Optimizing WordPress for SEO

A lot of new content appears on the web every day. The number of active blogs is constantly growing, and new ones are popping up all the time. The Google search engine is bombarded every second with the number of queries users make.

Imagine... 40,000 queries are made every second, for a total of more than 3.5 billion per day. In any case, visit this page and see for yourself the strength of these numbers. Just yesterday, before midnight, the counter showed 4.5 billion requests made. And to think that there are only 10 sites on the first page of the Google search engine - of which practically only the first 3 results are the most important.

As you can guess, there is a huge struggle for these positions. How to get closer to the top lines of the results with your own blog? Optimizing your post for SEO.

WordPress Post Optimization - Introductory Tips

I'm going to show you an effective way to perform some useful tricks to increase your online visibility. Since we love WordPress the most, our login optimization tips will be based on it. There is no need to introduce the WordPress CMS itself, just take a look at how many possibilities there are for using this system. As you can see, it is used not only for blogs, but also for business websites.

However, before you start working on improving the visibility of your message on the Internet, it is worth thinking about the keywords that should be included in it before starting writing. Of course, your main goal should be to write for readers, that is, simply, clearly and concisely. However, you still need to keep the key phrases in mind. Remember that you do not need to saturate your content with them. This will only hurt you, but more on that later.

The choice of the key phrase should also not be random. For a better selection of phrases, you can use Google Trends, which will tell you which topics are most popular at the moment. You can also analyze keywords and even explore semantic keywords. As you can see, there is something to use when choosing relevant phrases.

Summary. Now let's say your new blog post has just been completed. Now it's time to take a look at how to optimize a WordPress post with basic knowledge and a useful plugin!

What does WordPress post optimization for SEO look like?

The optimization described below will be based on a plugin Yoast SEO. The plugin simply and intuitively tells the user what to look for when writing a post, and points out aspects that need improvement.

In fact, there are a whole bunch of similar plugins. In fact, they all work very similarly. The presented aspects will be useful even if you are using another tool of this type. What matters is what elements you should pay attention to.

Before you start implementing specific tips, you must, of course, install the plugin. This is done by default, like all other add-ons installed from the WordPress cockpit. Once installed, the Yoast SEO plugin window will appear in the post view (under the section where you enter and edit content).

After preparing the plugin in this way, you can begin to work directly. You will see for yourself that optimizing a WordPress post for SEO is not a difficult task at all. Get to work!

1. Entering a passphrase

The first step we propose to take is to enter a passphrase. After you paste it, the plugin will process the content of the article you wrote, and in return you will get the results in the form of colored dots. They can be compared to a traffic light on the road when you get three light messages. Of course, at the initial stage, not everything can be "green", so we are making the rest of the changes. Green indicators show what state the current WordPress post optimization is in.

Tip: The phrase should only be used once. Otherwise, the same articles will theoretically compete with each other for position, which you don't want after all.

2. Meta Description, Title, and URL

We recently covered the Meta Description on our blog, so there is no need to discuss it again.

It can be entered in two ways. If you click the 'Edit Snippet' button, additional options will appear, including 'Description'. Enter the content of the description, considering its length. The green bar will inform you about the status of the description as it is filled to the end. It is important to use all available space and at the same time not to exceed it. Another important point is to use the page description to entice the user to visit your site. For that, check out the tips in the link above.

The second way to add a meta description is in the email subject line. It all depends if you are using it in the current WordPress theme for your site.

Now it's time for the header, or "SEO header". There are also 50-60 character limits here. The headline should contain your key phrase first and foremost and be both enticing and intriguing - so that users will happily click on it. Once again, I refer you to the guide, which takes a closer look at writing effective titles.

Tip: There are two ways to enter a title. Either in the box above or in the box just below the post title in the WordPress cockpit. Both areas have a certain relationship. The field from the first method is used only for SEO and only appears in search results, while the second method is used equally for SEO and as the title of the article on the page. It is better to use the last method.

Now it's the turn of the link name. We enter it in the "Slug" field of the Yoast plugin. Again, what matters is the length (50-70 characters) and that it is easy for the reader to read. Don't use any numbers or special characters, just do your best for the best user experience. A good practice is to use the same title and URL (although this is also not a rule).

3. Post Content

Next, WordPress post optimization focuses on content. As you may have noticed, when you enter a key phrase, one of the colored "lights" indicates the density of the phrase in relation to the entire text. The optimal value of this indicator is from 0.5% to 1%. Be careful not to overload the content with phrases (so-called keyword stuffing), as this is not welcomed by Google.

Tip: You You can optimize your content for multiple phrases at once with Yoast SEO, but it's a paid solution. If you want to check the density of another phrase, just replace the current one. Then just enter the main one again.

Another thing to pay attention to is the placement of the phrase in the first paragraph of the text so that the topic of the entry is introduced from the very beginning of the content.

Usage headings is also an important aspect: H1, H2, etc. It's not the most important ranking factor right now, but it's worth taking care of all the time. This improves the readability of the page and allows it to be scanned visually. Thus, it is effective from the point of view of the reader, which is very important. Its use must also be appropriate. Remember that H1 is used only once per page, and by using each successive heading degree, you must create a logical structure. Use it as a table of contents in a book and create consecutive chapters, subsections, etc.

Wrong title scheme: H2 -> H1 -> H4 -> H3 -> H5 -> H6

Correct layout: H1 -> H2 -> H3 -> H3 -> H2 -> H3 -> H4 -> H4

External links should also come from your content. Links to other sites are good for SEO.

It's also good to include images in your content. Visual content is easier for us to digest, so it should be used more often. The ALT attribute of an image is very important because Google looks for images based on this attribute. Be sure to enter in this field the content in which you want to see your image in Google Graphics. Also, don't forget to optimize the image's weight (I recommend TinyPNG) and its dimensions. The highest possible resolution is not always a good option, as you may find that your blog area is smaller than the image size anyway, making it appear smaller.This negatively affects the weight of the image, which in turn affects the page loading speed, which should also be taken into account.

A few last words about post optimization in WordPress

As you can see , optimizing WordPress posts is not something you can't do on your own. By applying the tips above, your entry should "glow green".

If something is wrong, read the tips that the plugin offers. It is also worth noting that the presented plugin is just a tool, and it is not without flaws (for example, the lack of case sensitivity of the entered main phrase). Don't blindly follow the suggestions that Yoast SEO has to offer. This gives us a general idea of ​​what we need to work on.

Overall, this is a good tool for anyone looking to improve their own SEO. This will allow you to take care of the basic things that need to be done to properly position the entrance. Remember also that the text you write should be, first of all, practical and user-friendly.

Thus, optimizing a WordPress post for SEO should be carried out taking into account the following points, summarized in a nutshell:

Checklist - Optimizing a WordPress Post for SEO

Common Questions Before Optimizing:

• A catchy theme and headline that encourages clicks.
• Research the best keywords and pick 2-3 of them.
• Choose an image for the post that is also intriguing and doesn't let you pass by.
• The post content must be more than 300 characters.

Optimization issues:

Title:

• 50-60 characters long
• contains a keyword

Description:

• 150-160 characters long
• optionally includes a passphrase
• to describe and encourage the user to click on the button

Actual URL:

• as short as possible, 50-70 characters
• simple length I'm understanding the user (no weird characters like "id=22")
• containing the passphrase if possible

Categories:

• Using an H1 that includes a keyword
• Using lower ranks appropriately, as needed, with optional keyword inclusion

Image(s) with an ALT attribute:

• ALT should describe the image
• contain the phrases for which it should appear in an image search engine
• compression

Links:

• Use outgoing links whenever possible, as well as internal linking between subpages or articles

Final information: optimization posting WordPress for SEO is a process that a plugin won't do entirely for you. The plugin provides only a number of recommendations. You can't follow them completely blindly.