How To Optimize Your WordPress Website SEO for Your Small Business
1. Figure Out What Your Users Want.
When creating content for your users, you shouldn’t just sit down at your computer and write about whatever you feel like. You have to keep in mind, the content isn’t for you, it’s for your audience.
What better way to research content ideas than from your own followers? You’ll first need to figure out what your users are looking for, niche down your target audience, and then create content based on this user.
This information can come from your social media followers, blog comments, product reviews (if you have a business), but I’ve personally had the greatest success with Google’s search suggestions.
Start by searching up some keywords relative to your niche and Google will auto-populate the rest. Use those keywords and phrases in the content you create to target your ideal user.
2. Make your site URLs descriptive.
Google wants their users to find what they’re looking for. One of the ways they rank content is by descriptive URLs. I know we’ve all seen URLs that look something like this:
“https://www.sdsdf.com/1C1CHBF_enUS916US916&oqaasdasdasd”
But… you can easily make your website URL look more attractive by using a feature already built into WordPress settings:
For example: “https://example.com/about/”
Just go to your dashboard, click settings all the way down on your bottom left hand side, then click permalinks.
3. Change and Save your Permalink Settings.
Once you’ve entered your permalink settings, you’ll find a page that looks like this. The default setting is “Plain.” Here, you can see I’ve already changed it to post name. Once, you’ve selected the correct setting, simply save and you’re done. All of your web pages will display informative links.
4. Install the Yoast SEO plug-in.
Next you’ll install an SEO plug-in. My favorite and the most popular one on WordPress is Yoast SEO.
The Yoast description states, “To rank highly in search engines, you need to beat the competition. You need a better, faster, stronger website than the people who sell or do the same kinds of things as you.”
I use Yoast to add meta descriptions and keywords to all the content I post. The plug in will “grade” your content and give you a preview of what your post will look like on Google. You can find out more about Yoast through this link.
5. Install and Activate Site Kit by Google.
-Visit Plugins > Add New.
-Search for Site Kit by Google.
-Install and activate the Site Kit by Google plugin.
-Connect Site Kit to your Google account.
-Under Site Kit > Click Search Console > Add Site Maps
(To find your site maps: Go to your WordPress dashboard > Yoast SEO > General > XML site maps > click on the ? mark. You will be returned a list of all the site maps for your website. Paste each one into your Google Site Kit.)
For a full list of Google Site Kit’s features and instructions, visit the install page, here.
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Before we dive into building and optimizing your business website, let’s take a moment to identify your goals. Recognizing how you want your website to function and what you’d like to get out of your website will help you make important decisions later on. Additionally, it’s a great place to refer back to as you continue to progress.
One Response
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. Its always useful to read content from other writers and use a little something from their sites.