Launching a WordPress website might be an easy task, but it takes a long way to hit the top rank on the search engine result page.
The only thing that can turn your dream into a reality is by drawing all your attention to SEO and consistent effort in strategy-building
that can aid in producing high-quality, SEO content.
Luckily, it is good news that WordPress is a relatively advanced platform that has tools to settle in easily
and work the right way to grow your website. With ease in use, extensive flexibility, and a world-renowned back support team,
WordPress has emerged as a popular choice.
Its unique in-house services give users the much-needed kickstart to fit in and stay a step ahead of their competitors in the crowded digital market.
Finding your way around SEO may take long research, immense time, and unending effort in case you are a beginner.
Hence, here is a handy guide to provide a helping hand in gathering knowledge about WordPress SEO and how to utilize it to
step up your website’s game plan.
So, without wasting any time let’s explore the 10 best practices of WordPress SEO that you can start using right away!
1. Use a dedicated WordPress SEO Plugin
Let’s first understand what are these plugins and why they are so important.
So these are small bits of codes and software containing numerous functions which extend the functionality of WordPress.
They facilitate this by adding new features or enhancing the pre-existing features of your WordPress websites.
So before you head over to any other optimization technique, prioritize the task of SEO plugin installation.
They can help you to achieve higher ranks in search engines as they are primarily designed to improve the SEO status of your website.
There are a few available options that are free and ready to use, such as – Yeast SEO, All in One SEO Plugin and so many more.
Once activated with just a click, they serve as a one-stop solution house that makes your entire SEO journey much easier and more convenient by giving you the best practices in every sphere of WordPress.
WordPress website developers can significantly benefit from using these SEO plugins. That way, they can help clients achieve their online goals more effectively. Clients often seek developers who can provide website development and expertise in optimizing their sites for search engines.
2. Picking an SEO-friendly WordPress Theme
It is no surprise that choosing the right theme for your site can be a game-changer while operating WordPress.
It not just sets the right first impression by shaping the site’s appearance and layout but simultaneously plays a key role in driving SEO results.
By default, the platform presents its user with the Twenty Twenty ‘theme upon first arrival, however, it might not be the best choice for everyone.
Do not panic there are endless options to choose from, so do full-scale research before you make a choice.
Make sure they are ‘SEO-friendly and prioritize two main aspects that are – speed and code such as appropriate use
of the meta title tags and headings. This guarantees results as the Google bots can easily track the needful.
3. Optimizing the media files for SEO( videos and images)
It is no doubt that media files can do a lot when it comes to driving huge traffic into your site, not just that these visual elements make
your content look more attractive plus make the write-up readable for the audience.
However, like two sides of a coin, it has equal potential to cause benefit as well as harm if not used properly.
The first thing that needs attention is the quality and size of the image which determines the page’s loading speed that
eventually affects ranking. Put some extra effort into giving a proper title to the image and add a caption whenever possible.
Don’t forget to add the ‘ALT text’ which guides the search engine spiders to see and understand your image
while indexing your site as well as increasing the reach of your content to the visually impaired population.
These little changes can go a long way in leveling up your search engine ranking.
WordPress website developers can take several steps to ensure that media files, such as images and videos, are optimized for SEO. These include choosing appropriate file formats such as JPEG or PNG for images and SVG for logos and icons when possible. Compressing photos without compromising quality is essential, and plugins are available to automate this process.
Creating image sitemaps, using structured data and schema markup, and employing a content delivery network (CDN) are all ways to enhance media SEO. Provide transcripts, captions, and sitemaps for video content, and use video schema markup.
Regularly check for broken media links, monitor page speed, optimize thumbnails, and perform regular audits to optimize media files as the website evolves.
4. Embracing the Long Content format
Writing longer articles for your site has a greater SEO impact. Google algorithms take article length into account when allotting the ranks in search engine results.
It is viewed as more valuable for the consumers. It also increases the authority and credibility of your site through the earned backlinks and social media shares that positively affect customer relationships.
It also encourages the audience to spend on-site time and retains them in the long run which gains you greater online visibility.
Additionally, it gives you the space for incorporating more keywords and heading that convey the objective and topic details to the crawlers.
Hence, stick to the 1800 – 2000-word limit that has been approved by extensive research.
5. Improve website compatibility for mobile and tablets
Today most people access websites through their mobile phones, which expands the need for website compatibility. Google has lately included the mobile-first index as a measuring parameter to determine your search engine results.
So, staying behind affect your online visibility and result in loss of customers.
With increasing mobile adoption, keeping the audience happy is the first need.
This will improve user engagement and experience on the platform which stops them from leaving your site, increases conversion and on-site time spend while building long-term loyalty.
It also increases the click-through rate (CTR) that holds great importance for any website owner. So, it is advisable to run Google’s mobile-friendliness test for your website and create a responsive design that is joyful to use.
6. Spend time understanding your competition
The first ten websites that show in search results are your competitors who have an SEO advantage over you.
So, spend extensive time on their website and go through their content in detail to understand their best SEO practices that you might be missing out on.
Once you are aware of your weaknesses, changing the game plan is a relatively easy task. Gaining a better ranking is not restricted to creating good content.
How you incorporate the targeted SEO techniques throughout your website makes the real difference and takes you way ahead of your competitors.
7. Use internal linking for SEO
Internal linking is a crucial SEO strategy that is often missed out by most website owners. It plays an important role in providing additional high-quality information to your readers.
Simultaneously it acts as a navigation tool that directs the incoming audience towards the subpages that are most important to your website.
This way the previously published content do not lose their identity and relevance within the recently published one.
It can be done in seconds while you are writing by highlighting a portion of your text and adding the relevant article in the hyperlink button.
This criterion is taken into account by search engines to point out the articles that have previously received a good ranking to improve your website’s position on the Search Engine Result Page.
8. Taking the help of Google Analytics
This efficient tool provided for free by Google helps website owners in numerous ways to track their progress. It helps to keep track of the incoming traffic without additional effort.
It easily identifies the source from where the maximum audience steps into your website, their movement on your platform,
and other specific markers that can assist you in developing better connections with consumers. This in-depth breakdown is an easy medium to spot errors in your current plan of action.
Developers play a vital role in enhancing SEO through Google Analytics by ensuring the accurate and comprehensive implementation and tracking of analytics data. This involves proper integration of Google Analytics into the website, placement of the tracking code in the correct HTML location, and the setup of various tracking mechanisms
9. Building content around the keywords
For SEO, Keywords play a central role since the beginning of time. It simplifies the process by which incoming audiences search for their desired content.
Structuring your content around a chosen long-tail keyword and using it across the content (title, heading, and multiple other places) consciously helps the search engine crawlers to understand your topic well which reflects in the ranking.
To make the process much easier, we have multiple SEO keyword tools available online which eliminate the extensive research process.
They do your part of the job by screening the SEO issues in your website and suggesting appropriate solutions.
10. Appropriately choose your hosting provider
Speed is the key factor that has a direct impact on SEO in the 21st century. A reliable provider pushes your website to the top improving the site speed and enhancing the inevitable security standards.
Don’t back out just because it looks like a huge investment as it helps in enhancing the performance in the long run.
To start with you may choose one of the three hosting providers recommended by WordPress itself.
Understanding what SEO can do for your website and executing it professionally can guarantee success for your online venture.
You have made the first right decision by choosing WordPress which is one of the most user-friendly Content Management systems available out there.
Next, you just need to implement your well-researched SEO tactics step-by-step and watch as they bring in results for you.
Now that you have the whole list with you, get started with full spirit to outrank your competition. Remember the mantra – “While Content is king and SEO is the queen which can win you this game effortlessly in one move.”
Related Topic: How is SEO and More Powerful Media in Digital Marketing?
