As of today, WordPress powers 37% of all websites and 60% of all Content Management Systems (CMS). And if you understand WordPress SEO, you can easily get more organic traffic to your website. So, in this article, you will learn about some WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings.
Generally, the WordPress platform is SEO-friendly. That explains why people often choose it when they start a blog or a website.
The platform is designed to generate SEO-friendly codes. However, there are a few SEO tips to implement on your WordPress site to improve your website ranking on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
So, here are WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings;
#1. Carry out Extensive Keyword Research
Before you start implementing WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings, you need to research your keyword.
When you research your keywords, you will know the search terms you are optimizing your website for.
Contrary to popular belief, keyword research is the first step in any SEO project. You can only plan your website content and on-page optimization after you have researched your keywords.
It doesn’t matter whether you are optimizing your WordPress website from scratch or creating new content; it’s important to know the keywords you are targeting. It’s the basis for your WordPress SEO.
Read Also: 6 Industries That Benefit From SEO the Most
#2. Install Yoast SEO Plugin and Create Great Content
Before you start creating content on your website, try to install Yoast SEO Plugin. It’s one of the WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google ranking.
Yoast SEO plugin guides you to make your content more SEO-friendly and easy to read. The plugin gives you recommendations and analysis based on the top website ranking for the keyword you are targeting.
For instance, Yoast SEO will ensure that you insert your target keywords on the first paragraph of your content. It will also advise you to use more transition words, less passive voice, and shorter sentences.
The good thing about installing Yoast SEO on your WordPress website is that it makes every content you write readable to humans and search engines.
And that will increase the ranking potential of every content you write. Yoast SEO helps you write great content that is conversational and resonates well with your audience.
Without Yoast SEO on your WordPress site, you will be creating content blindly. It can affect your ranking, click-through rate, and of course, your content performance.
#3. Set Custom URLs for Pages and Posts
Generally, WordPress URLs are generated from your Page’s title. That’s why the URLs are sometimes too lengthy and may truncate on SERP.
But one of the WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings is to set custom URLs for pages and posts.
So, you can customize your page URL instead of allowing it to generate based on your Page’s title.
For instance, if you publish content titled ‘15 Best Digital Marketing Strategies for B2B in 2021’, depending on how you set your permalink, your URL will look like this – https://tycoono.com/15-best-digital-marketing-strategies-for-b2b-in-2021/.
The URL that WordPress will automatically generate based on the content title seems too lengthy. And it will truncate on Search Engine Result Pages (SERP).
Since the main keywords of the content are ‘best digital marketing strategies’, you can overwrite the default URL and create a custom URL for the Page.
It’s easy; click on the edit button on the permalink, delete the initial URL generated, and type the main keyword – best digital marketing strategies.
Once you are done with the above procedure, the new URL for your Page will be – https://tycoono.com/best-digital-marketing-strategies/.
Hope you now understand how to set a custom URL for your website page.
#4. Use Optimized Page Headings
Using optimized page headings is one of the WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings.
For every content you create for WordPress, it’s important to optimize page headings. It ranges from H1 to H6. Most times, H1 is the title of your Page and gives an overview of what the Page is all about to both human users and search engines.
It’s also important to include H2 to H6 on your content, when necessary. These headings give structure to your content and make them easier to read.
For instance, let’s liken your website page to a book. The H1 is the book title, and H2s are the different chapters in the book. And H3 to H6 are subsequent sub-titles within each chapter.
#5. Use Internal Linking
Internal linking within your content is one of the best WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings.
Internal linking makes people spend more time on your Page, establishes topic relevance between different pages of your website, and helps visitors navigate your website easily.
Funnily, it’s easy to add internal links to other pages in WordPress. All you have to do is highlight the text you want to link, click on the hyperlink icon on the toolbar, and paste the URL of the page you are linking to.
#6. Use Optimize File Name for Images
Using images and rich media within your content is one of the most important WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings. Unfortunately, website owners seldom pay attention to it.
A recent study by Backlinko revealed that there’s a correlation between using images on your website page and ranking high on Google.
Don’t just use a random image on your Page; ensure that you use optimized file names for your images.
For instance, use/digital-marketing-strategy.jpg instead of using a file name like /Image345.jpg for an image of a digital marketing strategy.
In a nutshell, ensure that the file name of every image you are using reflects what it shows.
#7. Add Alt Text to Images
One of the most sensitive WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings is to add alt text to your images.
Adding Alt text to images is important for two reasons
- It aids visually impaired users with screen readers.
- It helps to give search engines the context and descriptions of your images.
Ensure that your image alt text clearly describes the content of your image. Try to include the main keywords you are targeting within the description.
These are some of the WordPress SEO tips to improve your Google rankings. Take note and implement them the next time you upload content on your WordPress website.
If you think this process is too complicated for you, the Tycoono SEO Team can help you implement SEO best practices on your website and help you rank high on Google Search Result Pages.
