Are you looking to increase your website traffic? One of the best ways to do this is to practice some basic SEO tips. Because when your SEO is on point, Google will bring you more traffic and leads.
In this post, you’ll learn the basics of what SEO is and why it matters, along with 8 SEO tips to help you optimize your WordPress site. Let’s get started!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. When your content is optimized for search engines, it makes it easier for them to find your site. This strategy isn’t a way to trick Google into ranking your page higher. It’s about creating great content that people are searching for.
SEO means finding and using the right keywords that people are searching for, then using those keywords in your content. Once you’ve added those keywords to your blog posts, then search engines like Google, know what your article is about and can show it to people who search for the topics you write about.
This brings in more people to your website creating more leads for you.
Google and other search engines are usually the biggest source of traffic for your website. But the algorithms need your help to understand what your content is all about.
When you optimize your content and keywords for search engines, they can rank it according to their algorithms. Your content will appear in the search results when people put in the keywords related to your content. Your topics will show up on the first page of Google if your SEO is optimized.
If you can rank on the first page of Google, you will get tons of traffic to your site.
Just learning a few basic SEO tips to optimize your WordPress website will help you get started in gaining more traffic.
Here are a few SEO tips to help you get started.
First, make sure your website is being seen by the search engines. WordPress gives you the option to hide your site until you’re ready for it to go public. You can check or uncheck the box that allows search engines to find your site.
Sometimes people forget to uncheck that box, or it can get checked by mistake. Take the time to see if your site has been blocked for search engines or not.
If you have a slow loading website, it will affect your SEO ranking. It also affects whether or not someone will wait for your page to load. In this day and age, people do not want to wait more than a couple seconds.
A slow site is never a good user experience. People just leave. You then lose customers and clients.
It doesn’t matter how good your content is, you won’t rank high if your site speed is too slow. Google has included site speed as one of the most important ranking factors.
One reason could be that you have older plugins that you don’t use anymore. You can delete those. Another reason is that your sidebar could be too cluttered. Just put the widgets you absolutely need on your sidebar.
Your images could be loading too slow as well. Be sure to optimize the size of your images to help your site load faster.
Related: What is the Importance of Site Speed for SEO?
The most common way to let the search engines know your website page authority is by linking to other blog posts and pages on your own website.
Make it a habit to interlink each blog post you write. Try to interlink to at least 3 other blog posts.
This internal linking has a few benefits.
Your permalink is the part of the URL that says what a specific blog post is about. Be sure to do this right when you start your website. If you want to make changes to your URL after your website is 6 months old or older, you may want to hire an expert to do that correctly for you.
But if you’re just starting out, make your permalinks SEO friendly.
For example put this in your URL: www.examplewebsite.com/how-to-plant-tomatoes
Instead of: www.examplewebsite.com/689200405
As you can see, the first example clearly explains what the blog post is about. This makes it easy for people and search engines to understand what you’re writing about.
The second example doesn’t offer any help at all as to what’s on that page.
Using optimized permalinks helps you rank better on Google.
Choosing a good SEO plugin can help you optimize each blog post you write.
Yoast SEO plugin is a good option. If you follow the suggestions Yoast makes, you will have a good chance of ranking better. It’s easy to follow and use. Install the plugin and follow the prompts they suggest.
The Yoast SEO plugin allows you to put in a meta description and it shows you a preview of what people will see when they google your website.
Your title and meta description are important places to put your SEO keywords. Be sure that every meta description is unique in that it only refers to the blog post you’ve just written.
Those are just a couple of the prompts that Yoast SEO gives you.
You don’t have to guess at which keywords to use on your site.
There are several free and paid tools you can use to find out exactly what keywords people are using to get the results they want. Personally I do all my keyword research right on Google.com.
SEMrush and Ubersuggest are two examples of where you can find keywords that people use to find topics and products or services that are related to your industry. You can then use those keywords in your articles to help you rank better.
Use the right keywords in your image name and caption. When people are searching for images they are using keywords. SEO for images is just as important as in your content.
Make the keyword relevant to the image rather than something clever or creative.
For example, an image of a blue vase that you sell should only have the keyword “blue vase” in the alt text. You don’t have to write “click here to buy this vase” — just write what the image is.
Related: 6 Tips for SEO Image Optimization
Most importantly, write for people first and search engines second.
That might sound counterintuitive, but if you’re writing blog posts and articles that will help people, then the search engines will reward you.
Focus on writing valuable and helpful content for your readers that entice them to keep coming back for more. This is probably why you want to start a blog or already started one in the first place. You’re passionate about helping people succeed in whatever niche you’re writing in.
If that is how you approach your writing then the right people will read your content.
You still add your keywords in the right places, but your focus will be to help people, not search engines.
These simple 8 SEO tips are great to get you started on the right track. They will help you start ranking higher and getting more traffic to your site. There is much more to learn about SEO, but if you start by following these SEO tips, you’ll be ahead of the game.
Welcome! My name is Glenneth and I live in beautiful East Tennessee. I wear many hats: CEO of The Visibility Method, SEO & Google Ads Expert, content creator, and more. I love technology, social media, and weight lifting. My favorite place to hang out is the hammock in my backyard. My favorite colors are pink and orange. My favorite team is the Vols. And I LOVE to get email so please drop me a note and say hi!
