These basic WordPress SEO tips can help you get your site ranked higher in Google. A higher ranking means traffic, which can mean the difference between a site that thrives, and one that falls into obscurity.
27% of all active sites on the internet are built with WordPress. This website platform has become very popular for being incredibly easy to use. Anyone can create a website today in minutes using WordPress.
As a platform, WordPress also comes with hundreds of built-in Search Engine Optimization features. These features make it easy to rank your site high on search engines. However, to take advantage of these features you need to configure WordPress correctly.
There are also several SEO plugins that can help take your site’s optimization to the next level. These WordPress plugins come with many settings, some of which can be a little too technical for a beginner. So let’s cover some of the most basic WordPress SEO tips to get you started.
Page title SEO tips
Your page title should be 50 to 60 characters, according to Google. Observing this character limit ensures 90% or more of your title is displayed correctly. The title should contain the primary and secondary keyword. The primary keyword should come before the secondary keyword, and as close to the start as possible. You can also include your brand. Last, but not least, write with your target website audience in mind. Your page title must match the search query. Also, avoid stuffing keywords; otherwise, Google may rewrite your title.
SEO best practices for URLs
Site URLs should reference the content that is on that specific page. This is useful for website visitors. URL structure also matters to search engines since Google looks at URLs to find out what a web page is about. Search engine crawlers have an easier time indexing different web pages on a site that has a good URL structure. Ideally, your website must have relevant URLs customized for each web page.
Content hierarchy is also very important. You should also have specific categories and subcategories to categorize your content. WordPress will create URLs that show clearly which URLs of the site belong in each category. URLs should also be brief, concise, and have a primary keyword. Lastly, avoid stop words like; and, the, but, of, a, etc. Remember to use hyphens if you need to separate words. Search engines only recognize hyphens as separators.
On-Page SEO
Most on-page SEO tips out there today tend to focus on keywords and keyword placement. Unfortunately, such tips are outdated. Google is sophisticated enough to understand synonyms. This means you should use related keywords alongside your primary keyword. Your content should also consider searcher intent.
For instance, if a searcher is searching for “buy Aloe Vera”, they are interested in seeing Aloe Vera product pages. When optimizing your site for such a keyword phrase, make sure you have a product page. You should do a test to see the kind of pages Google ranks high for specific keywords to understand the search intent behind the queries.
Your site should also load fast since Google has been considering site speed when ranking for almost a decade now (since 2010). When placing your keywords, remember to include them in your heading and subheadings.
Your content should also be high quality and as detailed as possible. In the past, you could rank easily for 300-word articles. You need longer posts today (longer than 1000 words). Google considers the amount of time website visitors spend on your web pages, and this is highly correlated to the quality of content you offer. Your content should also be simple and readable.
Images SEO tips
Good SEO extends to the images in the website pages. While it is a good thing to add images on your site, remember to add high-quality images to create the right brand image. You should compress the images since large images can make your website slow. The images also need to be labeled accordingly; otherwise, Google won’t know what the images are about. Luckily, WordPress allows website owners to add alt tags and title tags for images.
Recommended plugins
There’s more to optimizing your WordPress site than the above basic WordPress SEO tips. This is precisely why you should use WordPress SEO plugins. The best WordPress SEO plugins will check your website pages/content automatically. They will offer you suggestions on what changes you need to make to improve SEO. Yoast is among the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress. The plugin offers both free and premium versions. Features include keyword optimization, internal link suggestions, readability checks, and plagiarism checks. Other recommendable plugins include; All in One SEO and The SEO Framework.