Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) practices are used to “inform” search engines like Google of the trustworthiness of a particular website, i.e. one that we’d like to bump in the rankings. It’s not a guaranteed science, but given time it can pay dividends. The biggest problem for SEO ninjas is that Google continually changes what the algorithms like or don’t like about new and aging websites. And then there’s the platform most of us use to build those websites: WordPress.
The evolution of WordPress could change everything.
Most WordPress users are familiar with various “plugins” used to make the experience more user friendly. Sometimes these features have the support of WordPress designers, and sometimes not. But now WordPress developer and CEO Matt Mullenweg believes it’s time for the platform to pivot to a “plugin only” approach. He believes the platform will run faster and be easier to update.
That could be the case. Plugins are normally developed by a group of users familiar with the relevant systems instead of only one person. This means new features could be “crowd-developed” quickly. Also, WordPress users would decide which features to use instead of falling victim to forced updates they may not want or need. Then again, not everyone agrees that this path is the correct one.
Contributor Jon Brown acknowledged that plugins require research on the part of WordPress users, and not everyone wants to put in that kind of work when it could be spoon fed to them like it always has been.
Brown said, “First users have to discover there is a plugin, then they have negotiated yet another settings screen and updates and maintenance of that plugin.”
Another commenter described the system as an underhanded way to implement “a weaponized tool to derail discussions the same way ‘decisions not options’ has become for years.”
The real question is how these new features might help or hinder SEO. Will novice website designers still be able to figure out how to make SEO work on WordPress?
