Looking for ways to gather more traffic on your WordPress website through SEO? Setting up a WordPress site can be easy but optimizing it for proper SEO is not. Now, there is some good news as well as bad news related to acquiring traffic on WordPress through SEO. Good things first, it is extremely easy to make use of the best SEO tactics in WordPress. So, even as a novice in SEO, you can still get your website optimized for better Google rankings with ease. However, the disappointing part is that WordPress is merely a tool and not enough in itself to help you enhance your Google rankings. WordPress is alright when it comes to implementing newer versions of SEO that are out of the box. However, there are still chances of improvement in this sphere. The concept of SEO is not just limited to brazen keyword stuffing or poor-quality link building. It has evolved massively in the past decade and continues to do so.
What is WordPress SEO?
WordPress SEO is the optimization technique used to prepare and set up the most ideal SEO environment for a WordPress blog. When you set up a new WordPress website, there is a specific set of settings and optimizations that need to be done to enhance the SEO for each post and page available on the site. Establishing these optimizations through specific plugins and settings gives you the ability to rank faster and higher than other cases. This entire thing is pertinent only to WordPress and the individual configurations and settings provided in it. WordPress SEO, however, is not a theme or plugin. You cannot simply install it and then expect it to take care of everything on its own. There is no magic wand that does the trick. You still need to be aware of the concept of SEO and the right ways to optimize it.
What is SEO?
SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. It is a strategy implemented by website owners to acquire more traffic through higher rankings in search engines. The concept of SEO does not involve gaming the system or tricking Google. It is mostly about creating a website with optimized formatting and codes, which makes it easier for search engines to come across the website. When people look up the web for relatable topics you write about, your optimized content will rank higher among search results, enabling you to get more clicks through your website.
Ways to Boost SEO for Your WordPress Site
1. Select a Good Web Host
One of the most vital steps while boosting SEO for your WordPress site is ensuring that it loads fast, as speed is an important factor when it comes to your rankings in Google. Thus, it is important that you choose the right web host. Beginners tend to make a few common mistakes while selecting a new web host. Do not choose a hosting site strictly based on some ‘top 20 web hosting sites’ recommendations. Consider your immediate needs, check the hosting speed and reliability, explore the various security features, and know the available upgrade options offered by the host before you make the final choice.
2. Choose a Theme Optimized for Search Engines
Selecting the right theme is one of the most important choices that you need to make a WordPress site. It defines the layout and appearance of your site, instills it with new functionality and plays an important role in the implementation of SEO tactics. It can modify the speed of your site and help score better with SERPs. Thus, while selecting a theme it is best to select one that is built keeping SEO techniques in mind. These themes offer features that are specially designed to improve your SEO and are termed as ‘SEO-friendly’.
3. Make Your Content the King
Valuable, unique and relevant content was and will always be the king. Apart from being the most vital signals for SEO rankings, quality content forms the lifeblood of a website. A website with poor content is like a blunt knife that functions but with a lot more force. Thus, your content should be valuable, but most importantly unique. The stress is mostly unique since Google does not entertain any kind of duplicity or plagiarism in terms of content. It should also be able to bring something new on the table to rank higher. In the case of quotes, you can draw inspiration from anywhere on the Internet. However, it’s best to implement something new in your write-ups.
4. Carry Out Incisive Keyword Research
Keyword stuffing is an outdated SEO technique. Today, however, Google rejects this practice. Nevertheless, a keyword is still a functioning ranking factor, with search engines like Google relying on keywords to enhance website rankings. Thus, your SEO strategy needs to be backed by some thorough research. The Google AdWords Keyword Planner helps you determine how competitive your terms are, while letting you find other alternative keywords for your content. You can also use Google Analytics to keep a tab on the keywords that most people use to look for your website. Think of long-tail keywords and stretch your key phrase to a maximum of about 4 words to ensure your chances of ranking higher with single-word keywords. In fact, sprinkling a few keywords all through your content should help you begin enjoying better SERP rankings within a month or two.
5. Opt for a Mobile-Friendly Website
You must have noticed that Google has introduced mobile-friendly labels within their search results. So, what does this really implicate? It means that if your website is not a mobile-friendly one, it will rank much lower in the search rankings. The worst part is that readers become aware of your site not being mobile-friendly before they reach your Homepage, thereby reducing your overall clickthrough rate. To find your way across this, you can adopt the responsive web design (RWD) technique recommended by Google. It is a method that lets web developers develop their websites around a mobile-first approach. Websites built around this approach always tend to function and look great across all devices.
6. Alter The ‘Permalink’ Structure
Permalinks are permanent URLs that direct toward the individual pages, posts, and content on your website. People use permalinks to link back to and reference your site. Most importantly, their appearance greatly matters. Descriptive and clear links that define their content well are helpful for search engines in terms of boosting ranks and making sense. Very few of these permalinks are focused around numbers which are not at all ideal since they make it very difficult for the search engines to read and access. Thus, it is better to opt for the Post Name structure that clearly communicates what the associated content is about. In case you wish to change your existing permalink structure, you can go to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Permalink’.
7. Focus on the Technical Aspect of SEO
Focusing on the technical aspect of SEO helps you improve your website and increase your page ranking on search engines. A faster website makes it more derivable and easier to crawl for the search engines and this forms the base for every technical optimization. Incorporating the right meta titles, tags and headers with respect to the keywords you would want to optimize can help you with this to a great extent. Try incorporating a crawl-able sitemap, allowing all search engines to crawl and index your website sufficiently. Adding alt tags for the images used within your content and otherwise is also a recommended technique. Being a section of on-page SEO, technical SEO greatly concentrates on bettering your website elements to attain high rankings.
8. External Link Building
Whether you are an established business or a startup, the importance of link building in the SEO landscape of your business remains the same. Nevertheless, the scenario for link building and SEO is ever-changing. In fact, the need for creating high-end links has never been more relevant than it is today. The concept of link building, in the true sense of the term, is the process of enabling other sites to link back your own site in a convenient manner. External link building is extremely important for business owners and marketing individuals who seek to increase the authority of their site and rope in higher traffic. So, a great way to improve the SEO of your WordPress site is to build external links to your site and get a greater footfall.
9. Utilize the Best SEO Tools
The most vital aspect of improving WordPress SEO is to make use of the right tools. Now, given the plethora of tools that you might come across there are 3 specific tools that can greatly help in the process. The first one is Yoast SEO. Yoast SEO is one of the best WordPress plugins that you can come across. It not only assists you with your SEO strategies, but also comes with easy functionality for users. The next on the list is WordPress SEO plugin – Rank Math. This comes with an array of features and tools that give your SEO strategy a boost and welcomes more traffic to your website. In fact, you can utilize it for all kinds of SEO optimization strategies. The last tool that needs a mention is the KWFinder. It allows you to look up for complete information related to specific keywords and gives you an idea of the popularity of the keyword(s) you are using. Thus, you get an idea of the change in popularity of a keyword over time.
Apart from all these implementations, you need to know that WordPress SEO takes time to execute. After you are done working on all ways to boost your WordPress site, make sure you allow it enough time to churn out results. Furthermore, keep updating your WordPress SEO strategy according to the industry patterns and do not miss out on following proper SEO guidelines to prevent penalties. The bottom line is to create high-quality content and keep promoting your website.
