Better ranking through SEO optimization

If you want to have a good rank in the search engines, you need to improve your SEO optimization take seriously. Fortunately, WordPress moves you forward, as it is already quite SEO friendly. This is one of many reasons why many users chose WordPress in the first place.

15 tips for SEO optimization

Nevertheless, there are a number of ways to WordPress SEO to the next level. To make your job easier, we have created this guide. Below you will learn the best tips you can use to improve your website's traffic.

1. install a WordPress SEO plugin

WordPress already has some solid built-in SEO features. However, you can take your optimization to the next level with an SEO plugin. The best SEO plugin on the market is Yoast SEO. With the new WordPress Toolkit in the cPanel you can install the plugin with one click.

With this plugin you can perfectly optimize every page and post for your selected keyword. The built-in analysis is based on the latest algorithm updates. You can even create an XML sitemap and add schema markup to your website.

To set up Yoast, navigate to your WordPress Dashboard and select Plugins 'Add new. Enter "Yoast SEO" in the search bar and click on "Install now" in the plug-in that looks like this.

Finally, click on "Activate". The plugin is now running on your site and you can access it by clicking on the SEO icon in the left-hand menu. In our detailed guide, you can find out how to activate the Yoast SEO Plugin can use optimally.

2. carry out a keyword research

Through keyword research, your WordPress SEO Strategy improved or broken. Through the keyword research you can:

Create content that your visitors are actually looking for.
Develop a better understanding of your market's needs.
Track the success of everything you write.
Generate valuable traffic for your website.

There are a variety of tools available to help you with keyword research. Some of the top tools include KWFinder, SEMRush, and even Google Keyword Planner. You should also choose a tool to determine how your keywords rank.

Although several posts could be written on keyword research alone, the following are the basics:

Create a list of target keywords that relate to your topic.
Enter them into a keyword research tool to identify keywords that have decent traffic and lower competition.
Search your competitors by running similar websites using keyword research tools to find out which keywords are driving the most traffic to them.
Find out which of these keywords the competition is sufficient for.

For more information on the Keyword research read through these posts:

After your keyword list is created, you can create and optimize content using the tips included in this list.

3. activate the search engine visibility

There is a built-in option in WordPress to hide your website from search engines.

This option may be helpful if you are building your site for the first time, but this may make ranking impossible. If you have used some of the tips in this list, but your rankings are not improved, this could be the problem.

To see if this setting is enabled, navigate to Settings ' Read in the WordPress dashboard. Scroll down and you will see a section called Search Engine Visibility.

Make sure that you do not check this box. Then click on "Save changes".

4. customize the permalink structure

When you first install WordPress, your site's pages and posts have a strange URL structure. This default structure is not suitable for your SEO.

The cleanest and most search engine friendly URL structure is the "Post name" setting. If you switch to this setting, you can also include your post or page title and even a keyword in your URL. To change this setting, navigate to Settings 'Permalinks.

In the "General settings" section, select the option "Postname" off.

If you make this change later, you may need to redirect old URLs. You can do this with a plugin like Change Permalink Helper. Just enter your older URLs and they will be redirected to your updated URLs.

5. add your site to Google Search Console

With the Google Search Console will show you how your website is currently performing in the search engines and point out any errors.

To add your website to the Google Search Console, navigate to first to this page and report sign in with your Google account. Then click on the button "Add website" and enter the URL of your website.

Click on "Add" and you will be redirected to a screen where you need to verify the ownership of your site. There are several methods you can use to verify your website. However, the easiest way is to select alternative methods and then select the HTML tag.

Copy this code and then navigate to your WordPress dashboard. To include this code in our header, we'll use a plugin. Navigate to Plugins 'Add New and then search for 'Insert Headers and Footers'.

Install and activate the plugin (see image above). Then open the plugin by clicking Settings and Insert Headers and Footers.

Now paste the code into the "Header" field and click "Save". Finally, navigate back to Google Webmaster Tools and click on the "Check" button.

6. integrate Google Analytics

Another Google tool you'll want to have in your arsenal is Google Analytics. This tool shows you how well your SEO strategy Works by giving you a detailed breakdown of your website traffic.

To set up your account, navigate to the Google Analytics home page and create an account. Next, you'll want to find your tracking code. It should say 'Tracking Code' under Tracking Info.

Depending on your design, you can add the Google Analytics tracking code directly. If this is not possible, you can use the same plug-in to insert headers and footers.

Open the plugin, navigate to the header section and paste the tracking code. That's it! Now you can view the statistics of your site.

7. send a sitemap to Google

Sitemaps are created by the Search engines used to manage your Website better to crawl. Your site will be crawled even without a site map. However, when you create a site, you can report the data that you want search engines to crawl.

You can make sure that certain pages that do not contribute to your rankings are not crawled, as well as take priority over your more valuable pages. If you use Yoast's SEO plugin, you can easily create and submit a sitemap.

Navigate to SEO 'General' functions. Then scroll down and activate "XML sitemaps".

Click on the "Show XML sitemap" link. This will open your sitemap to ensure that it is actually created.

Now this sitemap will be submitted to Google. Switch to your Google Search Console Dashboard and click on "Sitemaps".

In the right-hand corner you will see an option to add / test your sitemap. Click on this selection, enter the URL of your sitemap and click on "Submit". Now Google will crawl your sitemap regularly, which can contribute to fast indexing.

8. optimize your site for mobile

Google has just announced that they will be Mobile-first index test. This means that they will start using the performance and functionality of your mobile pages to determine your ranking. So if you are not using a responsive theme, this is the best time to fix the problem.

However, beyond choosing a responsive theme, you can check how your website is currently performing in the mobile spectrum. To do this, open the Google mobile-friendliness test and enter the URL of your website. This way you will get an overview of the performance of the mobile version of your website and some tips for improvement.

9. speed up your website

The Website speed has always been important. A slow loading website negatively impacts your ranking and user experience. In fact, page speed is on its way to becoming a ranking factor.

Fortunately, it's not hard to fix a slow loading page. The following steps will help you get started:

Use a caching plugin

A caching plugin generates static HTML files instead of the PHP files that are normally required to run WordPress. This minimizes the number of requests between the server and your user's browser, which reduces the loading speed.

Among the most commonly used WordPress caching plugins are W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache.

Get an overview of the performance

First, you need to get an idea of how your website actually works. Open a tool called GTMetrix and run your site through the tool. This will give you an overview of your current performance numbers so you can see what you need to improve.

Using a CDN

A CDN helps speed up your site by storing versions of your site on servers around the world. When a visitor lands on your site, they get the version closest to their physical location. For a reliable, free solution, you can integrate your site with a CDN like Cloudflare.

Optimize your media

When you upload images to your website, they must be properly optimized.

How to optimize your images:

Reduce file size by running your images through a tool like TinyPNG.
Resize your images before uploading.
Install an image optimization plugin like WP Smush.

10. repair all broken links

Many broken links are not good for your readers or your ranking. They also make it difficult for Google bots to crawl your website.

The easiest way to check your website for broken links is to open Google Search Console and click on "Crawling error" to click. Then open each error and it will show you where the broken link is located so you can fix it.

11. one keyword for each post - keyword

Even though the way we optimize keywords has changed, they still play an important role in SEO. If you are looking for keywords on your Website write a post, you should have a focus keyword for that particular post.

Below are some best practices when optimizing a selected keyword:

Do not overdo the keyword in your post, but only if it is normal.
If possible, type your keyword in the first paragraph of your copy.
Use your target keyword in your title and subheadings.
Add your target keyword to your URL and meta description.
Yoast SEO makes implementing the above tips easy.

When you write a post, you enter your target keyword into the tool. You will get an analysis of how well the post is optimized for the selected keyword.

You will receive tips on how to improve the Keyword optimization and to increase your ranking chances in the search engines.

12. create high quality content

Google loves High quality content. Look at the top 10 results for a particular keyword and you will see that the content meets two requirements:

The content is generally longer and has high content standards.
The content fulfills the search intent.

Long, well-written content is great. However, you may not know what search intent is. At its core, search intent is the intent behind the keyword phrase.

When creating content of any kind, you should look for the current ranking and find out why it matters. Sometimes content alone is lifted from the strength of the domain. However, if each site has similar authority, the content itself is the differentiating factor.

To get a better idea of the keyword and search terms, ask yourself the following questions:

Is the searcher looking for information or product content?
Are you looking for something detailed, deeper topic? Or just a short read?
Why are the current pages rated?
What type of content will best answer the keyword?

With a better understanding of the keyword, the pages that rank well, and what the searcher wants, you're ready to create epic content.

13. create longer content

Longer content tends to rank better in search engines. Recent studies by Buzzsumo and Moz have shown that longer content gets more social shares and backlinks overall, which means higher rankings.

Another study has found that most of the content that is ranked on the first page by Google, more than 2000 words includes. This does not mean that every post on your website must reach this content length.

However, this does not mean that you should fill your content with unnecessary words to achieve your Word Count goals.

Instead, you should focus on the intent of the keyword. That is, for what reason is the user searching for that keyword in the first place. Then answer the goal of that keyword in the most thorough and useful way, which in some cases may result in fewer words being written.

14. create evergreen content

Evergreen content can be a powerful traffic driver. This content is always relevant because it does not rely on up-to-date information.

Imagine a post like "The Ultimate Guide to Onsite SEO" and something like "What you need to know about the latest update from Google".

The first is relevant for a long time, while the second is based on time-based information. This doesn't mean you publish your evergreen content once and forget about it forever. Instead, update the content regularly to reflect the latest and most relevant aspects of your industry or topic.

Evergreen content is valuable in that it does not lose its relevance. This means that you can continuously share, promote, and pick up links to this content. This type of content will usually hold top positions for years.

Although more time and effort is required to create evergreen content, the results will pay dividends for years to come.

15. SEO optimization through linking to quality sources

The Linking to high quality sources does not harm your SEO, it can even help. When you link to high-quality authoritative sources, you tell Google that the linked content is similar to yours. It also improves the user experience by providing readers with more information on the topic.

Don't let your website become a dead end on the internet. Sharing link love is a good thing. Do it regularly to bring up useful links as this will improve your credibility and trustworthiness. Linking to others will also give you a reason to start a dialogue.

You know that linking is important, but you also want to link the right way. To avoid removing readers from your site, it's a good idea to open all external links in a new window.