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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the backbone of a digital company. It defines the success of your outreach efforts, eventually leading to better business and brand-building in the industry.
However, many are unaware of the proper steps to perform SEO for their WordPress sites. This is why we developed this beginner’s guide to help you reach the top of SERP results and top the charts in your niche. So, let’s get started.
Ways to build SEO foundation for your WordPress websites
There are two main techniques for optimizing your site for SEO: on-page and off-page. The former concerns how your website looks to search engines and involves elements that improve user experience on a page.
The latter means building authority and trust for the website’s content around the Internet with strategies like link-building and citing works.
With that said, there are a lot more things other than on-page and off-page SEO that we need to cover in this guide. So, keep reading till the end to discover everything you can do for your WordPress platform.
Keyword Research
Whether you are performing on-page or off-page SEO for WordPress, keyword research is the cornerstone for both. This step should always be your starting point if you want to improve search results and gauge your maximum audience.
Start by researching keywords from any keyword explorer tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs. These contain thousands of rank-potential keywords according to your niche, search intent, and geographical location.
Look for words and phrases that have low KD and high search volume. Mostly, these are the keywords that will help your WordPress site stay ranked amongst a million others.
After conducting thorough research, it is time to sprinkle the keywords on your site carefully. Let’s see it below.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO involves working with the following elements:
- Optimizing Titles and Headings: Include your primary keyword in the title, preferably near the beginning, and use proper heading tags like H1, H2, and H3 for content structure.
- Meta Descriptions: Relevant keywords are vital in SEO. Search results use meta descriptions on search pages, helping users quickly understand the core concept of a page’s ranking. So, in this case, a well-written meta description helps users decide if the content is relevant and should be clicked. The more a description helps users understand a page’s content, the more users will click on a page on search pages.
- Content Quality: Creating engaging content helps users quickly convert readers into paying subscribers. Creating high-quality content is undeniable in SEO if you blog to attract a relevant audience. Always strive for originality, and implement the paraphraser tool to optimize content for uniqueness if necessary. The resulting crafts will present fresh perspectives for the readers to enjoy.
- Image Optimization: Use alt text to describe images with keywords and compress image sizes to improve page load speed. This helps SEO and ensures a better user experience on your WordPress site.
Remember, this should be a starting point for your on-page SEO efforts, but you should keep taking actions that help you improve on-page SEO in the long run.
Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO for your WordPress site involves acquiring backlinks from authority websites. However, this is contingent on you creating quality content because nobody wants to associate themselves with a website containing mediocre work.
Building backlinks often requires positioning well on social media sites. These platforms are great for driving traffic to your WordPress venture, as the target market is enormous.
Another tip is to perform local SEO. Create your Google Business Profile and link the WordPress site on the card so that more people in your area can check out your company. This will increase organic visitors, leading to better visibility in SERPs.
Enabling SSL
Google and many other search engines prefer HTTPS sites over HTTP. The former is more secure from phishing attacks and cybersecurity malfunctions.
Being more secure means that the search engines will regard your site as more authentic and safer for users, improving the platform’s SEO.
You can ensure your site’s URL version is correct by going into Settings -> General menu. If the platform is on HTTP, you should enable SSL certification in the WordPress dashboard. You can do so manually or using the Simple SSL plugin.
Monitoring and Analyzing Performance
In addition to everything we’ve mentioned above, performing regular SEO audits and monitoring stats for your WordPress website is essential.
Start your audit by checking your website for broken links using Screaming Frog. This will tell you precisely where your site is losing valid links. Fix them to improve your search results ranking.
Then, you can run the website on Google PageSpeed Insights to see ranking scores for your website across Performance, SEO, Accessibility, and Best Practices. If the score is less than 50 for either of the categories, consider performing technical SEO. This can be done by yourself or through a professional digital agency.
Additional Tips
Finally, we got some additional tips for better WordPress SEO. Choose a responsive, well-coded theme for your website so your platform is easily accessible through mobile devices. Some examples of good themes are:
- Astra
- Generate Press
- Neve
There are plenty more options, both free and paid. So, keep exploring until you find the best choice for your website.
We recommend using Page Builders in addition to themes for your WordPress websites. These tools help beginners create custom layouts for the platform without getting into the complexity of coding.
Furthermore, you can set up and install plugins like Yoast SEO on your WordPress dashboard. This tool provides XML Sitemaps, Schema Markup, meta tags, and more advanced elements at a click.
Final Thoughts
Beginners should understand the value of SEO in marketing.
If you are not technical enough, you should learn how SEO works.
Later, creating a staging environment for SEO practices will help you even more with results.
Read more in-depth articles on our blog for more information on how SEO routines can help you increase your business.
If you want to fix WordPress issues, let us know, and our team can help you quickly figure out what’s wrong with WordPress.