Search engine optimization (SEO) for WordPress websites is a process that helps improve the ranking of SEO for WordPress websites in search results.
The goal of SEO is to get more people to find your website through search engines, and thus drive more traffic to your website. SEO is key to making your business stand out online. It can help you improve marketing efforts by attracting new leads, generating more customers, and growing sales.
Some factors that affect the ranking of SEO for WordPress websites include:
- Website security
- Crawlability
- Mobile-friendliness
- Visitor's engagement with the website
- High-quality content
Want to find out how to do search engine optimization in WordPress? Keep reading!
WordPress SEO Optimization Doesn’t Need to Be Difficult
The future of SEO is bright. Google recently changed its algorithm and core web vitals to show more organic listings. And website owners need to keep up.
As you probably know, search engine optimization for WordPress websites is one of the factors to ranking well on Google. But that’s not the only consideration.
To provide the best user experience, Google also ranks fast websites over slow ones. The Google ranking factors that relate to the user experience include page load speed and website navigation. Slow loading sites provide bad UX for users, so faster ones are ranked higher.
When it comes to your WordPress site, website performance matters. Site uptime and security vulnerabilities can both have a significant impact on how well you rank in search engines like Google. So make sure that you pick a hosting service that offers reliable performance.
If you’re not an SEO expert, don’t worry. There are easy SEO techniques for WordPress that you can utilize for your site. These are the easiest techniques to learn how to do search engine optimization in WordPress.
Easy SEO for WordPress Beginners: 7 Tips to Try
People love using WordPress because it is powerful — and it can be used to create beautiful, engaging content for your site. But it's not enough on its own. You need an SEO plan too!
Maintaining high rankings takes time and effort, but if done correctly, it will help increase traffic from organic searches, which in turn helps increase sales online.
Here are top techniques to try for easy SEO for WordPress:
1. Pick an SEO-supported WordPress theme
2. Install an SSL certificate
3. Enable website indexing
4. Select SEO supported URLs
5. Install an SEO WordPress plugin
6. Use SEO-friendly page headings
7. Add alternative text for images
1. Pick an SEO-Supported WordPress Theme
WordPress is a hugely popular platform for building websites and blogs. It’s built on PHP, the programming language for web development, which means that you can install a wide variety of plugins and themes to extend the functionality of your site. The default theme comes with plenty of features but often isn’t what you want to use.
Several themes are available straight away in your dashboard. You can also buy premium themes, but make sure you choose carefully because they ought to have WordPress SEO optimization support. Make sure you find a search engine-friendly theme that does not come with unnecessary plugins or scripts that will affect page load time.
If you decide to use a plugin to implement the design, make sure it does not slow down your website too much. For example, if you decide to use a slider, search for one that doesn’t run on heavy plugins. Before installing any theme, see if it passes all of Google's audits for potential performance and SEO issues. Check out our blog on testing website speed to learn more.
2. Install an SSL Certificate
SSL is a designed protocol that provides security to the communication happening between computer networks over the internet. For example, when you send money through an online payment system, such as an ecommerce website's online payment feature, SSL protects your financial transactions.
Websites with SSL certificates are more secure than those without. They create a protective barrier between your site and users, making it tough for hackers to steal information from you or get past the encryption code.
Search engines reward sites that have an SSL certificate because they know the information on these websites cannot be compromised. A website with HTTP rather than HTTPS shows search engines there is no encryption protecting their data. Your WordPress SEO will suffer because of this.
If you want to install an SSL certificate, speak with your hosting provider to see if they offer them.
Check out Nexcess’ SSL certificates here >>
3. Enable Website Indexing
WordPress is a great tool for developers, because it allows them to stop search engines from indexing your site, which essentially means they won’t rank it. This can be used during times when you don’t want your site found on Google — like when a development process begins.
But the rest of the time, you’ll want your website to get indexed by Google. To do so, you can check your site’s visibility under “Settings.”
- Under your website dashboard
- Go to Settings > Reading
- Scroll down to the Search engine visibility
- Tick this checkbox, if it is unticked
4. Select SEO-Supported URLs
WordPress provides you with a variety of URL structures, and it is essential that the one used for your site be SEO-friendly.
For example, this type of URL is not the best for WordPress search engine optimization:
https://example.com/?p=568275
A URL like this means your site will be overlooked in rankings time after time, while others with more appropriate links will be ranked higher by Google.
Instead, use an SEO-friendly URL structure on your site. Use something like this:
www.domain.com/blog/seo-keyword
A URL like this has much better SEO value. You can choose either Custom Structure or Post name structure from the Permalinks Settings under Settings in your website’s dashboard.
5. Install an SEO WordPress Plugin
The better your website ranks on Google, the more likely it is that visitors will find you. Investing time in learning about SEO and using WordPress plugins like those mentioned below can help improve your site’s rankings.
The best SEO plugins will not only help you improve your content for search engines, but they’ll also make sure that all of the information on each page is optimized and easy to read.
If you already know how to optimize your posts and pages with SEO fundamentals, then there is no need for WordPress plugins. You can achieve fantastic results without using them.
However, third-party plugins can definitely be a good way to do easy SEO for WordPress. SEO plugins provide you with guidance on how to improve your content so that it's more search engine friendly, but ultimately all of the optimization work still falls onto your shoulders.
The use and importance of these tools have grown exponentially over recent years as Google becomes increasingly strict when determining what appears within their results pages.
Below, you’ll find the best SEO plugins for WordPress to help your site rank higher on Google.
6. Use SEO-Friendly Page Headings
Optimizing page headings are easy SEO for WordPress — and they’re also an important ranking factor for search engines.
Studies show that page headings with keywords tend to rank higher than those without them. It is important for the headlines of your pages and blog posts to be engaging, yet not too aggressive or distracting. The H1 and H2 headings should provide enough context for people to easily understand what the page is about.
7. Add Alternative Text for Images
Alternative (Alt) text is a way for those with visual impairments to read the content on your website. It also tells web crawlers what they're looking at and makes it easier for them to understand as well.
Some people might not be able to see images or have difficulty reading text, so your alt tag must reflect a clear description of what the image shows. That is the primary purpose of alt text. However alt text can also include key phrases for SEO.
You can add this information in WordPress’s "Image Settings" section under blocks on how you would like it displayed when someone does attempt viewing an invalid file type (e..g., if they are trying to view PDF files as JPEGS).
Consider Hosting With Nexcess
Hosting your site with a reliable provider is key to ensuring that everything runs smoothly. This can be especially important for those running a business or company website. To ensure that your site is fast and accessible at all times, you need to carefully select a hosting provider.
Here at Nexcess, we know that your website is critical. That's why our fully managed WordPress hosting offers you the best of both worlds by delivering high-quality service with fast loading times.
Our fully managed WordPress solutions can help you achieve fast loading times, scalability, and security for your website. We offer a variety of plans to suit your needs, and our team of experts is here to help you every step of the way. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, try out our fully managed WordPress hosting today.
