Ideas on WordPress Templates and SEO
Hello, GSA forum friends. 
Many thanks for the help with my ongoing attempts to fix a website's ranking.
Wondering: Anyone have any ideas on templates for WordPress?
Websites that rank in many niches look similar. Google still implores us to focus on GOOD content, but what defines GOOD?
I think a lot of it is semantic organization, LESS text, and clear-sub headings.
Some templates that have a certain look...that is, lots of jquery magic, and visual "energy," seem to rank. Large background stock photos, all look similar, scrolling and non-scrolling, and wiggling, and sliding backgrounds and text...
...and it's a nice, clean look.
Do you pplz think templates matter, in terms of SEO? Does page layout and organization of information constitute an element of "good content," meaning readable and easy to find what you are looking for, as a user?
I may start using more "modern" WP templates. Looking dated isn't good, I guess? You have to be fashionable, because all the websites that update end up looking like this. lol
Is it just driven by consumers' expectations of what a "new" website is like, that is, looking like a lot of the websites around in the SERPs, or do web developers choose new templates for SEO reasons, because looking newer means a boost in ranking?
New websites that rank, or updated websites that rank, all seem to be more about directness in text, clarity, and ease of use. Of course, I wonder if pure aesthetics plays into it all??