WordPress is the best blogging platform available on the web. WordPress is robust with it’s premium themes, plugins and widgets. Okay you started a blog what next? You want your blog to be popular on the web. One must implement SEO (search engine optimization) on blog for increasing your blog’s online presence. For many people still SEO is a bitter fruit. In this post we will try to explain the best WordPress SEO practices that improves your blog’s online presence and drives more traffic.
WordPress SEO – Theme
When you start a blog first thing you have to take care of is theme. When you are selecting a theme for your WordPress blog you should keep 3 things in mind. Search engines also consider how fast a website loads as one of the SEO factor. First thing is your WordPress theme should load faster. Secondly your theme should be responsive. As the smartphones and tablets are increasing, your blog should be compatible with all devices. Thus your theme should be responsive that adapts any device. Lastly these days displays are coming with retina display. So your blog should be retina ready. Keep these 3 in mind while choosing a theme.
1. Loading Time
2. Responsive Theme
3. Retina Ready
WordPress SEO – Permalinks
A WordPress permalink is nothing but URL to individual blog posts. As the name suggests permalink means permanent link to particular post. WordPress has Permalinks option, on your wordpress dashboard under Settings click on Permalinks option. the best url structure is website url followed by post name http://www.yourblog.com/sample-post/ in that case choose post name option. Most of the blogggers divide posts into different categories then select Custom Structure then enter /%category%/%postname%/ as shown in below pic and save changes.
WordPress SEO – WWW vs non-WWW
Choose how your website url should look www.example.com or simply example.com. Update the same in WordPress Settings -> General as shown in below pic.
WordPress SEO – Post Title
Before implementing WordPress SEO on post titles and description install WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin. When you search for a query search engines also see whether search keywords present in the post title as shown in below pic.
After installing WordPress SEO plugin under Titles & Metas -> Post Types set Title template as shown in below pic.
You can give post title to individual posts in SEO Title field of WordPress SEO dialogue box in post editor as shown in below pic.
WordPress SEO – Meta Description
When you search for a query search engines also see whether search keywords present in the meta description of the post. By default WordPress SEO plugin takes first 156 characters as meta description as shown in below Snippet Preview.
You can manually enter post description in Meta Description field of WordPress SEO plugin dialogue box in post editor as shown in below pic.
WordPress SEO – Image Optimization
Optimizing images is also a search engine optimization technique. Search engines crawl better if you provide alternate attribute to your image. An alternate attribute gives an alternate information to the image. If for some reasons browser can’t load images then this alternate description will be shown.
You can also give alt and title attributes to images by clicking on Edit option on the inserted image as shown in below pic.
WordPress SEO – Headings
Using H2 or H3 tags is always one of the best SEO practices. When you search for a query search engines also looks whether keywords present in any headings. So always try to use proper headings as we used in this post.
WordPress SEO – XML Sitemaps
In order to index your WordPress blog by search engines you need to submit sitemap to search engines. Search engines crawl your blog better if you submit XML sitemap. We recommend to use XML Sitemap generator plugin. This plugin creates XML sitemap of your WordPress blog, automatically updates whenever your publish a new post and pings Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines. The default sitemap url is website.com/sitemap.xml. Submit XML sitemap to Google, Bing Webmaster tools.
WordPress SEO – Google Authorship
These days you might have observed picture in left side of search results. The picture says that particular person is author of the post and author name with his/her circles. This is called google authorship. Benifits of google authorship are
1. Your picture in search results.
2. Increased Page Rank.
3. Increased CTR (Click Through Rate)
Google Authorship for WordPress
1. Go to your google+ profile, click on Profile, click on About and the go to Contributor to Section as shown in below pic.
2. Click on Edit and add the WordPress blog your authoring to that section. Save it.
3. Now go to your WordPress Dashboard, left side you can see users, click on your profile.
4. In profile page under contact info you can find Google+ field paste your google+ profile url as shown in below pic and save it. That’s it you have setup google authorship on your WordPress blog.
After implementing google authorship to test how it works useGoogle Rich Snippets Tool and enter any of your post url. If you get profile picture in your post snippet as shown in below pic then your authorship is working.
WordPress SEO – Site Speed
How fast your website or blog loads is one of the factors that search engines consider. Your blog loads faster if your theme has less scripts. Always it is recommended to serve HTML version of your blog to search engines. There are many caching plugins available in WordPress. W3TC and WP Super Cache are famous WordPress plugins which reduces your blog loading time. If you can spend some bucks on improving your site speed we recommend using maxCDN which is trusted by many webmasters.
WordPress SEO – Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs gives your blog a structure especially if your blog has many categories. Breadcrumbs help visitors to identify where they are in your blog. For example above this post title you can see something like this Home / SEO / WordPress SEO – The Complete Guide. If your theme comes with Breadcrumbs then it’s ok if not try Breadcrumb NavXT plugin which is trusted by Million WordPressors. Checkout our post on Breadcrumbs and SEO.
WordPress SEO – Conversions
Once you are done publishing a post you must convert every visitor to a customer or subscriber so that they stay updated with our new articles. If you observe this blog at the end of each post we are asking visitor to subscribe to our updates. If you are visiting this blog for the first time a popup might have appeared asking for subscription or like. These are few ways to convert visitors to customers. We recommend using WP Lead Magnet plugin which can increase your leads by 300%.
WordPress SEO – Comments
Always write your post in such a way visitors should leave a comment on your post. Make sure you reply back to visitor’s queries and stay connected with them. As your WordPress blog grows you receive more spam comments. Then how to deal with WordPress comment spam? This is a 1 year blog so far we filtered 3500 spam comments. We recommend using Akismet, GASP and Simple Trackback Validation plugins together. These plugins reduce comment spam on your WordPress blog by 90%.
95 Comments on “WordPress SEO – The Complete Guide”
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This is GREAT! I am in the process of switching from Blogger to WordPress. One of the main reasons I am doing this is the added SEO benefits of wordpress. I will be referring back to this as I start publishing posts on my new domain! Thanks!
Brandy, I’m glad you found this post helpful. I also included a post on migrating from blogger to wordpress in this comment please do read the post also. It is simple and safe way to move from blogger to wordpress 🙂
What great tips. I’m glad I found your blog. I am struggling with a lot of this little plug ins and this frustrates me. I love the screen shots, too. I bookmarked your page on submitting blog posts. I was looking for a cheat sheet on this subject as well.
Thanx Tiffany, soon we are going to start forum on this blog addressing bloggers queries on topics like seo, blogging help etc.
Great tips. I find that I get really lazy with using SEO techniques even though I know and understand most of them.
Hi Jenn, SEO is important if you want do drive more search engine traffic 🙂
For someone who loves to learn all she can about blogging and SEO and wordpress, this was a great breakdown and helped me understand some topics I hadn’t fully understood before. Thanks!
Glad you understood the seo stuff 🙂
This is a great post. I have read many articles on SEO. I still don’t have it all figured out. I have always used both WordPress and Blogger as my blog platform. For me, I just prefer Blogger. It’s a personal preference. But WordPress has amazing features and capabilities. I think your post is really informative and easy to understand.
Thanx Aimee 🙂
As I read through this blog I tried to implement some of these things, however they do not seem to work with my Empower Network Blog… I would really like to learn how to add a lightbox (from my Aweber) to pop-up on my blog, however EN does not allow plug-ins… is there no other way to do this? I was able to update my Google+ profile and that was pretty awesome! I look forward to learning more from you, thank you!
Lori, thanx for your comment. For popups you need to jquery code.
Thanks for the reminder that I need to set up (or claim) Google authorship of my new website!
Hope this post helps in setting up authorship for your blog.
http://www.etechknol.com/google-authorship-how-to-get-your-picture-in-search-results/
These are some awesome tips. I have just started really concentrating on my SEO side of the blog and have noticed a huge improvement by optimizing my images. Bookmarking this for later re-reading.
Felicia, Thanx for bookmarking us 🙂
Great tips here, will be going through them one by while reviewing my site.
Sure Pam
Anil, Thanks for the information on how to set up authorship. I’ve been rather confused about that. I just followed your steps and it worked.
You are welcome Cindy 🙂
These are great SEO tips. I know I don’t do it for any of my photos and now I see the benefits of using it for all the parts of my site. I did get my Google authorship done recently but I have lots of other areas to improve on for sure.
Yes Nickida, try to apply seo on your entire blog step by step 🙂
Awesome post…so informative but so concise at the same time. I bookmarked it and will be referring back to this for some assistance with certain things (like the XML Sitemap) and the meta description. Great job!
Thanx kristin 🙂
I really need to make the time to get my SEO together. There are many different advice out there and it can get confusing. Thanks for your advice. : )
Hi Tess, our post is straight to the point. No confusion at all.
wow these are some very helpful tips! Unfortunately I use bloodspot… wish someone would share these kinds of blogspot tips! 🙂
Cindy, We have an seo article on blogspot check out. http://www.etechknol.com/the-complete-blogger-seo/
This is really helpful, Anil! I just moved from Blogger to WordPress this summer, and I still have so much to learn, especially SEO. It’s still sort of a foreign language to me, but I hope to get there someday. Thanks for sharing this valuable information 🙂
Swiger, No hurry! You can learn it slowly.
Wow, this is great! How do I add the subscription part to the end of my posts?
Hu Tatiana, I’m on wordpress. for subscription form install “WP Subscriber Form” plugin 🙂
This was such an informative article! I’m pinning it for later, since I’m currently on Blogger but realizing I ought to switch over. Thanks!
– April
Thank you. check out or post on blogger seo http://www.etechknol.com/the-complete-blogger-seo/
wonderful tips here. Thanks for sharing
You are welcome Jean 🙂
Great tips! I have been working a lot more recently towards finding better seo techniques. This post was definitely informative and I will refer back to you site for more tips! Keep up the good work!
Thanx Daou 🙂
Thanks for the tips! I have not yet gotten serious about SEO on my blog…but plan to before the end of the month. Bookmarking this page for future reference.
Natasha, Thanks for bookmarking us 🙂
Thanx Rhonda we have a post on blogger seo. here it is http://www.etechknol.com/the-complete-blogger-seo/
Thanx ..
Quality posts is the key to be a focus for the visitors to go to see the web site, that’s what this website is providing.
without quality we cant survive in this competitive world 🙂
These are some pretty good tips, but a lot of people focus more on receiving hits and whatnot rather than feedback and the actual content. Thus, I think it’s more important to focus on the quality of the website and its content (posts, pages, comments and all) than the way that one comes up in search.
you are correct Liz.
Awesome tips for SEO, I really need to start directing more traffic my way – Thanks so much for sharing Anil
You are welcome Shashi 🙂
Thank you for this post!!! Now I know what to do with my SEO plugin. Bookmarked this!
Thanx ANne
The app tip on Yoast’s plug-in is terrific. I didn’t know I could see how search engines might view my title. Thanks for the awesome tips!
Jennifer @ The Jenny Evolution
http://www.thejennyevolution.com
You are Welcome Jennifer
Thank you so much for this information. As a new blogger, I am often lost! It looks like you have all of the information right here, so I know that I will be coming back.
You are welcome Tamara
This could not be more timely! Just about to make the switch to WordPress. THANK YOU! 🙂 Ellie
We have an article on how to switch from blogger to wordpress
Great post. I have soooo much to learn about SEO. I really would like to increase my blog’s rankings.
our wordpress tutorials will help in increasing your blog’s rank.
I’ll be pinning this to work from in the future. I really liked the Google authorship advice as well as the photo optimization. There’s always something more to work on on my blog. It’s neverending!
Thanx Terra 🙂
What a great post – so comprehensive! I’ve already shared this with a beginning bloggers group that I’m in and will definitely be checking out more of your posts!
Thanx for sharing our post 🙂
We appreciate you other sorts of beneficial web site. The location else might I am getting that type of info written in this suitable technique? I have a undertaking that i’m only today running about, i have been on the style out there intended for such information.
Great list. Thank you! So, does getting new email subscribers directly effect the SE0, or is it an indirect benefit because of more site views? Thanks for all of the info!
subscribers won’t impact your seo. It’s just an extra traffic you get 🙂
I go to see daily some blogs and information sites to read posts, however this blog provides
feature based articles.
I must be insane because I have read so much about SEO and I still don’t know what I am doing. I can’t even to get Google to pull up my page!!! So I read all about it and I’m still confused!
Don’t be confused just follow the steps one by one slowly then you will see some improvement.
This is the hardest thing to do. I just want to write lol. Figuring all these things out is what makes this a FT job.
Excellent! I am in the process of moving from blogger to wordpress and I need all the help I can get lol. I am also checking out your post on migrating. Thanks so much for the info!
Tamara, Glad you liked our posts 🙂
Great break down of the basics of SEO. Even though I know them, it still drives me insane to have to do it. I know how important the steps are but I just find it boring. lol Unlike friends of mine that are SEO geeks.
Take the help of your friends so that you can learn a bit of seo 🙂
Ack…I know my SEO needs help, but it’s all so confusing. Yikes.
Great info! I’m still on blogger, but I’m trying to work into my budget to switch over. I’m absolutely bookmarking this page because when I do you have wonderful info here! SEO is so confusing to me, but you’ve simplified it in a way that makes sense. Thanks so much!
Thanx Molly 🙂
Remarkable! Its truly remarkable post, I have got much clear idea regarding from this paragraph.
Wow- what a fantastic post on SEO- thank you! I’ve been using SEO by Yoast, and it has done wonders for me. SEO is so important. I think it’s time I implement some more of these strategies.
Thanx Stacy 🙂
Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet
Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, very good blog!
I got behind on the commentathon due to a storm here, so now I am trying to get to all the blogs. I definitely will come back to this one and I have subscribed! The technical part of blogging just does not compute very well for me.
Well seo is more important for a blog’s success.
Great post, I have actually been thinking of moving to WordPress for my blog and this was a great help. I don’t think I ever really took the time to think about SEO. Now that I am taking blogging more seriously, your site will be a great help.
Thanx Kat, we have a post how to safely migrate from blogger to wordpress without loosing the traffic.
I am not on WordPress however these area great tips! I am considering moving from Blogger to self hosted Word Press.
WordPress has many advantages. We have a post on how to safely migrate from blogger to wordpress without loosing the traffic.
This is a great help, Anil! I am still new to the blogging world, but I have done the Youst pluggin – it is helpful. Look forward to rereading this and implementing some more ideas!
Thanx Lori 🙂
This is what I need to know, thanks, it’s really great post!!!
How ever I need time to learn about WordPress SEO – Breadcrumbs.
Bui, we have a post on breadcrumbs too 🙂
http://www.etechknol.com/breadcrumbs/
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