How to Optimise Your WordPress Website for Search
Did you know that WordPress currently powers 43.3% of the web, making it the most widely used content management system (CMS)?
It’s clear that WordPress is here to stay. However, while WordPress’ popularity has many benefits, such as the fact it’s open-source with a growing community, there is one drawback. It’s an incredibly powerful SEO tool that many websites are powered by, making competition fierce. Despite this competition, however, it is still possible to rank your site on the first page and above your competitors. In this article, we’re going to be explaining exactly how.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It’s the practice of optimizing your site so that search engines rank it highly in their results, meaning you get more traffic.
1. Check Your WordPress Settings
Make sure search engines can find your site
This may seem obvious, but it’s important to check that your site is visible to search engines. In your WordPress admin area, go to Settings → Reading. You should see a “Search engine visibility” option. Make sure the box is not checked.
If the box is checked, uncheck it then hit Save Changes.
2. How to Improve Your Page Experience
In June 2021, Google’s Page Experience came into force on mobile devices, and now, Google has begun using page experience as part of their desktop ranking systems. So what does this mean? Businesses must stay favourable with Google’s search algorithm if they want to keep their site discoverable by searchers. But, how? Let’s take a deeper look.
Use SSL on Your WordPress Site
This means your website address will have https:// instead of http:// at the start.
Web hosts will provide you with a free SSL certificate. The easiest way to configure your WordPress site is to install the Really Simple SSL free plugin. Go to Plugins → Add New in your WordPress admin, search for “Really Simple SSL”, then install and activate the plugin.
Use Security Plugin on Your WordPress Site
Protect your site, SEO and potential customers by installing a security plugin on your website. To prevent hacking from damaging your online reputation, WordPress hosts a number of plugins for varied budgets and business privacy needs.
3. Need For Speed On WordPress
Your site’s speed can affect how you attract traffic, generate leads, convert, and of course, how Google ranks your site. A quarter of users will abandon websites that take over 4 seconds to load. Even a 1-second delay reduces customer satisfaction by 16%. We recommend starting with PageSpeed Insights to check your website’s pages before optimising.
4. Find the Best WordPress SEO Plugin for needs
The most popular SEO plugins for WordPress are Yoast, All in One SEO, and Rank Math. All three are well established and highly reviewed online. Before you take the plung(in)e, consider doing some research on what works best for your business’s needs. Adding a new plugin to your WordPress site is simple, go to Plugins → Add New in your dashboard. Next, search for the name of the plugin, then click the ‘Install Now’ button next to it.
Bonus tip: Don’t install more than one SEO plugin as they will conflict with one another.
5. Optimising Your WordPress Pages for SEO
The beauty of WordPress is that you can easily optimise any content yourself by customising your Heading, URL, and Title Tag. Top tip: Be mindful of what you would like each page to show up for. Remember, when users are actively searching, it means they are looking for a solution. To maximise success on your page, include a mixture of long-tail and short-tail keywords related to your product or service.
Why WordPress is still on Top
In this post, I want to explore why we at Fraser feel that WordPress deserves its place at the top – and how we keep pushing the limits to make sure it’s the best choice for you.
Stay on top of your SEO Strategy
How can you be competitive if you don’t have a fast, secure and conversion-focused website? We know it’s the most powerful tool in your arsenal when it comes to marketing. Global brands and organisations, don’t have the time to learn all of these technical things – that’s what we are here for. We’re a fully integrated digital agency with a passion for marketing. We’re here to work with global brands that want to compete at the top of their game. Want an edge on your competition? We want to help you get there.
We’re no strangers to the competitive world of SEO. The way we see it, if you’re going to be competitive, you might as well be the best. We have strategies that will help you stand out from the crowd and make sure you’re always visible in a way that can only be described as crushing.
We won’t stop until you’re able to reach every audience possible, regardless of where they may be.
Need help with integrating your SEO strategy for 2022? We can make it happen. Get in touch with us today to see why.
