Now that you have started your blog in the WordPress platform, there are many things you can do to optimize it. There are over 50 million WordPress blogs hosted on the WordPress website. This makes getting your blog noticed a chore. By using some SEO tactics, you can create a blog that is optimized for Google searches and packed full of important relevant content that people will want to read.
Optimization Efforts
You can hire an SEO consultant, but this article is meant to show you how to optimize your WordPress blog without any help. Fresh and engaging content is what builds a loyal following and attracts backlinks. You can even tweak the content you have to get a better search engine ranking. Here are 7 key areas of SEO that, while do not do much alone, together can optimize your blog.
Keyword Research
If interested in researching keywords, the free Keyword Research tools should give you plenty of information to go off of. Software like Google tool or Wordtracker can help you find the perfect set of keywords. Commercial keyword research tools include SEObook.com, SEOmox.org, and Raven Tools.
Low Competition Key Phrases
You will be wasting your time by trying to optimize your site for the most highly competitive keywords. By searching Google for your keyword or words in quotes, you can find out just how competitive a keyword search term is. After searching, look right below the search bar. It should have a statement about how many results were found. Numbers greater than 75,000 are highly competitive and you should steer clear of them. Numbers below are much better choices for keywords.
What Do You Do With Your Keyword?
You want a keyword that has very little competition but still has a good amount of search traffic. You can do this by writing a post that directly targets the keyphrase or even just go back through older articles and tweak them for a specific keyphrase. If you decide to write a new article, you do not have to let the keyword or keyphrase dictate what you are going to write about. Craft your article around the keyword.
Use Your Keyword or Keyphrase
If possible, use your title in your post and as the title as well. You can even repeat the keyphrase throughout the article as well. Try to include your keyword or keyphrase early in the article and, if possible, use the keyword in a headline tag as well. This might not have much of an impact of your search engine ranking, but it will show your readers that they are looking at the correct piece of content. Pick something short, full of keywords, and catchy.
Meta Description Tags
You should also place your keyword or keyphrase in the Meta description tags of the page. This also does not make your rank higher, but Google will bold the keyword in search results which will encourage individuals to click on your page in the search results.
Related Images
When publishing your articles, find a related image and insert your keyphrase into the alternate description of the image. This will help the search engine see that you are creating complete content. It is also great for accessibility.
SEO for WordPress Plugin
By installing the SEO for WordPress plugin, you can easily create Meta descriptions and a title tag on your blog. This plugin can also do many other things for you. The update to Google’s search algorithms has made a big impact on the Internet, digital marketing strategy, and search engine optimization. Shallow content no longer gets top rankings anymore. Writing the highest quality content, and getting rid of duplicate URLs, your WordPress should be well on its way to being completely optimized.
There are plenty more things that influence your rankings on search engines. If you are focused on building your business and creating custom content, these tips should help you get going in the right direction. WordPress is a great tool when working with the SEO strategy of your websites pages effortlessly. These hints should not consume too much of your time either.
