Christine.

Sure — you can use a site called html2rss.com which takes your html and converts it to rss.

Then you can then ping the rss feed, submit it to feed aggregators etc…

Regards,
Mark

By: Mark Mason

Mark Mason — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:40:29 +0000

In reply to Garth. Excellent -- ease of use for the user is a great point. Thanks, Garth.

By: Carma Spence

Carma Spence — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:30:52 +0000

I totally agree. WordPress just makes all those things so EASY compared to doing those things with a static site. I never really thought it was WordPress per se. Thanks for putting these nebulous thoughts into very clear words.

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:05:03 +0000

Yes, good info and good comments. I come from more of a static html background and am trying to learn how to best leverage WordPress for use as primary sites, mainly due to the fresh content convenience and flexibility.

There are other good content management systems out there now that can be just as effective as WordPress and possibly easier to learn to manage… two I’ve been looking at are the Adobe Business Catalyst system and also a company called SquareSpace.com If you have any input or feedback on either of these, would love to hear it.

As far as I know, you can’t use something like “pingomatic” on static sites… correct?

Thanks for interesting article.
Christine

By: Garth

Garth — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:33:00 +0000

I agree, it is the various SEO factors that matter. If you know what you are doing with HTML you can achieve the same thing, it just takes a little more work. Conversely, if you don’t know what you are doing with WordPress, you can nullify or miss some of the advantages.

One more boost WordPress sites often get is fresh content, because blogs are easier to post to on the fly, and Google likes active sites.