WordPress’s Ultimate Guide to SEO: These 28 General Steps

Most WordPress users actually don’t know much about how to do WordPress SEO. Today, WordPress University shared an article from Semrush (with minor adjustments), which basically covers the regular WordPress SEO steps. Although the article is in English, some content is also aimed at English-language websites. However, the overall idea is very worth learning and practicing! The functions and plug-ins introduced in Semrush are not necessarily suitable for Chinese websites, so you can test them yourself.

WordPress is by far the most popular CMS (content management system) in the world. nbsp;

It is free and open source. And, most importantly: It’s SEO-friendly. nbsp;

However, using WordPress alone will not make your website number one on Google. You still need to follow SEO best practices and of course provide real value to visitors. nbsp;

Below, we provide you with 28 steps to get your WordPress SEO to the point.

note: All of these steps apply to self-hosted WordPress websites (WordPress.org) and not to websites hosted on WordPress.com.

Let’s get started…

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1. Choose a quality hosting service provider

Your hosting affects many things related to SEO, especially website speed, uptime and security. So please think about it before starting a website.& nbsp;

If you already have a web hosting service and are not satisfied with it, you can change it at any time. Most premium hosting service providers will be happy to help you migrate your website from competitors.

There are the following points to consider when selecting a hosting service provider:

• high uptime: Downtime occurs at the best hosting service providers. However, if your website is frequently unavailable, it can damage your reputation and business.
• WordPress friendliness: Hosting should be compatible with WordPress websites. Most premium providers offer some kind of plan tailored to WordPress needs.& nbsp;
• free SSL: Free SSL Certificates are a must-have hosting feature because they provide secure HTTPS encryption to your website.
• server locationFor example, if you mainly target domestic customers, you should use domestic servers, such as Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud; if it is a foreign trade website, you can consider foreign hosting companies such as SiteGround, and you should also choose based on the country where the main customer groups are located so that the website can load faster.
• quality support: Useful and responsive support makes everything easier.& nbsp;

2. Use SEO-friendly WordPress themes

When you first install WordPress, you will almost certainly see the platform’s default “Twenty Twenty-Something” theme. However, you may want to explore different themes to personalize your website.

And you need to make sure that the theme you choose is light and fast to load. becauseWhen it comes to SEO, website performance is crucial。

Thousands of free themes (and more advanced themes) are available in the official WordPress theme library.

You can look for topics that perform best in independent tests:

1. Just find the theme demonstration site (you can usually find it on its official website.)
2. Paste the URL into Google PageSpeed Insights and run the tool

If the performance results look like this (i.e., a score of 90 or higher), you know you have found a lightweight theme:

note: Although WordPress has its own built-in editor Gutenberg, many WordPress users prefer third-party page builders (such as Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, etc.). They provide many great features, but they can also affect the performance of your website, so you should test your choices carefully. nbsp;

3. Make sure your website is indexable

Having an indexable website means Google can index it and display it in its search results.

you need“Setting””Reading”Check your website’s visibility settings under.

Here, you will see a check box next to the “Search Engine Visibility” section at the bottom of the page:

This box should not be selected by default. But developers often use it to prevent search engines from indexing websites as they are developed.

If your website is online and ready to be ranked on Google,The box should be unchecked。

note: You can check this box if your website is still under development; just don’t forget to uncheck it later. nbsp;

4. Set up SSL Certificates

Using a secure HTTPS connection is an absolute necessity. This is a definite ranking factor, so it can help your website get a better ranking on Google.

And you certainly don’t want your website to appear “unsafe” in your web browser:

To protect your website connection, you needEncrypt it using an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate。This ensures that data passing through your site is securely encrypted.

Don’t worry. This is easier than it sounds:

1. Go to your hosting service provider’s management panel. (You need to log in to your hosting management first.)
2. findSecurity or SSL Certificates settings。If you can’t find it, just Google “[Host Name] SSL Certificates Settings”. Most WordPress hosting service providers offer free SSL Certificates called Let’s Encrypt.& nbsp;
3. Select and install the certificate.

The following are the settings in the SiteGround Web Hosting Management Panel:

To ensure that SSL Certificates are correctly recognized and used on your WordPress website, you can installReally Simple SSL plugin。& nbsp;

In your WordPress control panel, click the “button” button in the left menuplug-in”。Then, click “add new“and search” really simple ssl ”。When you find Really Simple SSL, click “Install Now“Button.

Then click “activation“button and follow the plug-in instructions for basic settings.

warning: If your website has been up and running for some time without SSL Certificates, you may need the help of a developer to ensure everything is set up correctly.

Congratulations! Your website is now encrypted.

If you want to build a foreign trade website, you can take a look at the topic “SiteGround Building and Operating a WordPress Foreign Trade Website”

5. Select your preferred site address format

Next, you should choose the URL format you want to use.

In other words: 

Do you want your URL to behttps://www.yourdomain.comIs it? Or do you prefer non-www format https://yourdomain.com？

Here are some notes on this topic:

• Google treats the www and non-www versions as two separate URLs. You need to choose one to prevent duplicate content issues.
• Using any format will have little impact on SEO (as long as you stick to one version).
• Historically, all URLs contain www. Today, many websites have abandoned it. But it really depends on your preferences.& nbsp;

In the left menu, go to“Settings””General“, and then enter the format you prefer in the” WordPress Address “and” Site Address “fields:

6. Enable SEO-friendly fixed links 

Creating more descriptive fixed links can help search engines and human users better understand your page.

For example, the URL of this article–https://semrush.com/blog/wordpress-seo–Clearly indicate that this page is about WordPress SEO. If someone only sees the URL, they will still know what will happen.

By default, WordPress uses a “normal” URL structure like this:https://sermush.com/blog/? p=7255

This is not the best solution……

The best fixed link format to choose in WordPress settings is“Article name”structure. This means that WordPress will use the title of the article to create the URL (and you can edit the URL in the post editor to make it shorter and easier to read).

go to“Settings””Fixed Link“, and then choose”document name”。

note: If you are changing the structure of a fixed link on an established website, please be aware of possible problems-mainly a 404 (page cannot be found) error. To avoid this, you must use redirects for all old URLs.& nbsp;

7. Install and configure the WordPress SEO plug-in

The WordPress SEO plug-in makes it easier for you to configure some basic SEO settings and follow best practices.

The three most popular free WordPress SEO plugins are:

1. Yoast SEO
2. All in One SEO
3. Rank Math

note: For the purposes of this guide, we will use Yoast SEO as an example.

If you are looking for a free SEO plug-in, Rank Math should be the best choice. Compared with the other two free versions, the free version of Rank Math has the most complete features. If you don’t care about the cost, the three are all very good, you can choose according to your usage habits.

Expand reading: 6 excellent WordPress SEO plugins

Install Yoast SEO

To install Yoast SEO, go to your WordPress Control Panel. Then, click “in the left menu”Plugins “and” Install Plugins ““Button.& nbsp;

Search for “yoast seo”, find it and click “Install Now“Button. Then, click “activation”。

Configure Yoast SEO

After activation, the plug-in will prompt you to complete the “first configuration”.

During this process, you will:

• Run Yoast’s SEO data optimization feature
• Provide basic information about your website
• Connect your social profile

In addition, go toYoast SEO Search Appearance Title SeparatorsIt is also a good idea to select which symbol will be used as a header label separator.

This is what the title separator looks like in search results:

We will complete other SEO settings available in Yoast SEO in some of the steps below.& nbsp;

8. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console

An XML sitemap is a simple file that lists all your pages in a format that can be easily read by search engine crawlers. nbsp;

It helps search engines discover your new page. It also provides important information (such as when the page was last updated).

WordPress automatically creates site maps. You can find it at the following URL: 

https://www.yoursite.com/wp-sitemap.xml

However, if you are using Yoast SEO, it will create a slightly advanced version of the XML sitemap and turn off the default version. All you need to do is submit the sitemap URL to the Google Search Console (GSC).& nbsp;

note: Google will usually discover your website itself. But submitting your XML sitemap to Google Search Console can speed up the process. It may help Google better understand your website.

Find the site map URL in Yoast

Go to theYoast SEO, and then click “conventional”。Then, click “function“tab and scroll down toXML sitemap。

Site maps should be enabled by default (the toggle button should be “On”). If not, please enable it.& nbsp;

click the smallQuestion mark, and then click“View XML site map”。link。Your site map will open in a new tab.

It looks like this:

Copy the URL and go to Google Search Console.

Submit the sitemap URL to Google Search Console

Log in to your Google Search Console account and click “site map”。& nbsp;

You will find a simple form where you can paste the URL of your sitemap:

Click “submitted“, it’s done!

Expand reading: What is a WordPress site map and how to create a site map

At the same time, we also recommend submitting the website to search engines such as Baidu and Bing:

• WordPress SEO: Submit websites to Baidu search resource platform
• Use the Bing URL Submissions plug-in to automatically submit WordPress content URLs to Bing Index

9. Noindex unimportant pages

WordPress uses many different page classifications and archived pages.
For example, it creates an archive page every month when posts are posted. Archive pages containing September 2022 posts will have their own URL:

https://yourwebsite.com/2022/09/

These pages are of little value to users. And you usually don’t want them to be indexed and get traffic from Google.

You should often ask: Do users want this page to appear in search results?

If the answer is no, you can use Yoast to prevent Google from indexing these pages. In technical terms, this is called setting the page to “noindex”.

Here’s how to use Yoast to unindex pages:

inYoast SEOIn, click ” Search Appearance ”。Then, there are “noindex” settings under the “Content Types”,”Taxonomy” and “Archives” tabs.

Under each category, you will be asked if you want to have certain content indexed by Google.

Like this:

To not index everything in a category, simply select “on the toggle buttonClose it.”

Let’s understand all types one by one:

content type

• article: Absolute index these. You want your article to appear in search engine results.
• page: Absolute index these. You want your page to appear in search engine results.
• template: These are usually created by page builders. There is no need to index them.

classification

• category page: These are often useful to users, especially for larger blogs and e-commerce sites. (See step 13 to make the most of them.)
• label pageFace: These are usually low-value pages. There is no need to index them.
• Form-based archiving: These are low-value pages that are rarely used. Turn off the use of these files completely or not index them.

archiving

• author archiving: These are useful for multi-author blogs. Otherwise, turn off the use of these files completely or leave them unindexed.
• date archiving: Completely turn off the use of these files. or not index them.

10. Planning website architecture

If your WordPress SEO is correct, you will have a simple website architecture with clear page hierarchies.

Good website architecture makes your website easier to crawl by search engines and allow users to navigate.& nbsp;

To this end,Please plan in advance。You can simply use a pen and paper washi. Or Google Forms. To this end, we like to use mind mapping platforms like MindMeister.

Just create a free account and select “organizational structure Fig.Template (because it provides a good visual representation of the website structure):

You can then start planning your website architecture by writing down and nesting all the pages and categories that your website may have.

A simple website architecture might look like this:

Your page should be easy to access, with as few clicks as possible. A good rule is thatNo page or post should require more than three clicks to reach it from the home page。

WordPress Pages and Posts

By default, WordPress comes with two different types of content: article posts and page pages. nbsp;

Use for static pages that do not require classification and may not have an authorPage format.

Typical examples are the “About” page,”Privacy Policy” page or landing page.& nbsp;

Article formatApplies to blog posts-Pages organized by category, usually showing the author and publication date. On the website, posts are displayed in reverse chronological order (the latest post is at the top).

In WordPress, you can choose whether your home page is an index of the latest posts or a static page. simply go to“Setting””Reading”And select one of the following two options:

If you select the static home page option, you can select the page that will be used as the home page. and the page where your posts will be displayed.& nbsp;

Avoid keyword encroachment

There is another benefit to having a planned website architecture. It can help you avoid keyword cannibalism-a common problem that means your pages compete with each other in Google search results. nbsp;

As John Mueller from Google said on Reddit AMA:

“If you have a bunch of pages with roughly the same content, they will compete with each other… Personally, I prefer a smaller number of more powerful pages to a larger number of weaker pages-don’t diminish the value of your site.”

So how to prevent pages from competing with each other?

1. Assign a target keyword to each page on your website。
2. Make sure each page has a unique target keyword。

note: We will discuss how to find the right keywords in step 15.& nbsp;

To find existing cannibalism issues, you can open the “eroded“tab and find the affected pages.

11. Nested pages into subdirectories

Nested pages means grouping similar pages into subdirectories in the URL schema.

By default, WordPress creates URLs that are not nested.& nbsp;

For example, without nesting, the URL on the freelance photographer’s website would look like this:

• domain.com
• domain.com/services
• domain.com/wedding-photography
• domain.com/portrait-photography
• domain.com/family-photography
• domain.com/blog
• domain.com/editing-process
• domain.com/family-portrait-tips

However, to make the URL structure more logical-and don’t forget that search engine crawlers like order and structure-we can nest pages like this:

• domain.com
• domain.com/services
• domain.com/services/wedding-photography
• domain.com/services/portrait-photography
• domain.com/services/family-photography
• domain.com/blog
• domain.com/blog/editing-process
• domain.com/blog/family-portrait-tips

In this example, pages are nested into more descriptive categories. The services provided are nested in the “services” subdirectory, and blog posts are nested in the “blog” subdirectory.

To nest pages in WordPress, you need to edit the page. Then, go to “Page Properties” and select the “Parent Page” you want.& nbsp;

For example, for a wedding photography page, we would choose “services” as the parent page. nbsp;

This will cause the service subfolder to be included in the URL of the wedding photography page： domain.com/services/wedding-photography

note: If you want to change the URL of an existing page with nesting, you may need to set up a redirect. For help, check out our redirection guide.

12. Create an easy-to-navigate menu

Menus are an important navigation element for any website. It helps your visitors find the most important pages.& nbsp;

This is also important for SEO. Because it provides more information about the structure of your website and its key pages.& nbsp;

Your main menu should be:

• clear: Don’t confuse users with too many menu items. Consider creating submenus or moving lesser-used items to the footer menu.
• simple and practical: Always follow the principle of “user first”. Try to put yourself in the visitor’s shoes and make sure the navigation is 100% understandable.
• predictableD: Don’t experiment. Include items that people (and search engine crawlers) expect to find in the menu and use traditional names (such as “pricing” instead of “how much will it cost” or “blog” instead of “live notes”).

To create a menu in WordPress:

1. go toAppearance menu>Edit the menu or click “Create a new menu“Link.& nbsp;

2. Add pages (or other types of content) to your menu in the Add Menu Items section.& nbsp;

3. Drag and drop menu items to change their order and/or rename them in the Menu Structure section.

To make the menu appear in the title of the site, don’t forget to mark it as “in the settings at the bottomMain Menu “:

You can create multiple menus (e.g., footer menus, independent blog navigation, etc.) in the Menu section of WordPress. Their implementation will depend on your theme and/or page builder.& nbsp;

13. Correct use of article classification

Classification is a useful method:

• Organize your blog posts into logical groups: Because categories can be nested, they provide a unique opportunity to create hierarchies in your blog theme
• Improve internal links on your website: Your category archive page can become a useful content center, linking all related articles covering a topic to each other
• Help visitors find other related posts: Article classification allows you to display related articles to readers

Since classification is mandatory for WordPress articles (if you don’t assign a classification to an article, WordPress will use the default “unclassified” classification), you might as well make the most of them.

Assigning categories to your posts is easy. opened pageseditorand scroll to theclassificationPartially.& nbsp;

There, you can choose a classification or create a new classification:

note: Another type of WordPress classification is tags. Tags help you group posts from different categories based on common subthemes. However, labeling is not mandatory and is not as popular as it used to be.& nbsp;

Finally, let’s see what you can do to optimize your WordPress classification…

Use a reasonable number of classifications

There is no limit to the number of categories you can use.

However, in order to make your blog easy to navigate without overwhelming readers, the idealThe number of categories is between 5 and 10。& nbsp;

Let’s take a look at the categories used on the Semrush blog: 

Parent categories such as “SEO” or “Marketing” provide basic classifications. Each category then has subcategories that further group relevant content.

For example, the “SEO” category has subcategories such as “keyword research”,”page search engine optimization” and “link building”.

Try creating categories broadly. This way, you won’t get a classification of just a few articles.& nbsp;

prompt: You cannot delete the default “unclassified” category. But you can avoid using it or rename it.

Optimize classification pages

Each category archive page should have a short description. This allows you to introduce categories to readers and provide unique content to search engines.& nbsp;

Here is an example of the “SEO” category page on the Semrush blog:

To add a description to your category page, go to“Articles””Classification“, and then click”edit”。

Then, describe your classification in a few sentences in the Description field:

As we mentioned before, classified archive pages create great content centers.

That’s why you may want to index them and appear in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). nbsp;

To get good clips in search results, you shouldOptimize the title tags and meta descriptions of classified pages。

This is an example of a well-optimized classification page SERP fragment:

We will cover best practices for optimizing title tags and meta descriptions in steps 19 and 20.& nbsp;

Expand reading: How to improve website SEO through WordPress article classification and labeling

14. Enable breadcrumb navigation

Bread crumbs are text paths, usually located at the top of the page, indicating the page’s position in the site structure.

It looks like this:

The main reason for using crumbs is that theyHelps visitors navigate your website。& nbsp;

Secondly,They can appear in search resultsAnd enrich your SERP clips: 

The easiest way to enable breadcrumbs on WordPress is to use Yoast SEO. Under Search Appearance, clickbread crumbs”。On the next page, click “Alreadyenabled”。

If you use Yoast with the standard WordPress Gutenberg editor (provided you haven’t entered breadcrumbs navigation in the article page), you simply add a new block called “Yoast Breadcrumbs” to display breadcrumbs in your posts:

note: Bread crumbs are a pattern mark. We will discuss the pattern in detail in step 23.& nbsp;

To learn more about this topic, check out our detailed guide to breadcrumb navigation.

15. Do keyword research

One of the most important WordPress SEO tasks is finding the keywords your audience typed in Google so you can target them and get relevant traffic. nbsp;

This process is called keyword research.

Find keywords 

The easiest way to find relevant keywords is to check the rankings of competitors. In Semrush, there is a tool dedicated to this. This is called the keyword gap.

Suppose you run a web design agency and you are looking for theme ideas for your blog.

all you need to do isEnter your domain and the domains of up to four competitors。(The tool will provide some suggestions, or you can enter them manually.)

Next, select your target location and click “comparison”。

Then, just look at the keyword list and focus on these two tabs:

• missing: All the keywords ranked by competitors, but you don’t have one
• weak: All competitors rank higher than you in keywords

All of these are relevant keywords used and/or ranked by your competitors. You can use your content to target these keywords.

Browse the list and get some inspiration.

prompt: Another easy way to find more keywords is to enter any larger keywords (also known as “seed keywords”) from your niche market and view the terms associated with them. In Semrush, there is a tool dedicated to this, called Keyword Magic tool.

choose keywords 

Now that you have found the keywords, you need to carefully review their metrics to select the target keywords-the keywords that best represent your respective page or post.

To select target keywords, you need to carefully review their metrics. Namely:

1. search volume: How often do people search for keywords?
2. Keyword difficulty (KD): How difficult is it to rank keywords?
3. search intent: What kind of content do people expect when using keywords in searches?& nbsp;

In Keyword Gap and Keyword Magic, you can view all of these metrics in a table, making it easy to prioritize and filter keywords.& nbsp;

Find the ideal one for a page or postTarget keywordAfter that, optimize the content of the target keyword.& nbsp;

That doesn’t mean there are keywords everywhere.& nbsp;

Instead, include target keywords (or variants thereof) in some key elements of the page. Such as:

• header
• title tag
• Body
• Inbound internal links

16. Create great content

Quality content is a general SEO requirement (not just related to WordPress SEO). But it is so important that we cannot ignore it in this guide. nbsp;

Let’s go deeper…

determining search intents

Determining search intent means ensuring that your pageaccurateProvide the content users are looking for.

A good way to start is to analyze target keywords SERP 。

You can use Semrush’s keyword overview tool to view SERPs from any country and get some useful metrics:

Just browse the results and carefully check the home page.

SERP analysis will help you determine search intentions by:

• Choose the right content type: You will see the type of content ranked by keywords (e.g., landing pages, comments, informational posts, etc.), so you can also use the correct content type to target it 
• Better understand the theme: You will see many questions that users may ask, so you can answer them in your content
• Analyze your competitors: You will be able to see which pages rank keywords so you can get inspiration from them
• Look for opportunities to provide added value: Looking at content posted by competitors can help you figure out ways to stand out from it (by providing unique perspectives, data, examples, media, etc.) 

provide reliable information

E-A-T（expertise、authoritativeandcredibility) is an important SEO concept that is part of the way Google evaluates your website. nbsp;

A large part of demonstrating good E-A-T has to do with having high-quality backlinks.

But best practices on many pages will also help you.& nbsp;

Namely:

• Write about things in your field of expertise
• Provide information about your author and his expertise 
• The facts are accurate and comprehensive
• Support your claims with statistics and other reliable data
• Provide transparent information about your website (about pages, contact pages)

This is not a complete list, but you understand:Become an online resource you will trust。& nbsp;

Optimize for readers

Many people focus too much on content for search engine optimization and forget about their readers. These two goals are not exclusive. By improving the user experience, you will also improve your SEO. Vice versa.

Semrush has a convenient WordPress plug-in called SEO Writing Assistant that helps you improve your text anytime, anywhere. (It can also be used in Semrush’s interface and as an add-on to Google Docs and Microsoft Office.)

To install it, go to the “WordPress Control Panel”plug-in”。Then, click “mounting insertFind the “Semrush SEO Writing Assistant”. Then click “Install Now“and”activation”。

The assistant will appear at the bottom of any post or page editor and provide detailed analysis in four aspects:

• readability
• search engine optimization
• originality
• in the way it talks

prompt: You can use “floating mode” to see the assistant in the sidebar view.

When it comes to the SEO section, the tool focuses onkeyword optimization。It will check whether you used target keywords in the title and content of the page.

And it will recommend some other keywords that you can use on the page.

These suggestions are based on keywords in the top ranked pages. They provide a good overview of the various sub-topics covered by your competitors.

Use these keyword suggestions as useful insights into what your competitors cover-not what you need to include at all costs.& nbsp;

(If you work too hard to includeeachSuggestion, your content may sound a little unnatural and full of keywords.)& nbsp;

inreadabilityFor example, the plug-in suggests the best difficulty level (based on the average readability level of the top-ranked pages) and rates your text.

If the readability score is too low, the tool will prompt you to fix long paragraphs, difficult sentences, and complex words:

The tool also allows you to select goalsintonation。& nbsp;

Depending on your selection, it analyzes the text and displays intonation. You can then repair the text so that it more clearly matches your target tone.

Finally, the tool can check theOriginality.

Google made it clear that authors should “Avoid simply copying or rewriting (other) sources, but instead provide substantial added value and originality.”

Make sure your content is more than just copying something else in slightly different text.& nbsp;

17. Write SEO-friendly URLs

By default, WordPress uses the title of your page to create a URL. As a result, URLs on your website may become verbose.& nbsp;

For example, the URL of a post about puppy training might by default look like this: 

https://petblog.com/10-practical-puppy-training-tips-to-help-you-train-your-puppy

The problem with long URLs is that they can be truncated in search results. Which one doesn’t look good:

To create a more SEO-friendly URL, scroll down to the “Permanent Links” section of the page/post editor, and then change “URL Slug”.

In the example above, a better URL would look like this: 

https://petblog.com/puppy-training-tips

Alternatively, you can change the URL in the Yoast SEO settings at the bottom of the editor. The plug-in will also display a real-time clip preview:

Here are some additional tips for creating SEO-friendly URLs:

• keep it short: It looks better and will not be truncated in search results
• Include target keywords: This helps users quickly find out the content of the page, which is a secondary ranking factor
• Don’t include numbers(Unless you are 100% sure they won’t change): If the numbers in the article (e.g., tip count or year) change in the future, your URL will be related to your content that may change

18. Correct use of H title

H headers are some of the most important elements in a single page structure:

• They created a clear hierarchy of page content
• They convey the content of the page
• They break down the text to make it easier to read

Here’s how they work:

To add a title in the WordPress Gutenberg editor, just open the page or article. Then, clickplusSign the (+) icon to add a new block. Choose “titleHeading”：

Then, select the title type you want:

To see how your page is organized by title, you can opendocument outline。& nbsp;

Just click on the “button” in the top navigation of the editorinformation“Icon. This is the letter “i” in a circle:

Then you can ask yourself the following questions:

• Are titles nested in a logical manner? (H3s under H2s, etc.)
• Are titles at the same level consistent in grammar and style?
• Can these titles serve as separate catalogs and still make sense?

If the answers to all these questions are yes, then congratulations! You have used the H title correctly.

19. Write optimized title tags

Your page’sTitle (title)Tags tell users and search engines what your page is about. This is an important ranking factor.

It appears in search engine snippets and browser tabs:

Therefore, making strong and well-optimized title tags is an important page SEO task.

Yoast SEO plug-in can also help. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page you are editing, and edit the fields under “SEO Title”:

The “Title” and “Page” placeholders will automatically fill in the title of the post or page.& nbsp;

You can delete them and write your own SEO-friendly title tags. Sometimes, all you need to do is shorten the title and change a few words.

prompt: We recommend leaving the “Separator” and “Site title” variables unchanged. You can change them site-wide if needed. This way, you don’t have to manually rewrite all the old title tags in case you change one of them.

Here are some tips for writing eye-catching title tags:

• Provide a unique title for each page/post
• Make sure the title label width is less than 600px(The progress bar below the “SEO Title” entered in the Yoast SEO plug-in will help you solve this problem; try to keep it in the green area)
• Put your goal keywords first(But don’t fill up keywords at all costs)
• If possible, include your brand name(Sometimes it makes the title too long, so it depends on your needs)
• Use actionable and persuasive words(For example,”Reviews”,”Best”,”List” or “Steps”)
• using digital(Things like “Top 10” or “2022” will attract people’s attention)

20. Create unique meta descriptions

Although meta descriptions are not direct ranking factors, they can affect your click-through rates.

In other words, writing good metadescriptions canLet more people click on your link in search results。& nbsp;

Truncated meta descriptions are not an SEO disaster. But it doesn’t look very good either:

You can add meta descriptions to the same section as the title tag in Yoast SEO. Progress bars will help you keep meta descriptions within the ideal length range.& nbsp;

The following rules will help you write amazing meta descriptions:

• Provide unique meta descriptions for each page
• Aim at 120 characters(So it won’t be truncated in the move result)
• Include your target keywords(Again, do it naturally and don’t pile up keywords)
• Consider search intentions 
• Clear and use active voice
• Show value and add a call to the end

Now let’s look at a carefully designed example of meta-description:

As you can see, the meta description has an ideal length, covers the search intent (transaction; contains information about free shipping) and contains the target keyword (“Men’s Winter Boots”).

In addition, it includes a call-to-call phrase to attract users to click on the link (“Buy…”). It uses short, actionable sentences.& nbsp;

21. internal links

An internal link is any link from one page to another page in the same domain.& nbsp;

There are two types of internal links:

1. Navigation internal links: Links that are part of the website structure (such as menus, categories, or breadcrumbs-we covered these in steps 12 through 14).
2. Contextual internal link: Link to the relevant page placed in the body of your domain.

Internal links are a great way to pass permissions from one page to another (unlike backlink building)100% under your control。

Let’s take a look at this example:

Create internal links

Whenever you write new content, you can create internal links.

Adding internal links to WordPress is easy:

First,Select to linktext of (anchor text). Then,Click the small chain icon。& nbsp;

Then search for the page or post you want to link to and select it by clicking.& nbsp;

If you already have the URL of the target page, you can also just paste it.

Look! You have a new internal link.

prompt: Alternatively, you can use a WordPress plugin (such as Internal Link Juicer), it automatically creates internal links based on the selected keywords。

A good practice is to include internal links as part of the publishing workflow:

• before the release: When writing new content, make sure you link to other posts or pages that may be useful to your readers.
• after the release: After posts go online, look for old posts that can be linked to new content.

Make sure you use internal links strategically to support your important pages and posts.

Expand reading: How to use internal link SEO to improve your website rankings

Review your internal links

If you have a mature website with many internal links, it’s best to run a simple review in Semrush’s site review tool to find any internal link issues. nbsp;

First, create a new project and run an audit.& nbsp;

After the review is complete, go to the “Internal Links” section to view more details.

Here you will find a list of errors and warnings about internal links. They are arranged in order of importance, so it’s best to start at the top.

Simply click on the number of questions to view all affected URLs.& nbsp;

In addition to the list of affected URLs, you will also find detailed instructions and useful tips on how to resolve each issue.

22. Write descriptive pictures instead of text ATL

Adding descriptive alternative text to images is an important practice in SEO on WordPress or any similar platform.

Google Search Center blog points out thatGoogle uses alternative textto “understand the theme of the image.”

Also,Alternative text is a key user experience element–Screen readers read alternative text to visually impaired users.

So how do you create good alternative text?

Let’s take a look at this image and some examples of alternative text it may contain:

• Wrong alternative text (keyword stuffing)：“chess, chess board, men playing chess, chess history”
• Wrong alternative text (no alternative text)：“”
• Wrong alternative text (too vague):”Chess”
• OK alternative text:”Two people are playing chess”
• Great alternative text:”In 1946, two old people were playing chess on a bench in Central Park”

As you can see, your alternative text should be descriptive and helpful. This is not the place to fill in keywords (although it is better to include keywords if they are related and natural).

To add alternative text to an image in WordPress:

go tomedia libraryand select the image to edit. Write your alternative text in the Alternative Text field.

Also, keep in mind that alternative text is not always necessary.You do not need to write alternative text for the following：

• Images with purely decorative purposes
• Images containing text are also written as real text nearby

prompt: Another piece of metadata Google uses to understand images is itsfile name。& nbsp;

So the next time you name an image file before uploading it to WordPress, remember things likered-butterfly.jpgSuch descriptive file names are always more important thanFPglP6jWYAM6TbK.jpgBetter.

23. Manually approve comments

Writing reviews on other websites to get backlinks used to be a popular link building technique.& nbsp;

Of course, it’s not as effective as it used to be (for example, all links in WordPress comments are nofollowed by default-that is, they don’t pass any permissions).

But many spammers are still trying. So you may have encountered one of these:

Posting spam comments on your website may not harm your SEO efforts. Still, Google encourages website owners to crack down on spam.

Why?& nbsp;

Because spam can still affect your website in other ways:

• It hurts your credibility.
• It provides no added value to users
• Not related to your content

Fortunately, there is a very simple solution in WordPress:

In your control panel, under Settings, clickdiscussed”。Then, check “Comments must be approved manually”。

This way, you must approve each new comment on your site before it appears on the page.& nbsp;

Yes, it adds an extra task to your workflow. But it prevents spam comments from damaging your website.

24. Accelerate your website

When it comes to page speed, every second matters.

Page speed is also a determining ranking factor. This means that having a slow website can damage your ranking.

In addition, a Google study showed a clear correlation between longer page loading times and the likelihood that users will leave the site:

There are many ways to optimize your WordPress website to increase page speed:

• Install cache plug-ins: The caching plug-in will store some website data after the first load to satisfy every future request faster
• Using content delivery networks: A CDN distributes your website content to various servers around the world to speed up loading times in locations far from the original server (An example of a popular CDN service is Cloudflare.)
• Narrow your code: Making your source code smaller (for example, by deleting unnecessary characters) can help it load faster

An in-depth understanding of these different types of performance optimizations will be beyond the scope of this guide.& nbsp;

Instead, we recommend some reliable plug-ins to help you improve the performance of your WordPress website.

Free plug-ins:

• W3 Total Cache: Cache + Code Reduction
• WP Super Cache: Cache
• Autimize: Code reduction; for WP Super Cache

Advanced plug-ins: 

• WP Rocket: A popular all-in-one solution

Expand reading: 15 excellent WordPress caching plug-ins

notePage speed optimization is one of the most technically challenging aspects of WordPress SEO. Although there are many step-by-step guides for each plug-in we listed above, sometimes things can get tricky. If you are not sure of something, ask a professional for help. nbsp;

Last but not least, an important part of accelerating a website is image optimization.

25. Optimize your pictures

Large image files are one of the most common reasons why web pages load slowly.

Fortunately, many WordPress plug-ins can help you optimize your images in a variety of ways. For example, the Smush plug-in covers all the basics of image optimization. nbsp;

To install the plug-in, go toPlug-ins Add new plug-ins>Search for “smush”>Install and activate now。

Let’s see what it can do for you.

compressed image

Image compression is one of the most effective ways to reduce the size of image files.& nbsp;

After installing the Smush plug-in, go to its dashboard (just click on the WordPress menu in the left sidebar Smush ”）。It will prompt you for initial settings.

Enable Automatic Compression.

When it comes to the next step-“advanced (lossy) compression”-there are pros and cons. it willsignificantlyTry to reduce the file size. But sometimes, it can lead to reduced image quality.& nbsp;

If your website relies on high-quality images or you are just not sure, keep it inactive. You can enable it at any time in the future.& nbsp;

Let’s take a look at what the other two options mean-“strip image metadata” and “delay loading.”

• Stripping image metadata: This will remove unnecessary information (such as date and time) from the image file to make it smaller
• lazy loading: This will allow a slight delay in loading images placed below the page to improve the initial load time of the page

You can enable them at the same time.& nbsp;

You have now completed the settings. The plug-in will process all new images based on your settings. you can alsobulk compressionAll pictures currently uploaded to the website.& nbsp;

go toSmush > Bulk Smush > Bulk Smush Now。In the free version of the plugin, you can compress up to 50 images at a time.

Expand reading:

• How to speed up image loading on a WordPress website
• How to optimize pictures to speed up WordPress website loading
• WordPress free image compression optimization plug-in reSmush.it Image Optimizer
• Accelerate your website with WebP images
• How to use WebP images in WordPress?

Use the appropriate image size

Images that are too large for your website can also slow down loading speed.

For example, if your content is 1,000 pixels wide, an image width exceeding that width will unnecessarily slow down your page loading speed. This is a common mistake that you can easily avoid.

In Smush, you can enable detection of images that are too big or too small for your page layout.

go toSmush settings>Switch “Detect and display images with incorrect size“Options.

Don’t forget to click on the “Save changes.”

This way, you will be able to see images that are too big or too small for the container. You can resize them and upload them again.

Extended reading: Let WordPress generate thumbnails on demand, and prohibit automatic generation of redundant thumbnails

26. Mark your page with Schema

Structured data is a piece of code written in a specific format (called a schema markup) that helps Google understand page content. nbsp;

For example, suppose you run a crafts blog that provides detailed step-by-step instructions for each project.

By adding HowTo tags, you can tag each step and how long the task will take to help Google read and understand these individual steps.

Google can then use this information in search result snippets:

You can tag just about anything, from basic information about your website (such asorganization name、articleorauthor) to more specific information (such asactivities、products、comments、recipes、frequently asked questions、operation methodetc.)

If you use the Yoast SEO plug-in, it handles all basic tags for you based on your site settings and the information you provided in the initial configuration.

You can also see the “Yoast box” when editing a page or postarchitectureSome specific content types are marked in the Schema tab. Then, select the mode type.

For example, you can mark pages using the “About” page structure or the “Checkout” page structure.

In addition, you can add some Yoast structured data blocks to the standard WordPress (Gutenberg) editor.

simply clickPlus sign (+)Icon to add new blocks and search for “yoast”. You will be able to addoperation method blockandFAQ block。& nbsp;

If you need to add some specific structured data that Yoast does not support, you can do so. Use one of the many WordPress plug-ins dedicated to architectural markup.& nbsp;

27. Protect your WordPress website

Website security is an integral part of SEO (although it may not be obvious at first).

In fact, one study showed thatOne of the most common reasons why a website is hacked is to manipulate its outgoing links(That is, linking your website to another website without your knowledge).
Link to unrelated spam siteswill definitelyDamage your ranking.

We already discussed using SSL Certificates in step 4. Now let’s look at other ways you can protect your website from attacks.

Using backup plug-ins

The first step is to install a good backup plug-in-such as UpdraftPlus-so you can easily restore your website to a previous version in case there are problems.

After installation, go to plug-in settings to set up:

• regular backup: Frequency depends on how often you change your website (we recommend backing up at least once a week)
• remote storage: Where will your backups be stored (for example, Google Drive)

Extended reading: 11 easy-to-use WordPress backup plugins

Use security plug-ins

The security plug-in will block any malicious traffic and regularly scan for any security-related issues-from suspicious login attempts to malware infections.& nbsp;

There are many great WordPress security plugins.& nbsp;

Here are some of our suggestions:

• Wordfence
• All In One Security
• Sucuri

Extended reading: 10 easy-to-use free WordPress security plugins

regularly updated

Outdated software may contain errors that attackers can exploit. Regular updates fix these vulnerabilities.

You need to update your:

• WordPress core
• plug-in
• theme

All you need to do is go to “Dashboard “” Update“And check what needs to be updated.

Alternatively, you can visit the plug-in (Plug-in has been installed) and theme (your theme) section to manage these correspondingly installed updates.

When updates are available, WordPress notifies you by displaying a red circle that contains many items that need updates:

warning: Always make sure your website is backed up before making any updates.

Install only trusted plugins

WordPress can easily discover the best plugins. Every time you install a new plug-in, make sure it meets the following conditions:

• recentupdated
• It matches your version of WordPresscompatible
• It has reasonablethe number of installationsandGood reviews

Here is an example of an updated, compatible and popular plug-in:

On the other hand, here is an example of a plug-in that may pose a security risk:

28. Use the “last update” date

You should update your content regularly to ensure it remains fresh and relevant.

When you update content, you also need to change its date to indicate to users and search engines that your content has been updated.

A good way to do this is to showDate the content was last updated。

Here’s how Backlinko’s Brian Dean did it:

If you look at the source code of the page, you can see that it was released in June 2021 and updated in November 2021.

This means:

• Google can read both datesand select the dates it deems more relevant to display in search results
• Date when users saw the latest update, so they know that the content of the post is fresh

Win-win.& nbsp;

A convenient WordPress plug-in will help you add a “last update” date. It’s called WP Last Modified Info.& nbsp;

go toPlug-in installation plug-in>Search for “wp last modified info” clickInstall Nowbutton>activation。

then go to“Settings””WP Last Modified Info””” Articles“and toggle the button next to” Display information on front “to display the last modified date in your post.

You can edit the date formats, templates, or archive pages you want to exclude through additional settings.& nbsp;

Then click “Save settings “。

Last but not least, go to the “Architecture Options” tab in the plug-in settings and enable the schema markup. (In most cases,”default mode” will be the best choice.)

This way, Google can use your “last update” date in search result snippets.& nbsp;

common problems

Is WordPress suitable for SEO?

Yes, WordPress is very SEO friendly. But it’s just a CMS. As a result, you still need to work hard to make your website successful in natural search. nbsp;

Does Google like WordPress?

Google does not favor any CMS. WordPress may indeed be better suited for SEO than some other CMSs, but it is usually not the choice to win the SEO battle. Having said that, WordPress is definitely a good choice for SEO.

Which SEO plug-in is best for WordPress?

When it comes to all-in-one SEO plug-ins, the three most popular plug-ins are Yoast SEO, ALL in one SEO, and Rank Math. Of course, there are many other great WordPress SEO plug-ins that are dedicated to specific SEO tasks.

next step

You have completed our WordPress SEO guide, which is great!

After completing all the above steps, what is the next step? This is an idea: to improve the authority of the website by obtaining some high-quality reverse links, which is to build external links.