So, if you don't want to spend a single dime for purchasing a template then you can download any free template for your blog. But, while selecting these free templates you need to consider few things otherwise they can affect your blog's SEO.
Below i have described some points that you need to consider before using a free Blogger template:
Credit Link:
A credit link is a link to the template designers' website for giving them credit for their work. Almost all free templates contain a credit link, you can see these links even in the templates provided by Blogger itself. So, giving credit to somebody for his/her work is not a bad thing but in some cases the template designers save their credit links in external files so that nobody can delete these links. But, the problem is some designers protect their credit links in such a way that they affect the sites using their templates.Below i am mentioning some problems that you can find in these templates and if you find any such case with your template then its time to change your template because it can affect your blog's SEO.
- Template does not work with Google Translator.
- On reloading it shows don't remove credit link.
- In template editor section it shows the template designers website instead of your blog.
Check your template with Google Translator:
To check your website with Google translator, go to Translate.Google.com and enter the URL of your blog and then translate it in any language. If your blog translates in a language that you want then there is no problem. But, if it shows a text like don't remove the credit link or shows a blank page then it means it is not suitable for your audience, who are coming from different countries. An example of such template is Wilderness template by Soratemplates. This template is very beautiful and looks professional but when we use this template and try to translate our blog then it starts showing don't remove credit link. This is the biggest drawback of this template because it is not suitable for our worldwide visitors.On reloading:
This is another case where our blog starts showing don't remove credit link. To check for this case just reload your blog and before the reload completes, stop the reloading process in middle. If on stopping the reload it shows your blog then there is no problem and you can use it but if it shows don't remove credit link or other text like that then simply change your template because it is soaking your blog's link juice. An example of such template is JPstation blue template by IVYthemes. This template has many good features but because of this i don't recommend you to use this template, also it doesn't work with Google translator and on translating it starts showing don't remove credit link same as wilderness template.Check template designer section:
Some other things that you need to consider:
Post URL:
Whenever you upload a new template for your blog then first create a post and publish it, just for testing the template. Then see whether the template is generating a neat and clean permalink or it is generating a permalink that contains some additional codes or text. For example: Your posts permalink must need to look like "http://www.bloggenes.com/2013/10/10-easy-ways-to-promote-your-blog-website.html" instead of "http://www.bloggenes.com/2013/10/10-easy-ways-to-promote-your-blog-website.html#.Uf5002q9a". Although these permalinks work too but if you use Google Webmaster or any other webmaster tool then you can't fetch your posts URLs as a Google bot because it will show error. An example of such template is Cleanblog template by BTDesigner, this template is best for advertisement purposes but it generates permalinks that contain additional codes. So, always try to use a template that creates a clear permalink for posts.Check your links:
Yes, check your links too, check whether on clicking a link within your blog you are directly taken to the destination page or not because in some cases i have seen that if we click a link then it first takes us to the template designer's website and then again back to the destination page. The redirection doesn't take much time so check this twice. Also this problem generally occurs in templates that contain related posts widget, so, if you are using any such template then first check your related posts widget links rather than checking any other links on your blog. These related posts widget work like LinkWithin Related posts widget, which redirects a link to their site before sending the visitor to the destination page and hence soaks the link juice of your blog.Also read:
good to know
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