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No matter how good your content is, you can’t rank your posts on Google or any other search engine without doing proper SEO. Several factors affect your SEO rankings like; backlinks, hosting server, On-page optimization, site speed, and your website template.
Not all WordPress themes are optimized for SEO, but well-optimized SEO-friendly WordPress Themes can help you blow your competitors out of the water. A good SEO-optimized theme will help you to rank your posts on Google search results.
There are probably hundreds of SEO-optimized WordPress themes, but today I’m listing some of the best SEO-friendly WordPress Themes that’ll help you get good SEO rankings.
Table of Contents
Best SEO-Friendly WordPress Themes
GeneratePress
GeneratePress is one of the popular themes that come with lightweight code and SEO features. They offer both free and premium versions; the free version has been downloaded over 500,000 and has maintained 5 stars.
The default WordPress install of the GeneratePress theme is less than 30kb. It also comes with a premium version with full access to modules and the Site Library.
Another good thing is that you can use the premium version on as many sites, including your client’s websites. You can read my comprehensive GeneratePress review here.
Update: After using Genesis for six years, I finally changed my theme to GeneratePress. The results are incredible; I’ve tested my site’s speed after using this theme with Rocket.net hosting which comes with the Cloudflare Enterprise package.
Below is the latest screenshot of this site on GTmetrix.
I’ve also tested on PageSpeed Insights which Google uses to determine the core web vitals.
Features:
- Secure and stable
- Lightweight
- SEO friendly
- Custom colors
- Page builder friendly
Astra
Astra is another responsive SEO-optimized theme that can be used to build any website. It’s very lightweight and needs less than 30 KB of resources.
Astra theme lets you customize everything; from layouts to color & typography. Astra also provides the free version which has been downloaded over 1 million times.
Also, Astra works flawlessly with page builders like Elementor, Thrive Architect, Divi, etc. Read my in-depth review on Astra to know more.
Features
- Light-weight as feather
- No jQuery
- WooCommerce
- Schema markup
- Supports all page builders
- Pre-built website templates
OceanWP
OceanWP is a highly optimized free SEO-friendly WordPress theme that also comes with premium extensions to support various website features.
It’s a multi-purpose theme that can be used to build different websites. It also works with major page builders.
OceanWP pricing starts at $35 per year and includes 14 premium extensions, 210 pro demos, and 12 months of customer support and updates.
The free version of OceanWP also has 5 out of 5 stars, which indicates the performance of this theme.
Features
- Fully responsive
- eCommerce ready
- SEO base built-in
- Native cart popup
- RTL ready
Schema
Schema is one of the oldest SEO-friendly WordPress available in the market. The theme is ultra-lightweight and includes all the necessary aspects to build a fast-loading WordPress Website.
It also comes with rich snippets and a built-in review system that will help your site rank higher on Google and other search engines. You can get started with this theme with just one click and import all the demo content. With the options panel, you can customize this theme with unlimited colors and layout options.
It’s important to note that the Schema was created by the same team that built Rank Math, a popular WordPress SEO plugin that is used by millions of websites across the world. So you can expect the same quality on this theme.
Features
- Search engine optimized
- One-click installation
- Works with Elementor builder
- Ad management system
- Built-in review system
- Unlimited background
- Shortcodes
- Related posts
- Readymade icons and Google fonts
Newspaper
Newspaper’s approach is very distinct for bloggers. It’s a theme that sells very well because it has multiple customizable features. Plus, you can use it for any type of blog that you see fit.
They also added Instagram and other social media support. It even has Google Ads and AdSense support, which is a very important thing to check out.
The Newspaper claims that its newer version is twice the lighter than the previous version making it one of the fastest WordPress Themes on marketing.
Features
- Multi-purpose theme
- Core web vitals ready
- supports eCommerce
- tagDiv visual composer
- Pre-built website templates
Divi
Divi is one of the popular WordPress themes that comes with a visual page builder and other advanced features. It offers endless customization features to build any type of business.
Divi theme comes with over 800 pre-built website designs that can be installed in seconds.
This theme also provides different marketing tools like a built-in email opt-in module, built-in split testing, eCommerce, pricing tables, etc.
The speed of your website using the Divi theme can vary based on the customization you make.
Features
- Drag & drop builder
- Advanced Code Editing
- Responsive design
- Mobile friendly
- Marketing tools
Kadence Theme
Kadence is another lightweight theme that is very much similar to GeneratePress. It also offers both free and pro versions; pro version pricing starts at $59 per year and provides a ton of features like unlimited site use, WooCommerce addon, Hooked Elements, etc.
Essential Bundle costs a little more and offers extra features like Pro Starter Templates, Kadence Blocks Pro, etc. Kadence Theme seamlessly works with Gutenberg, Elementor, beaver-builder, and other site builders.
Features
- Lightning-fast theme
- Pre-built Starter templates
- Works with page builders
- Responsive and customizable
Blocksy
Blocksy is an innovative SEO-friendly theme that is built to be lightning-fast. Blocksy claims to be ultra-fast and scores pretty well across all the website speed testing tools.
Blocksy is built to be compatible with the Gutenberg Editor and it’s fully responsive. It also works well with other WordPress Page builders.
The free version of Blocksy has over 650 Five-Star ratings which demonstrate the quality of this theme. Blocksy Pro plan starts at $49/year and includes premium ready-to-import starter Templates and other add-ons. You can read the detailed review of Blocksy on virfice.
Features
- Ultra performance across all speed testing tools
- Gutenberg ready
- Clean code
- Fully Customizable
- Header Builder
Important note: No matter how lightweight your theme is, you won’t get the desired speed and performance without a stable server. Before migrating to WPX Hosting, I was using HostGator, SiteGround, and the like. These hosting companies were not specially optimized for WordPress. On the other hand, WPX Hosting has its very own custom-built CDN for WordPress called WPX XDN. I highly recommend WPX Hosting for SEO. (Update: Currently, using Rocket.net)
Final Words
The above themes are some of the Best SEO-friendly WordPress Themes that’ll help you increase your Search engine rankings with their inbuilt SEO functionality.
You can choose any one of the above-listed Best SEO-friendly WordPress Themes to beat your competitors.
