Naughty Wordpress Themes to avoid

Hi folks

I just got off the phone (SKYPE) with a client and reader.

After logging into his blog I noticed something in his footer that should not be there…
Links with names of pharmaceutical drugs that go to drug sites.

I had to look up the words in the footer to find out what they meant.

Here is a screen shot:

badwordpresstheme

How did this happen??

Well, there are people giving away Wordpress themes because they can get a back link to their site if others download and use their themes. (This is fine but not the above example and themes like that should be avoided.)

More back links means better rankings in the search engines. Good for the theme creator but bad for you if your site has nothing to do with the links in the footer. The search engines will discredit your site/blog for having links in your footer that lead to drug sites.

Please make sure the links in your footer are related to your blog’s topic or blogs. For example, if you see my free Wordpress themes, there’s one link in the footer that goes to Wordpress. This has to be there in order to use Wordpress software.

The other link gets linked to this blog which is fine because this blog is about blogging and you are running a blog-that’s logical. These two links will not hurt you. Links to drug sites will if your blog is not about drugs.

Be real careful where you get your Wordpress themes.

Tags: bad themes, themes

6 Responses to “Naughty Wordpress Themes to avoid”

#1189. Anna Says:
July 13th, 2009

This is a very good point.

There is one thing you said which I don’t understand:

“The other link gets linked to this blog which is fine because this blog is about blogging and you are running a blog-that’s logical. These two links will not hurt you. Links to drug sites will if your blog is not about drugs.”

I understand that it is NOT required to keep the link to Wordpress, and that in fact it is recommended to remove it as a protection against hackers. In fact … wasn’t that written in Blog Lock-down?

I can’t find the link to this now but I remember reading somewhere that it was not required to keep the link to Wordpress.org, and as I recall this was written on the Wordpress.org website.

#1191. Craig Says:
July 13th, 2009

Hi Anna,

Thanks for bringing this up… In Blog Lock Down, I believe I say to change the “Powered By Wordpress” To Built to last with Wordpress. In other guides I suggest removing it from the footer and adding a link to Wordpress in the sidebar.

I’d like to see where it says you don’t have to link back to Wordpress. I’ve looked into it and can’t find anything on it. If you see it again, please send over the link. Under the open source license for Wordpress I believe you can use the software as long as you pay attribution via the backlink to their site. Maybe it’s changed?

At any rate, I am now publicly saying to remove anything that says “Wordpress” from the footer and pay Wordpress attribution by adding a link to them in your sidebar.

Blog on!

Craig

#1507. SuzQ Says:
September 5th, 2009

( not finished with our WP site)
How do we get rid of those links in the footer placed by the widget creator guys. I disabled the footer and cant remove it now. So frustrating. I really wanted to use the video comment widget.
PS Using DIY Theme Thesis.

#1508. SuzQ Says:
September 5th, 2009

Oops…I meant I disabled the widget..not the footer.

#1513. Craig Says:
September 6th, 2009

It’s a bit different for each them you use. I suggest you contact the owner of the theme you’re using and ask them.

#2005. Heat Says:
July 9th, 2010

I fell victim to this once, sigh, I wish I could have read about it first before I had to learn the hard way.

Thanks

Naughty Wordpress Themes to avoid

6 Responses to “Naughty Wordpress Themes to avoid”

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