How to do WordPress SEO? Ultimate Guide 2022

WordPress SEO – what is it, and is it easy? Many businesses that have their website on WordPress might only dream about getting the ranking on the first page, while some were already there to give you the competition. It means that you are not on the right track. So, you can reach the first page just like your competitors when you take the right step.

Here I will talk about the things you require to improve your WordPress SEO and stand out in the search engine results pages. In this post, we will talk in detail about search engine optimization along the way it works. So, we will go step-by-step to help you understand WordPress SEO and how you can improve your site ranking.

What do you mean by SEO, and how does it work?

SEO is a rewarding process that can help your website get visibility in search engine results. It can improve the quality and quantity of free or organic website traffic. However, before you get on to the business, do you need to understand how search engines work?

Google, one of the most popular and renowned search engines, has an index of websites shown in the search results. Since this list keeps changing, humans can’t maintain it manually. So, Google has computerized programs, also known as web crawlers, who systematically browse through the internet and update this list.

These crawlers not only gather adequate information but also organize it systematically. This is why when you search, you can find the correct result within a split of seconds.

As Google says, these crawlers are very intelligent and focus on new websites, dead links, and changes in the existing website. It is also clear that whenever you keep changing your current site by including content, it immediately informs the crawlers. They will collect the data about the website and find out if it is relevant to the search query. If you succeed in it, search engines will reward you by getting the position on the first page.

Basics of WordPress SEO:

Do you know what the fundamental difference between WordPress SEO and SEO on other platforms is? Well, apart from other answers, the most important one is WordPress SEO is straightforward to manage.

Initially, it is better to start by inspecting several parameters of websites like their performance settings and everything on your website. Make sure you resolve as many problems as possible in a short amount of time. So here are some of the most common things you can check and immediately change for the better.

Website settings: 

Here, we will check the few settings that directly connect with the WordPress SEO. However, running through several other settings available on your homepage, discussion settings, and others is always recommended.

• Visibility settings: You first need to check that your website is not hidden from the search engines. You can directly visit the dashboard, check the settings, and find the reading settings on WordPress. Now you can scroll to the bottom of the website and find out where it is mentioned in the search engine visibility. It would be best if you made sure that the section which says “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is not filled.

• Permalink settings: Permalink or permanent link is the next important thing you need to find. Here you have to find out the appropriate structure for your site. You must know that search engines favor no best format for permalink. All you need is to understand your visitors and ensure that it matches your content. One of the most famous structures that makes it easy is by Post name.

Website Performance:

The next step is to find out the website performance. A lot of optimizing assets needs to be done, along with deleting things required to improve website performance. However, before making any changes, you must analyze how the website is doing.

• AMP: Accelerated mobile page or AMP is the open-source system developed by Google. It allows users to enjoy a faster and better experience using their mobile browsers. Since many users use their smartphones to access the internet, optimizing the website speed on mobile browsers is of utmost necessity. So you have to set up the AMP on the side. 

             Some of the significant benefits of setting AMP include:

• Increasing conversions and engagement.
• Improving your site’s organic traffic.
• Decreases loads on service.

• Mobile friendly: In modern times, most teams you find responsive to mobile devices. If you’re not sure about the responsiveness of a website, you can use the tool offered by Google to test the mobile-friendliness of the team.

• Website speed: This is again the first thing included in website performance as it has a lot to decide on how your website will perform. One of the most reliable ways to check is using PageSpeed Insights by Google.

I will always suggest you keep a backup of your website before making any changes. However, if your site is live, it is recommended to create a staging website.

PageSpeed Insights does not perform on locally hosted websites or staging environments. However, you don’t have to worry as you can use Lighthouse, which also implements the same technology for site auditing and measuring changes. One of the most effective ways to improve your website’s speed is by implementing CDN, optimizing websites, and using fast themes.

Customize your search appearance: 

The first step is to determine whether your website is already indexed using top search engines. So all you need to do is to type the domain name in the search bar and then hit the enter button. If you have already found some results, you are already on the list.

However, if your site is not indexed on the search engine, you must use the Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Tools to submit your site and get it indexed. It will take some time but will appear in the results.

What do you mean by robots.txt file?

The robots.txt file is one of the best ways chosen by marketers to tell search engines if they can or cannot access some parts of your website. It will let you keep the pages out of the results you don’t want to show in the search engines.

When you do not use the noindex directive, there are still some chances of getting indexed without the crawlers even visiting the page. So, whether using robots.txt files or noindex directives, you need to be competent in plugins or coding.

So, by now, you have got some idea why people use SEO plugins most. Since communication with bots or search engine crawlers is only possible when you have programming competency, you must use the appropriate language to guide them. 

Get rid of low-quality content: if your website has a dummy or duplicated content, it is generally seen as low-quality content. It will not add any value to users or search engines. You have to make sure that there are no broken or empty pages. So rather than degrading your side with pages having low-quality content, it is suggested to remove them and update them with quality and informative content.

Website Optimization: 

You can improve the images, content, speed, and hierarchy as some of the basic steps to make your users happy. When the users get accurate information, they will share it, which will notify search engines about your website.

Content: 

As the age-old phrase goes, “content is king” it is still a great way to improve your website performance. There is no need to have a website that loads faster than a microsecond but has nothing. Rather than that, a site that takes a little bit longer but has excellent content will be more effective.

Now, you might have already understood that content is one of the most important things you need to prioritize when it comes to website optimization. One of the best ways to know if the content is appropriately optimized is by thinking from the reader’s perspective. You are absolutely on the track if you think it will be informational for your reader.

So, ensure that every piece of content on your website is readable, understandable, unique, and has the information your audience is looking for.

There is no particular rule regarding the length of a blog post, but you have to make sure that you are using the focused keyword or keyphrase. You require entering the key phrases in a manner that flows with the content and does not seem to be forcefully put. These key phrases will help the crawlers to understand if your blog post or content is ideal for these search queries. So, when you add information and content based on these search queries, the chance of getting ranked by Google is much higher.

Structured data and Schema Markup: 

Schema markup is the microdata that plays a considerable value in any website. You have to make sure that you add a schema marker on your website as it informs the crawlers to understand the information present on your website. You must know that the schema markup has a great value on your AMP, and Google also recommends it.

Hierarchy: 

It is recommended to use a secure connection rather than choosing an insecure one. By security, we mean HTTPS websites. It is also one of the significant guidelines of search engines. 

You must know that crawlers do not care whether you use a non-www or www on your website. One of the most significant advantages of using non-www versions is that your website URL will be shorter. One pro tip if you wish to improve the ranking of the website, you can add breadcrumbs. 

Breadcrumbs: 

Breadcrumbs is the navigation system that shows the user’s location. Search engines generally recommend using breadcrumb navigation where it is required and possible. It helps search engines to understand the value of each piece of content. 

Images: 

It can be very easy to use image optimization like resizing, lazy loading, and compression. It is what optimizing an image is all about. However, when it comes to SEO, image optimization means offering search engines plenty of information about the images. When you follow the guidelines provided by search engines, it will help their crawlers to understand what your image is all about.

It also consists of improving captions, file names, descriptions, ALT text, and a lot more. So you have to check every image available on your website and pay individual attention to specially optimizing images. 

This is also a place where you can make use of SEO plugins. Choosing a proper SEO plugin will continuously remind you to check images and pay special attention from the SEO perspective.

Speed: 

Improving the speed of your website might seem daunting, but it can boost your website in just a few minutes. So, you need to choose a theme that uses top coding practices. 

It is natural that we find the themes that we mostly like and use them on our website. We install it and optimize some parts of the website to load faster. It is not the best way as it wastes a lot of time. So, you can choose to update and make the theme and plugins updated. Also, make sure to delete the unused plugins from your website.

Keyword research: When it comes to adding content to your blog or website, keyword research is highly valuable. When you find out the data about what people are searching online, it can give a massive boost to your website. The data you collect will help you find the keywords that are mostly searched.

Apart from this, it is also crucial that you know the way to optimize your blog post. Activating the WordPress SEO plugin is not enough to optimize your blog post. So, it is suggested that you pay attention to the focused keyword, title, description, and the entire page to maximize the result. 

Remember adding key phrases or keywords on your meta description and title can give you a massive boost to your website performance.

Improve Page Category: 

When it comes to optimizing the page categories, it generally starts from the headings. It is often recommended to use the focus keyword on the H1 of the page as it can attract your readers. It is crucial as the page header helps the webpage get indexed along with your readers to understand the information they will find on your website.

Comments section: The comment section available on your WordPress website shows the engagement and traffic on your website. However, some comments might be spam. So, you must make sure you use a good plugin on your WordPress website to combat comment spamming.

Nofollow affiliate links: Links are generally valuable when it comes to search engines. There are many times when you get comments having external links, which will also affect the SEO score of your website. So, adding a no-follow attribute to the external links can help search engines not to follow these links.

Content duplication: Copied content is a big no-no for the search engines. This is because the web crawlers generally crawl different websites, and when it finds the same content on various sites or pages, they will not be able to decide which one to rank higher. So Google will take both the pages out and not give any ranking to them.

Best WordPress SEO Practice: 

When you are aware of the things that you must not do, it increases the chances of getting success. Since we often fail even after knowing the essential things, understanding what you must not do can be beneficial in achieving success.

Things to do: 

• Make sure that you always check before making any changes.
• Don’t forget to use image sitemaps.
• Use schema markup to get rich results.

Things to avoid: 

• You should not pay to get traffic rather than use techniques to get real traffic.
• Don’t get backlinks from sites with less domain authority, as it will only add to failure. Rather than use better content and be very careful while choosing a backlinking website.
• Don’t keep pages showing 404 errors.

Choose the Best SEO Plugins: 

If you want to communicate with search engines, you need to have knowledge about coding. So again, you need to hire someone who can write it out. Otherwise, you can choose SEO plugins. Since WordPress is spoiled with options of SEO plugins, you don’t have to be a coding expert to use WordPress.

Some of the most common names of plugins that people use include Yoast, Rank Math, Schema Pro, and others.

Final Verdict: 

WordPress SEO can be complicated for beginners, but it is enriching when you do it right. There is nothing better than getting ranked on the first page. Even when it might seem impossible now, it is not. Hopefully, the WordPress seo checklist was helpful and will get you on the right track. 

Remember that it is not an overnight success but requires hard work and avoiding bad practices. In this article, I have tried to cover as many aspects of WordPress SEO so that you can get help and do a better job. However, if you are unable to make SEO optimization WordPress, you can choose the top WordPress SEO expert.

Digital Habibi can be a better choice if you are looking for top-notch WordPress SEO services. With my knowledge about WordPress SEO optimization, I can make sure to help you get the best results. You can get in touch with me if you are looking for the best WordPress SEO optimization.

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