Rule Eight: Code Google Loves

One thing some people who get basic SEO miss is the quality of website code. You can do everything else right, and still lose to other sites because of jumbled, poorly constructed HTML.

You’ll hear time and again that WordPress is the best way to build a site (whether you call it a blog or not), and that it’s extremely SEO friendly. And that’s true (with a few tweaks). But many of the free themes (designs) for WordPress destroy that search-friendly start with sloppy code.

Chris Pearson (my designer, business partner, and friend) solved that problem with his innovative Thesis framework for WordPress. And that’s one reason why Google’s own Matt Cutts, search legend Danny Sullivan, and some of the top SEOs and professional bloggers around use Thesis for their own sites.