Changing themes is always a big “event” with a WordPress site. I know, I know, it doesn’t have to be – but it is. At least when the site is an established one.

So when I changed the theme (a while back) on my personal website bradymower.com, I began worrying about load speed, SEO, and code structure.

I’m not well-versed in code. I know some basics, and plan to learn more, but not enough to build a site from scratch. And yet, my Page Rank was at 3 for my home page and 2 for my blog. Not huge, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t loose any PR because of the theme change.

I’ve since changed my theme again, and my Google Page rank is still 3. So no PR lost apparently.

Good thing.

But could I have gained some Page Rank, to 4? Not sure.

Some of the things I’ve done on my blog to hopefully improve load speed, SEO, etc. for this my WordPress site and blog:

Better Hosting

I finally bit the bullet and switched from Hostgator to WPEngine. I’ve used it for almost a year now. Verdict? Not worth it. It may be worth it for other sites, but for mine – the cost and pain of use outweighed the benefits.

Make my site more “useful” to visitors

Hard to tell if I’ve been successful on this, but I’ve tried some different things to ensure my site helps potential clients see what I do and get in touch with me. One of the most consistent strategies for ranking well and making a good website is to make the site useful! Write good posts. Create good content. Work on making the site look and function good on desktop and mobile.

Is your content easy to read?

Is your site easy to navigate?

What does your target audience want to do on your site and does your site make it easy for them to do so?

But really, it’s a playground

After this and much more, and after years and years of having my website online, I’ve realized that I like being able to explore and try and fail and build and test on my site. I’m not too focused on SEO and optimization on this particular website. I’m mostly interested in a site where I can create stuff and show stuff I create.

I like exploring and testing different things on my site. I like learning about different WordPress themes and creating simple design elements to use.

And probably the biggest thing I want to enjoy doing on my site is writing. I like to write. So as long as my blog can continue to be a place where I enjoy writing and posting my thoughts, ideas, an advice, then I consider it a success.