Learn how to optimize a WordPress based Website for organic search with these free reliable SEO guidelines, expert SEO specialists’ tips, FAQs and tools.
3. SEO in your CMS WordPress SEO Guidelines
SEO For Wordpress - The Learning SEO Accelerator [13th Session]
Learn how to optimize a Wordpress based Website in this insightful LearningSEO Accelerator session with Jono Alderson -experienced technical SEO consultant and Wordpress expert-.
Learn how to optimize a Wordpress based Website in this insightful LearningSEO Accelerator session with Jono Alderson -experienced technical SEO consultant and Wordpress expert-.
WordPress SEO Tips
Learn to effectively configure your WordPress-based sites with tips from experienced SEO professionals.
Change your default permalink settings. Go to Settings > Permalinks. Then, select post name as the option. Post name permalink structure works fine for most sites. However you can choose the custom structure if you want.
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99% of the optimisations you need to make need to be done before you upload items to your site, such as images, videos etc - plugins can help but they can only do so much. If you want to see good results you need to put the work in before you load them.
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Use as few plugins as you can, and delete rather than just deactivate the plugins or themes you're not.
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Make use of the “Parent” drop down in the page editor for optimal subfolder URL structures.
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Super simple top - check your XML sitemap to ensure only the valuable content is listed. It's easy enough to configure an SEO plugin like Yoast to only include valuable content/taxonomies.
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Install WordFence. I know - technically not SEO, but without such a plugin, WP's inherently crud security means you're liable to be hacked, and rank for various terms you wish you didn't
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Working with the developers in cleaning the plugins of all the fluff your website doesn’t need. Some plugins add ton of JS and CSS that is barely used and some sites don’t use at all.
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1. use a (basic) caching plugin to speed up your site (wp super cache).
2. choose a theme that initially is not heavy (check the loaded JS) and delivers good web vitals.
3. don‘t use page builders.
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2. choose a theme that initially is not heavy (check the loaded JS) and delivers good web vitals.
3. don‘t use page builders.
Media attachments and tag pages in WordPress can create unnecessary pages that search engines might see as thin content and cause index bloat, negatively affecting your site’s rankings. Redirect attachment URLs back to the media itself to prevent them from bloating your site's index, this can be achieved using SEO plugins like Yoast. When it comes to tag pages on WordPress, it's not a one-size-fits-all situation. While some might advise setting them all to 'noindex' to avoid issues, tag pages can actually be helpful if they're used properly. It's all about making sure they're well thought out and fit with the other categories on your site. So instead of just removing them from search engines with a 'noindex', assess how they can best serve your content and users. Make sure each tag page is a valuable piece of content, enhancing your website’s structure without falling into the trap of duplicate or thin content. This way, you're not just avoiding potential SEO issues, you're also creating a better, more user-friendly website.
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A simple one, but remember to remove the /category/ base from the blog category urls by placing a "." in the custom field below all the permalink options. Then set-up your categories so that the url looks like this domain.com/blog/sales-tips instead of domain.com/blog/category/sales-tips
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Use RankMath and Linkwhisper to build internal links.
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Audit all plugins and delete what isn’t necessary. Keep plugins up-to-date to minimize potential security issues. Also stay on top of updates for WordPress version, PHP, and themes.
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One of my oldest tricks is hooking WordPress sites up to Cloudflare with a free plan. It's easy to set up with the plugin. It speeds up any site and fixes a lot of caching issues.
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- Redirect attachment pages
- create custom category pages and redirect the standard ones
- noindex search results (especially on woocommerce sites)
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- create custom category pages and redirect the standard ones
- noindex search results (especially on woocommerce sites)
The Wordpress Site Kit plugin is a great tool to keep your content optimised and discover new potential keywords for your website at a glance. Especially for small businesses and/or folks who find Google Analytics and Google Search Console intimidating
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If you're choosing a theme from the WordPress Theme Directory, look for simple design that loads fast otherwise this will hurt in long run. One can try loading theme's demo on desktop and mobile to see how fast the page elements are loading and how the content moves on small screens to make a single layout. Before finalizing the WordPress theme, checking its reviews for the concerns and feedbacks current users having is a great idea.
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Take Yoast SEO analysis with a grain of salt. Even if Yoast's criteria are fulfilled and have green circle :círculo_verde_grande:, it doesn't guarantee that you will rank for the keyword.
Ranking will depend on the competition around the keyword, the strength of your competitors, the authority of your website and if you are matching the user intent.
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Ranking will depend on the competition around the keyword, the strength of your competitors, the authority of your website and if you are matching the user intent.
Even though it is possible to optimize many SEO-related things yourself, you should have an experienced WordPress developer on your side. Especially when it comes to technical subtleties, as a non-developer you will reach your own professional limits pretty fast and can accidentally break a lot.
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When working with WordPress, plugins are a must but optimizing them means that you keep those that are really a must. And use an optimization plugin to help with caching and loading.
Don't follow the recommendations from SEO plugins like Yoast or RankMath blindly - use them smart and use their features for things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do easily.
Also keep the code/theme clean as best as possible and probably make sure your backend (the actual CMS part) is also functional so you can add content easily. And of course, follow the basic SEO guidelines, WordPress should just be an easy way to manage a website.
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Don't follow the recommendations from SEO plugins like Yoast or RankMath blindly - use them smart and use their features for things you wouldn't otherwise be able to do easily.
Also keep the code/theme clean as best as possible and probably make sure your backend (the actual CMS part) is also functional so you can add content easily. And of course, follow the basic SEO guidelines, WordPress should just be an easy way to manage a website.
Be careful of using demo WordPress sites as they can come with numerous preloaded pages in the backend. It's much useful to invest extra time in creating pages using a lightweight page builder instead of importing a demo site and customizing it. If you decide to hire a freelancer or an agency to handle this for you, check what method they use. We had a situation where this issue occurred with one of our e-commerce clients.
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WordPress is a powerful platform that allows users to easily create and modify URL structures that match their site's content and hierarchy. Managing and executing permalinks (URL structure) is a key component of good SEO practices. A well-thought-out and properly-executed URL structure helps search engines crawl and index sites more effectively, improves user experiences, content silos execution, and can lead to higher rankings. So, be sure to plan ahead in determining your permalink structure and implement in the WordPress settings.
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To avoid SEO issues, while making the most out of your tags and categories pages:
* Make sure you plan out your site taxonomy.
* Have a policy in place for how and when categories and tags should be used.
* Make sure everyone understands what is meant by tags and categories, and the policy in place (especially those adding content to the site)
* Ensure taxonomy (tags + categories) are used consistently across all content
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* Make sure you plan out your site taxonomy.
* Have a policy in place for how and when categories and tags should be used.
* Make sure everyone understands what is meant by tags and categories, and the policy in place (especially those adding content to the site)
* Ensure taxonomy (tags + categories) are used consistently across all content
Do a thorough background check for any plugin before install. Some might look fine and at a later point of time suddenly manipulate crucial files such as your robots.txt without asking you. Monitor crucial files for security purposes.
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Don’t take what a plugin tells you as gospel. There’s more to SEO than ticking the boxes of a plugin.
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SEO for WordPress FAQs
Is WordPress automatically SEO ready?
No CMS, WordPress included, is automatically optimized for organic search by default, as the configurations and actions needed will highly depend on the site context and goals. However, WordPress can be considered to be very SEO friendly, since it allows to easily configure natively or via plugins the key elements and areas of the site for SEO, such as titles, meta description, URL structure, canonicalization, etc.
What are the top SEO plugins for WordPress?
What criteria to use to choose an SEO friendly theme for a Wordpress site?
Look for themes with good reviews and high ratings from users that are fast loading, responsive, secure, regularly updated, with clean, semantic code that follows Web standards, avoiding unnecessary reliance on client side rendered JS for core content elements or configurations.
What are the top SEO mistakes when using WordPress as a CMS?
Some common SEO mistakes when using WordPress as a CMS are: Not properly configuring the Website permalinks, content duplication between tags and categories, lack or poor internal linking, slow page load speed.
The SEO Learning Roadmap
Take a look at the SEO learning roadmap below, featuring the different areas, from the basics of SEO, to the most common activities and phases of the SEO Process:
Start learning SEO with the fundamental concepts and areas, why they're important, and the basics to execute them: keyword research, content optimization analysis, technical optimization and link building.
Once you know the main SEO concepts, it's time to put them in practice by learning to develop an SEO process, from establishing a strategy and setting goals to management, measurement, and reporting.
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3 SEO in your CMS
Learn to implement the most important SEO configurations in the top Web platforms in the market, along with considerations to take into account.
It's time for an SEO deep-dive into those particular areas and common scenarios where you have a bigger interest or need to tackle.
Advanced Technical SEO
Advanced Content Optimization
Advanced Link Building
Advanced SEO Management
Advanced SEO Opportunities
Learn and specialize in one of the most popular SEO verticals.
Learn to automate your SEO tasks and accelerate your SEO process execution.
Learn how to rank in other search engines besides Google.
Stay updated with the latest news, updates and resources in SEO.
Learn about complementary areas that can help you as an SEO.
Get access to free SEO tools to execute your SEO tasks.
It's time to take your SEO knowledge further.