The future of search engine optimization is an uncertain one. Why is that, exactly? The powers that be (aka Google) are working hard to improve the web for everyone’s benefit by making it quicker and more secure. They have a tenfold advantage, but who cares? Well, you should, and that’s why you need to follow WordPress SEO best practices.

If you run a WordPress site and still care about search engine rankings, you’ll need to do some work. You see, Google needs to continuously improving its search algorithms to provide a better search experience (and make billions of dollars in revenues at some point in the future), much to the consternation of SEO specialists (yes, that includes you).

For a while there, I dominated Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) simply by “pumping” content full of keywords. What? That’s what everyone was doing, and it was the standard practice among SEO specialists. Although I didn’t do any link building, my rankings took off like a flock of steroid-induced eagles.

Then Google came down hard, and keyword stuffing went the way of the dodo. There is little doubt that, like Icarus, my popularity fell, but that is beside the point. Optimisation for search engines entered a new age with the introduction of techniques such as alt tags, title properties, and more recently, relevant and valuable content.

Despite this, Google continues rolling out algorithm updates and withholding valuable information that would benefit SEOs and webmasters. It’s not hard to get Google to hang you out to dry these days; all you have to do is step slightly out of line.

There is still hope, though, because Google lays out the specific steps you need to do to achieve top ranks. In this piece, we’ll go over some WordPress SEO recommended practices, so get ready to have some fun while also building an SEO profile that will hold up to the next algorithm update. Well, here we go…

When using WordPress, what are the recommended procedures for optimizing a site for search engines?

Allow me to highlight a few things you might want to know about s as the perfect beginning before we get into WordPress SEO best practices.

To begin, search engine optimization (SEO) makes use of two techniques: on-page and off-page optimization. What we call “on-page optimization” includes everything you do to improve your site’s performance directly on that page (or web pages). This entails making new material, including relevant keywords, and tweaking the titles and meta descriptions. Blog commenting, guest blogging, directory submissions, link building, and social bookmarking are all examples of off-page optimization.

Second, there is the distinction between “white hat” and “black hat” search engine optimization strategies. The former is a method of search engine optimization (SEO) that follows the guidelines set forth by Google and other search engines. In contrast, “black hat” SEO tactics like manipulating search engine rankings will get you into serious trouble. Rather than attempting to trick search engines, you should focus on developing a white hat SEO plan. To put it another way: avoid any underhanded tactics that aren’t detailed in a reliable reference like Google’s SEO Guidelines.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move on to the WordPress SEO best practices you should remember and implement moving ahead in 2021.

The first step is to conduct thorough keyword research.

While keyword stuffing was formerly a valid SEO strategy, it is now generally frowned upon by search engines. Still, the keyword is still an influence in search engine rankings. Since keywords are still used by Google and the other search engines to determine a website’s ranking, they should serve as the basis for your SEO strategy.

How would you like to improve your search engine rankings for the terms “WordPress themes” and “WordPress plugins”? You may research the level of competition for your terms and discover related keywords to utilize in your content with a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Google Analytics may also be used to see what search terms visitors are entering to locate your site. One further place to look for keyword inspiration is in the data that WordPress keeps track of.

Try to come up with ten (10) different keywords to use instead of each one. If you’re looking for “WordPress themes,” for instance, you may also try “responsive WordPress themes,” “multi-purpose WordPress themes,” “premium WordPress themes,” and so on.

Can’t decide on a set of keywords and might use some guidance? Try Ubersuggest. This free tool from one of the world’s leading SEO professionals delivers helpful insights and related keyword ideas. If you go to the Keyword Ideas page, you can view the expected success rate and current ranking competition for your chosen keyword. You can see from the above snapshot how difficult it is to rank for the keyword “WordPress,” as the top sites for that term have high domain scores and active social media profiles.

Use long-tail keywords when conducting your search. Increase your chances of ranking highly for single-word keywords by expanding your keyphrase to a maximum of four (4) words. In the example given, the keyword phrase “WordPress themes” is more competitive than the phrase “responsive multi-purpose WordPress themes,” making it more challenging to get a top position.

If you use a couple of these keywords throughout your material, you should see an improvement in search engine rankings within a month. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term strategy; you won’t see immediate benefits. When an SEO “expert” assures you that your site will be at the top of Google within a “few of days,” they are, of course, full of hooey. Optimization for search engines is an ongoing activity that should be maintained for as long as your website is live.

Don’t worry too much about the density of your keywords at the moment, as we will discuss that as part of WordPress SEO best practices right after we return to the topic of peppering keywords throughout your text.

Second, remember that content is king when it comes to search engine optimization.

That content is still king. We’re talking about truly original, helpful, and timely material here. Besides being the most important factor in search engine rankings, high-quality content is what keeps your site alive and kicking.

Without articles or other written material, a website is just a shell. A website with subpar content is like to a dull knife in that it might cut, but only if you apply extra force. Neither humans nor search engines will return to a website that has been abandoned due to outdated information. As someone who has gone months at a time without updating their own blog, I can attest to this being a common occurrence. What are the outcomes? Ranking drops and decreased user engagement result.

We’ve already highlighted how important it is for your content to stand out by being useful and timely. A definition, please. To begin, all of your content must be original, as search engines, and Google in particular, frown against copied material. To achieve high rankings, your material needs to be novel and original.

You can find quotes online from pretty about anyplace, but if you copy and paste an entire page, you’re asking for trouble.

In other words, you should get rid of any duplicate URLs or content that appears on your site. Due to the fact that Google does not treat http://yoursite.com and http://www.yoursite.com as being the same, your search engine rankings will be divided between the two. You could face consequences for doing the same thing.

I had to deal with this problem once and I was able to do so without much difficulty.

Adding the following code to your.htaccess file should do the trick if you’re familiar with your server and the WordPress folders:

Turn RewriteEngine On

To rewrite HTTP requests to example.com, enter: RewriteCond%HTTP HOSTexample.com [nocase,OR]

For example: “RewriteCond%HTTP HOST”

“www.example.com” [lowercase]

This is an example of a rewrite rule: RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [last,redirect=301].

Put in your own domain name in place of example.com.

With the aforementioned code in place, search engines will not become confused between yoursite.com and http://www.yoursite.com.

A method called URL canonicalization, as described by Matt Cutts, is also available to you.

Your original work should provide real value to your readers, not merely filler for search engines to ignore.

I don’t see any spiders.

Crawlers, often called spiders, are a sort of software (script) used by Google and other search engines to identify and index your material.

Since we want to climb the ranks of Google (and Bing and Yahoo! ), we need to figure out how to produce original, helpful content without trying to “fool” the search engines’ ever-more-advanced crawlers. If you want a quick response, it’s that you should never consider writing content specifically for search engines. Focus on human readers instead of search engines while writing content.

Don’t misunderstand me. As search engines become more sophisticated, you should stop generating useful material for them. Produce useful material for your actual human readers. All successful brands achieve this.

As we discussed in the last section, it is important to focus on writing for human visitors rather than search engines. This is why it’s important to identify your demographics right away. Make sure the web material you produce is both original and useful to your intended audience. If you have done your keyword research correctly, you should have no trouble inserting relevant keywords into your content while still speaking the target audience’s language.

In case you were wondering, brand mentions on the web are yet another SEO ranking indication that may be earned if your content is well written and relevant to your viewers.

You shouldn’t try to stuff keywords into your content; rather, sprinkle them in organically. That’s why it’s essential to have ten (10) related keywords to choose from. There are nine (9) other possible keywords to use if the first doesn’t work.

This, however, gives the false impression that SEO is inflexible when, in fact, it is quite the opposite. When I fell in the ranks due to overusing keywords, I changed tactics and have had consistent success ever since.

First, I do some keyword exploration and come up with a few potential secondary keywords. In contrast, I don’t write the material first and then add the keywords; I do it simultaneously. How? Before I start writing, I memorize my main term and a few synonyms. If you’ve done your homework on both your keywords and your content, the two will naturally fit together. These terms will be an ideal match. When I’m done writing, the piece is optimized for search engines even though I didn’t give much thought to the keywords. This is only a method that has helped me in the past, and it may not be appropriate for you. In addition, I have fine-tuned the method over time; nevertheless, you are free to come up with your own method, provided that the keywords are integrated into the text in a natural way.

How many times must a keyword be used in the body of text for it to be crawlable by search engines? The average keyword density is 2.5%, although it can go up to 4% if necessary. Your principal keyword or phrase should be used fifty (50) times in a post of 2000 words. Naturally.

If you want to get noticed by search engines (and human visitors), you should also include your keyword in the names of your posts and pages. To give you an idea, the term “WordPress SEO” is included prominently in the title of this page, so you can assume it is related to WordPress and search engine optimization. You should also incorporate keywords into any headings or subheadings that appear in your article or page. You’ll be OK if you just act naturally.

Include a variety of media in your content (videos, photos, slideshows, infographics, podcasts, etc.) to make it more interesting and shareable. These are crucial to search engine optimization (SEO) since they increase user engagement and boost the worth of your content.

Keep your blog section updated, as Google favors frequently updated blogs like those found on WordPress. Make an effort to refresh your website’s evergreen material, such as the “about” and “products” sections. Unlike some webmasters, for whom it would take the return of the Messiah to change the content of their static pages, WordPress’s blog function makes it easy to regularly add new content to your site. Utilize the blog to your advantage!

If you post once or twice per week, you should see results in search engine results pages (SERPs) within two months. You can also post every day; but, in the modern world of search engine optimization, quality matters more than quantity.

To improve your content’ visibility in search engines, use appropriate tags and file them in relevant categories. Using an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO, you’ll be able to customize your posts with a meta description, SEO title, and a target keyword. Use these options to improve the SEO of your blog content. Yoast SEO not only assists you in optimizing your content, but also in determining your article’s SEO score well in advance of when you actually publish it.

Not just blog entries, but all of your pages should have meta titles, keywords, and descriptions. This data should be included in your website’s head> section, from which search engine spiders can readily extract it for indexing.

Create something that will resonate with your audience and is both original and useful (and hence shared).

And remember, your material should always be aimed at human readers, not search engines; write as if you were speaking directly to them. If that’s the case, you’d probably stop using artificially-placed keywords. To be honest, I have my doubts.

Internet search engine optimization for visual media

Using photos and videos in your content is a great way to boost your SEO, but before we move on, there are a few things to keep in mind.

One of the SEO best practices that many people don’t use is using visuals like photos and videos in their content. And that’s just awful because optimized images will bring you tremendous traffic from Google Images and the likes. Videos can get you traffic, links, mentions and more from sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Tumblr and more.

Before, we covered how to optimize photos for WordPress, but how exactly does one optimize images for search engines? You’re already at the simple part. You should start by making sure your graphics load quickly. Don’t load your site down with unnecessary photos. For your next post, attach a featured image that is exactly 650 pixels wide by 300 pixels tall.

Second, keep your graphics in line with the text. Apart from garnering you better results, photos should improve your content – its primary goal.

Thirdly, give your photographs relevant file names. Does this picture have anything to do with search engine optimization for websites built with WordPress? Don’t just save pictures as random filenames like “IMAGE001 2021.jpg;” give them proper names. Why? Since search engines can’t “interpret” pictures the way humans can, this is terrible for both user experience and search engine optimization. Additionally, attempt to work your term into the name of the image file.

To help search engine crawlers better “see” your photographs, you should use the ALT tag. In the event that a picture does not load for whatever reason, the ALT text will be displayed. There is more to the ALT tag than meets the eye. It was supposed to assist screen readers “see” your photos. People who are blind or have low vision can access your website’s information using a screen reader. In addition to human visitors, search engine spiders can “read” the information in the ALT tag to “see” your photographs.

Using WordPress to optimize your photos is a simple task. To include an image in your post, select “Add Media” from the editor’s menu and then navigate to the appropriate file on your computer. When an image is picked, additional text fields for the file’s title, caption, alternate text, and description appear on the right. Pay special attention to the “alt” field; fill up the rest only if you wish.

Use of ALT text improves search engine rankings, ensures that your HTML is correct, and aids readers who are visually impaired in understanding your information. Therefore, the ALT text should be brief but detailed (and appropriate to the image and post).

Third, employ WordPress add-ons and themes optimized for search engines.

One reason why WordPress has become so common is that setting up a new site takes less time than it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Themes and plugins for WordPress make it possible for anyone to quickly and easily create a high-quality website. That, however, is contingent upon your selection of an appropriate theme and plugins. For optimal search engine optimization in WordPress, use only preexisting themes and plugins that are optimized for that purpose.

You can use whatever theme and plugins you like to get started, but SEO-ready themes and plugins will give you a leg up on Google. Where should you focus your attention while deciding on a WordPress platform and related plugins?

The first requirement is that your preferred option employ acceptable HTML. You will run into issues with both your WordPress SEO and your design if your theme’s structure is disorganized. Try to find skins which make use of the canonical URL meta tag. What is a canonical URL? It’s merely a fancy name for the meta tag that stores your page’s URL at the top. If this is your home page, the canonical URL meta tag will have your domain name in its value. The post’s URL will be saved in the tag if it is a post.

The theme should also allow for the appropriate use of title tags and headings (h1, h2, h3,… h6). Finding WordPress themes with the Open Graph meta tag built in to improve social media sharing is also a good idea.

To what end do you conduct such exhaustive research? Check out the developer’s website, get in touch with them, and try out the sample! Where do I begin my search? Select “View Page Source” or a similar option by right-clicking the demonstration. Pay special attention to the code that appears between the head> and /head> tags. Search for meta> tags like meta name=”description” content=”Some description” /> or meta property=”og:description” content=”Some description” />.

Don’t worry if these parts are missing from your preferred theme. Tags can be added at a later date using SEO plug-ins or by manually altering the code. For me, the choice is clear: plugins all the way. If there is such a thing as a theme that doesn’t allow for page titles and headings, it should be avoided at all costs.

URLs optimized for search engines

WordPress SEO-friendly URLs, or Pretty Permalinks, are an important part of both the platform’s best practices for search engine optimization and the user experience.

Which URL is easiest to remember, for instance:

https://www.yoursite.com/article300152

https://www.yoursite.com/?p=3424

https://www.yoursite.com/wordpress-seo

Which URL do you think search engine spiders will be most “excited” by? The best website on this whole list is the third one. It’s frustrating to see webmasters still using inefficient URL structures (like http://www.example.com/?p=123) despite WordPress’s streamlined support for SEO-friendly permalinks (and the availability of useful plugins like Pretty Link, which can be used to generate external links with memorable names).

Select either the post’s name or the post’s date and author in Settings > Permalinks.

Do this far in advance of adding content to your blog to avoid broken links. To understand more about why you shouldn’t use the default permalinks setting and why broken links are terrible for SEO, check out this excellent piece from Elegant Themes.

Website Optimized for Mobile Devices

Maybe I’ve been bitten by a bug because whenever I visit a particularly excellent website, the first thing I do is adjust the width of my browser to see if the site adapts to the size of the window. If you haven’t already noticed, Google now classifies search results as “mobile friendly” if they’ve caught the same fault.

I don’t understand what you mean. Not having a mobile-friendly site will result in lower search engine ranks compared to those that are. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, your readers will notice it long before they reach your homepage, reducing your click-through rate.

Google suggests using a web design strategy called responsive web design (RWD) that enables developers to create websites with a mobile-first mentality. Sites developed with RWD methods will always appear and perform superbly on any gadget.

In the odd event that responsive web design (RWD) is not applicable to your company’s needs, you can choose for a hybrid mobile solution instead. Your WordPress SEO should be fine as long as mobile users are redirected to a mobile-friendly version of your site and no inconsistencies in content (or URLs) arise. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to the topic in the Google SEO Starter Guide.

Otherwise, you should start fresh with a responsive WordPress theme and plugins. Can’t seem to get things going? You’re in good company: many business owners prefer the Total Responsive Multipurpose WordPress theme.

Signs from Social Media

WordPress SEO has benefited from the expansion of social media in recent years. You can see the huge traffic potential of social media without even trying. It’s a great way to get people talking about your business and the goods you sell.

Brand and content references are becoming increasingly important to search engines. The logic behind this strategy is straightforward: if lots of people engage with and share your material, it must be good.

However, it is important to use caution when using social media. Instead of talking at your customers, you should encourage them to talk to you. To “…increase the pass-along value and online word of mouth,” you need people to interact with your brand.

Build your own following on social media and actively engage with others to increase dialogue and exposure. More positive mentions are always welcome.

Seventh, Defeat Your Rivals

The first ten (10) results that come up when you search for your term on Google are your main rivals. You have to come out on top of everyone else if you want to claim the top spot.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as the old adage goes. Learn as much as you can about your rivals. Learn the reasons why you haven’t been able to reach the top spot. I don’t understand what it is that makes them different. What, if any, white-hat SEO practices are they using that I’m missing?

Maybe they’re not as great as you thought they’d be; maybe the information is outdated, for example. You might as well make the most of your chance to finally rise to the level you belong at. Learn about your rivals and figure out how to win by playing their own game. Some healthy rivalry may be very exciting. I welcome a challenge any time, especially if it means higher search engine ranks, more visitors, and more sales. So, you’re not?

Eight, Accelerate Page Load Times

Website visitors will quickly disappear if they have to wait an eternity for each page to load. Plus, you’re wasting SEO credit, which is really valuable.

If you care about retaining visitors and keeping their confidence, you need to work on decreasing your page load time. To learn how to make your WordPress site load faster, check out the article I linked to above. If you want to see how quickly your site loads, you can use Google’s Page Insights tool to analyze your site and provide recommendations for improving its speed (though it’s important to remember that Page Insights is focused on many micro-optimizations that may not apply to your site or may not have as much of an impact as upgrading your hosting plan, the single most important factor).

As a Ranking Signal, HTTPS.

We noted in the start that Google is making huge efforts to make the web more accessible, faster, and safer for everyone. The quality of their searches has improved thanks to recent updates to their search engines. Rapid expansion can be attributed to the search engine’s innovative Knowledge Graph. And now they’re pushing for every webmaster to switch to HTTPS so that websites are more secure.

Though Google has not yet made HTTPS a prominent ranking indication, the search engine is still testing it and may opt to boost it in the future. You may read their latest article about HTTPS site security here. In it, I explain why it’s crucial to have a secure website, what kind of precautions you should take, and how to implement HTTPS on an existing HTTP site. In all likelihood, you will be in safe hands.

Rank-O-Meter for Neighborhood Businesses

Performing SEO on a local level is the same as doing it on a global scale (organically). The one caveat is that your local SEO efforts need to be expanded upon. Don’t leave out your city/state information when filling up meta tags, headings, content, the URL, or alternative text. Also, make sure your company has a Google My Business profile. Don’t hesitate if you want it, because it’s totally free.

You should register your site with search engines at Step 11.

We know that search engine spiders scour the web in search of content. After that, the information is indexed based on the numerous SEO ranking signals. Manually submitting your site to search engines increases the likelihood of a higher ranking in a shorter amount of time. By submitting your site manually, you also lessen its likelihood of being flagged as spam.

Most notably, it’s a simple and fast operation. Using either the Add URL page or Webmaster Tools, you may send Google a link to your site. Use Bing’s Site Submission Page to have your website submitted to Yahoo! and Bing. Yahoo! searches now use the Bing Search Engine, so there’s no need to worry. If you submit your site to Bing, it will get indexed by Yahoo as well.

Twelve, Site Maps

A sitemap is a visual representation of your entire website, including all of the pages, categories, and more. You need a sitemap, not just for humans but also for search engines. Put up a sitemap so lost visitors may find their way through your site. Your 404 page might double as a link to your sitemap if you so choose. You can either manually generate a sitemap or use a plugin, such as Google XML Sitemaps.

You can make it easier for search engines to find your sitemap by submitting it through Google Webmaster Tools, but they will find it on your site regardless. Doing so is a wise move, especially when launching a brand-new website.

The Thirteenth: Drink Some Juice (backlinks)

Contrary to popular belief, constructing useful links is an essential element of WordPress SEO. That’s the way link-building is supposed to go. When site A connects to your high-quality content, it passes along some of its “link juice” to you. Google gives more weight to a website’s link profile and subsequent ranking if the website in question is deemed to be authoritative. Therefore, if you decide to link to Site B, you will both benefit from the increased traffic. If site B is wholly unrelated to yours and full of spam or low-quality content, however, you will likely suffer a penalty and see a decline in your search engine ranks.

Only allow connections from reputable sites or those that are very relevant to your niche. It’s important to only link to relevant, high-quality information that will benefit your site’s visitors.

Discover the art of organic link building. Google will discover and punish you if you buy links. You need to work on making excellent content that will attract links on its own. Farming links (planting lots of links all at once or in a short time period) is a surefire way to get into hot water.

But aside from that, make sure your links contain genuine anchor language. Skip meaningless phrases like “Click here” in favor of something more substantial. If you need an example, consider this. Take a look at how we’ve linked to various posts in our blog. Finally, you can utilize the rel=”nofollow” element in your links if you wish to point to another website without contributing to its PageRank.

Here’s an example: a href=”http://www.somesite.com”>.

It’s not recommended to click on this link because it has a rel=”no phrase=Some Descriptive Title” title=”Some Descriptive Title”> Important anchored meaning text

Resources for Search Engine Optimization in WordPress

Assuming we’ve covered WordPress SEO recommended practices, what resources are necessary to further WordPress SEO?

Below is a short list:

Yoast SEO is an excellent search engine optimization (SEO) plugin for WordPress that facilitates the incorporation of such elements as meta descriptions, keywords, and titles.

Extensions for use in social media marketing

XML Sitemaps for Google

Learning WordPress: Faster Page Loading

Improve Your Search Engine Positioning With These Tips

Five Critical Search Engine Optimization Skills to Have

The bottom line, at the end of the day…

WordPress SEO is a time-consuming process, so be patient. It will take some time for the changes made through these WordPress SEO best practices to take effect. It’s a shame there isn’t an SEO solution that can be implemented and forgotten about. In addition, your WordPress SEO plan needs constant maintenance to be competitive. If you want to avoid getting penalized by search engines, make sure you’re following all the standard SEO practices. In a nutshell, focus on producing excellent content and promoting your website like crazy.

We’ve hopefully given you plenty to work with; now it’s up to you.

Are there other WordPress SEO recommendations we missed? What are some of the greatest SEO strategies that you employ when using WordPress? Give us your thoughts in the discussion below. Best wishes, and may God richly reward your efforts.