A website that is optimized for SEO can help improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site. However, making an SEO friendly website can seem like a daunting task, especially for those who are new to the world of web design and development.
Fortunately, if you’re using WordPress, there are a few simple steps you can take to ensure that your website is optimized for search engines. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the essential steps needed to make an SEO-friendly website using WordPress. We’ll cover everything from researching relevant keywords and optimizing website content to improving website structure, optimizing images and videos, and SEO friendly URLs.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the world of SEO and WordPress and learn how to make an SEO-friendly website that will help your business thrive online.
Table of Contents
Let’s Discuss Your Website Goals
Setting Up an SEO Friendly WordPress Website
Setting up your website correctly from the start is key if you want to rank high in search engine results and attract the right audience to your site. Plus, it is considerably simpler to configure it correctly from the start than making modifications later. Here is an overview of key settings to address when setting up your WordPress website for SEO.
Choose a WordPress Website Host
A2 Hosting is one of the best options out there, with a reputation for fast speeds, reliable servers, and excellent customer service. Plus, they enhance your WordPress, WooCommerce, or Elementor (if you’re using WooCommerce or Elementor plugins) setup following the initial installation, ensuring your website is optimized from the very beginning.
Select an SEO Friendly WordPress Theme
When selecting a WordPress theme, it’s important to choose one that is SEO friendly. An SEO friendly theme will have clean and optimized code, be mobile friendly, and have fast loading speeds. Some of the best SEO friendly WordPress themes include Astra, Divi, and GeneratePress. Look for themes that are regularly updated, have organized code, and are compatible with popular SEO plugins like Yoast SEO.
Key WordPress Settings to Address from the Start
There are several key settings that you should address when setting up SEO for your WordPress website.
Permalinks: This is the URL structure of your website. Choose a structure that is easy for users to read and understand. Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard and select the “Post Name” option.
If you’d like your blog URLs look something like this, /blog/post-name/, go to Settings > Permalinks and select Custom Structure. Inside the text box add in /blog/%postname%/ and every blog post will have /blog/ in front of the page title in the URL.
Site Title and Tagline: These are important for search engines to understand what your website is about. Go to Settings > General and make sure your site title and tagline are descriptive and relevant to your website. When using an SEO plugin, these options will be overwritten per page.
Install an SEO Plugin: Installing an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or RankMath will help you optimize your website for search engines. These plugins will guide you through the initial process of optimizing your website, and gives access to update SEO titles and meta descriptions per page.
Install Google Analytics: Google Analytics will help you track website traffic and visitor behavior, allowing you to optimize your website further. Install the Google Analytics plugin and connect it to your Google Analytics account.
Why Are Keywords Important?
Organic keywords are the foundation of SEO. They tell search engines what your website is about and help them rank your content appropriately. They are also what people type into search engines to find what they’re looking for. If your website doesn’t have the right keywords, then it won’t appear in search results pages. Here’s everything you need to know about researching relevant SEO keywords.
Tips to Find Relevant Keywords
- Brainstorm: Start by brainstorming relevant topics for your business. Think about what your target audience might search for and make a list of potential keywords.
- Use Keyword Tools: Keyword research tools can help you identify relevant keywords for your website. These tools provide insights into search volume, keyword difficulty, and other metrics that can guide your keyword selection.
- Analyze Competitors: Check out your competitor’s websites and analyze the keywords they are targeting. This can help you identify keywords that you may have missed and provide valuable insights into what’s working in your industry.
Popular Keyword Research Tools
- Google Keyword Planner: A free tool that provides keyword ideas and insights into search volume and competition.
- Ahrefs: A paid tool that provides in-depth insights into keyword research, site auditing, and backlink analysis.
- SEMrush: A paid tool that provides insights into keyword research, site auditing, and competitor analysis.
- SpyFu: A paid tools that provides insights or allows you to “spy” on your competition.
If you would like to try out Ahrefs, SEMrush, or SpyFu before subscribing, they offer free, limited option plans.
Optimize Your Website Content
High-quality SEO content is valuable and informative to your target audience. It’s designed to answer their questions and provide solutions to their problems. When your audience finds your content useful, they’re more likely to stay on your website.
One important aspect of creating high-quality SEO content is incorporating keywords into your titles, meta descriptions, page title and headings. By including relevant keywords, you’re signaling to search engines what your content is about and making it easier for them to index your pages.
Using managed SEO services can take the stress of creating fantastic content off your shoulders. Managed SEO services help you by conducting thorough keyword research, optimize your content for search engines, and even develop a content strategy that aligns with your business goals. By partnering with an SEO provider, you can ensure that your content is of the highest quality and that it’s reaching the right audience.
Optimize Your Website Images
Images play a significant role in engaging users and providing visual interest, but they can also slow down your website’s loading time, which negatively impacts your SEO.
One effective way to optimize your images for SEO is to compress them. Compressing images reduces their file size without affecting quality. It’s a simple and easy technique to implement that can have a big impact on your website’s performance.
One WordPress plugin that we love to use is Smush. It automatically compresses and optimizes images on upload. This plugin also allows you to optimize all of your existing images, in and out of the WordPress media folder with a single click, making the process incredibly efficient. Subscribers who pay can enjoy more advanced image compression options, the ability to use WebP images, and the opportunity to leverage WPMU’s CDN.
Another excellent tool for smaller sites with limited number of images is tinypng.com. This website allows you to upload 20 images at a time and compress them without any loss of quality. It’s a quick and easy way to optimize your images, and it’s free to use.
WordPress SEO Plugins
SEO plugins make it easy to optimize your content for specific keywords. These plugins provide guidance on keyword density, placement, and other optimization factors, helping you improve your content’s relevancy and visibility.
One of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress is YoastSEO. This plugin is widely used by bloggers, businesses, and other website owners because of its extensive range of features. With YoastSEO, you can easily optimize your content for specific keywords, analyze your website’s readability and structure, and preview your search engine snippets.
Another popular SEO plugin for WordPress is RankMath. This plugin is quickly gaining popularity due to its easy-to-use interface and powerful optimization features. RankMath offers a variety of SEO tools, including keyword optimization, rich snippets, and URL redirections, a premium feature for Yoast.
Conclusion
A website that is optimized for SEO can make all the difference in improving rankings and driving organic traffic to your website. With the right tools and strategies from this article, creating an SEO-friendly website doesn’t have to be a challenging endeavor.
As we’ve discussed, completing tasks like optimizing your WordPress hosting, compressing images and writing quality content can help you achieve SEO results you desire. However, if you’re still struggling to make your website SEO friendly or simply don’t have the time, it may be beneficial to seek professional help.
At Neur, we specialize in building custom WordPress websites and provide SEO services to help businesses like yours achieve success. Don’t let a lack of technical expertise or time constraints hold you back. Contact us today and let us help you make an SEO friendly WordPress website that will attract customers and grow your business.
