Templates and SEO

[gernot]

Sorry if I'm asking basic questions - but actually I never thought about it before. My current impression is, that SEO is more important than I thought and up until now took into consideration. I always thought you get traffic by 'word of mouth'-style propaganda.

Here's my question:

If the choice of the CMS effects SEO, does the choice of the template/theme/skin effect that too, and if how? And do you know any good place where you get good templates for Joomla, preferably free

Thanks

[chris.p]

Yes, SEO is important if you want any traffic and if you want people to become customers.

Templates are crucial to a CMS because they affect many factors. Apart from the look of the site, a template does many things. All you need to worry about though is if it looks right for the job, and if the code validates.

Install it, have some text and images on the index page, and then validate that at the W3C. A template needs to pass validation or it isn't any use in a competitive market. It can do a lot more for you if the author is clever, but you just need to start with one that does your particular job and validates OK.

Just google for free templates, there are many sources. In the end you'll need a commercial one though, if you are running a business - or have a developer modify a free one if you like it. You start with the layout, that's the main factor, all the colours and most of everything else can be changed. You'll need plenty of module positions or you will be too restricted.