Is your website built on WordPress CMS and trying hard to get that top spot on SERP?
If yes, I’ve good news for you!
As one of the most convenient and easy to use Content Management System (CMS), WordPress makes using SEO techniques and strategies easier. Also, websites developed using WordPress are SEO friendly and thus are easier to rank. However, this does not mean that just having a WordPress site will help your website rank by doing nothing. You’ll still have to use proper SEO tools and techniques to get the desired rankings.
In this blog, I will guide you on how you can use WordPress SEO effectively in order to get better search engine rankings.
What is WordPress SEO
In general sense, WordPress SEO means using best SEO practices for your WordPress site to help your website rank well in search engines. Given the fact that the WordPress sites are SEO friendly and easier to rank on search engine, it is also important to implement the appropriate SEO tools and techniques to rank your website better on Google.
To take the full advantage of WordPress, you’ll need to focus on creating great content, follow all the required SEO practices, get backlinks and make sure that your website is free from technical issues. Do note that, WordPress SEO is no different from regular SEO. SEO practices will still be the same as the ones used for other Content Management Systems.
WordPress SEO Tips
Tip #1 – Switch to a Reliable Hosting Provider
The very first step in getting the WordPress SEO right is switching to a reliable hosting provider. While choosing a hosting service provider, you’ll need to consider factors such as uptimes guarantee, load time, site speed, customer support, location, bandwidth and many more. Of these, site speed is the most important one as it has a direct impact on the website’s performance. The recommended hosting plan to run WordPress should include a modern version of PHP, MySQL or MariaDB, and HTTPS support.
Best Hosting Service Providers
- Blue Host
- HostGator
- GoDaddy
- Hostinger
- A2Hosting
- Dream Hosting, and many more.
We have an entire blog post dedicated in helping you choose from the best hosting services. If you think your hosting provider checks all these boxes, you are ready for the next step.
Tip #2: Install WordPress SEO Plugin – Yoast SEO
The next important task is to install a free or paid WordPress SEO Plugin. Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack are very popular free WordPress SEO plugins available. Remember, only by installing one of these plugins won’t do any good–these plugins actually give you wise suggestions on what changes you need to make on a specific page/post on your website. These suggestions comply with on-page SEO factors that Google use as signals to rank a given page.
How to Install a WordPress Plugin?
Installing a WordPress Plugin is a very easy task.
For this, firstly you’ll need to log in to the admin panel of your WordPress site and click on the ‘add new’ plugin page down the left-hand menu: Plugins > Add new.
This will take you to the list of available plugins. You can search for the plugin you are looking for and then hit “Install Now” button. Your installation process will start immediately. Once the plugin is installed, you’ll need to activate it.
Optimize your Website Content using WordPress SEO Plugin – Yoast SEO
Now that you’ve installed Yoast SEO, you can to start optimizing your website content (every page or blog post) using this plugin. When Yoast SEO is installed in your WordPress, it will provide an SEO score and Readability Score for all your blog posts and pages. Along with that, it will also provide you tips on how you can improve that score and then you can optimize the pages for better performance in search.
WordPress websites by default do not allow you to add Meta Tags directly in pages and post. But, with Yoast SEO WordPress plugin, you can.
Features of Yoast SEO for WordPress SEO
- SEO analysis
- Readability analysis
- Cornerstone content
- Text link counter
- Insights
- Link suggestions
- XML sitemaps
- Ryte integration
Yoast SEO also allows you to add Google Analytics Tracking Code in your WordPress website. After adding your Website in Google Analytics, you will get a tracking code. Copy the Tracking ID and paste it in the Google Analytics ID field. And, start analyzing your website’s performance from your WordPress Dashboard.
Tip #3: Install a Cache Plugin to Improve Site Speed
WordPress Caching is used to improve the performance and speed of your website. When a website is requested repeatedly from different clients, reusing the previously generated data to speed up new requests is called WordPress caching. Before introducing you to some of the best WordPress Cache Plugin, let get to know its benefits:
- Speeds up your website
- Improves overall user-experience
- Your server uses less resources
- Boosts your SEO efforts
- Lowers TTFB (Time to First Byte)
Best Cache Plugins for WordPress SEO
- WP Rocket (premium)
- Cache Enabler (free)
- Comet Cache (free + premium)
- W3 Total Cache (free – Recommended)
- WP Super Cache (free)
- WP Fastest Cache (free + premium)
- Hyper Cache (free)
Bonus Tip #1: Choose an SEO-Friendly WordPress Theme
If you haven’t already started designing your website on WordPress CMS, it is highly recommended that you choose an SEO-friendly WordPress theme to make the base strong. You can find thousands of free and premium WordPress themes on themeforest.net and on a lot of other junctions.
To be sure, run the demo theme through Google’s web.dev tool to get insights on potential performance and SEO issues before installing the theme. Here are a few of my recommendations:
- Divi
- MH Magazine
- SEO Crawler
- TheGem
- Schema
- Genesis
- Astra
- The7
- Eventum and many more.
Bonus Tip #2: Carryout Keyword Research Prior to Writing
Using the right keywords is very important for any SEO, including WordPress SEO. Do note that SEO is an ongoing process and you must keep up with if you want to see maximum results. Make sure to use appropriate keyword in your blog posts.
Since most of the WordPress SEO plugins allows you to add a title, description, and focus keyword to every blog post and page, make sure you fill all the required fields. This will help the pages rank better in SERP.
There are numerous keyword research tools (both free and paid) that you can use for your keyword research. I recommend using Ahrefs if you have a budget to spend each month. If not, you can simply go for free keyword research tools like Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner and more.
It’s your Turn
So, what are you waiting for? Start optimizing your WordPress site with these WordPress SEO techniques. At eLance, we have been assisting our clients in implementing WordPress SEO for better search engine rankings. We are not just an Agency, rather we are your potential Digital Marketing partners and we thrive for your Growth & Success as much as you do. You can always contact us if you want SEO services in Nepal and techniques in your WordPress site.
