On-page SEO in WordPress: Optimize your website for better rankings

 

If you are looking for the best strategies to optimize your WordPress website for on-page SEO and boost your ranking, today you are going to learn everything you need to know about how to implement and do on-page SEO in WordPress.

Let’s get started.

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is all the strategies you put into practice to improve the pages of your website so that search engines can understand and crawl them.

It is also essential to help you rank higher on search engine result pages by optimizing the structure of your content, providing a better user experience, and ultimately targeting keywords that are relevant to your target audience and content to answer the searcher’s questions.

When your content is well-optimized for these keywords, your chance of appearing on the first page will also increase when people search for those terms.

What is on-page SEO in WordPress?

It is the same with any other platform you use, with the same goal of optimizing your content and providing a better user experience to rank higher on search engines.

However, the implementation might be different for each platform. Today, you will only learn how to implement on-page SEO in WordPress.

Here are the best ways to implement on-page SEO in WordPress to optimize your website for better rankings.

1. You need to have a WordPress website.

If you don’t have one yet, this is how you can have one.

A) Choose a domain name:

Choose a domain name for your website; make sure it is unique, relevant to your content or brand, short, and easy to remember. You can register one through domain registrars like GoDaddy or Namecheap.

But if you want to buy one, I would strongly advise you to get one from Hostinger because it will make the steps easier for you to implement your WordPress website.

B) Select web hosting:

Choose a web hosting provider that supports WordPress.

Here are some popular options:

Hostinger and Bluehost Sign up for a plan according to your budget and needs.

C) Install WordPress:

Most hosting providers allow you to install WordPress with just one click. After you finish purchasing the hosting, log in to your hosting account’s control panel and use the installer to set up WordPress on your domain.

Make sure you follow all the installation processes to set up your WordPress site. Keep in mind that you will need to create an admin username and password.

When you want to log in to your WordPress dashboard, go to Google and type www.mywebsite.com/wp-admin, and you will have access to your WordPress website.

D) Then select a theme:

Select a WordPress theme that will match your website style and purpose. My favorite one is ASTRA because it is SEO-friendly. And then you have a WordPress website.

2) Customize your website:

Customize your website according to the service you will provide. Don’t put too many colors; make it simple and easy to navigate. For instance, you can modify colors, fonts, and layout settings to suit your branding.

But don’t waste too much time on customization yet, because now we want to focus more on implementing SEO. You will need to create some pages. I can’t tell you how many to create, but make sure you have a blog page and a home page.

3) optimize permalinks

A proper permalink structure is mandatory before you can start creating content or products on your website. Because it is one of the best criteria for an SEO-friendly website.

What is a permalink?

A permalink is the unique URL that every webpage on your site has. For instance, it could be a blog post, a product page, your home page, a 404 page, etc. Basically, it is the entire link to a page that includes your domain name.

For example, https://yoursitename.com/category/ post-namehttps://yoursitename.com is the domain name. The category is the link structure, if you have one, and post-name could be your relevant keyword.

How do I set it up?

Log in to your WordPress dashboard, go to settings, click on permalinks, and then choose the one that you want.

But the best one we will recommend is the ‘post name option’, or, in case you have categories, you can customize it, but make sure you do all of that before your site starts getting traffic. If you make changes incorrectly, you might lose a lot of traffic to your site.

If you want to know more about it and how to set it up on your site, watch this video

4) Install an SEO plugin.

Installing an SEO-friendly plugin is essential to help you with on-page SEO in WordPress.

For instance, you can use Yoast SEO or Rank Math to simplify your on-page SEO efforts. Because they provide features like:

 Meta tag optimization:

Rank Math and Yoast SEO always provide fields to add meta titles and descriptions to your posts and pages. This will help you create keyword-rich meta tags for each page to improve the number of click-through rates on search engine results pages.

XML Sitemap Generation:

A sitemap is extremely important to help Google understand your site’s structure and content better, and it will make it a lot easier for them to index your pages. Some SEO plugins like Rank Math and Yoast will help you automatically generate XML sitemaps for your website and submit them to the Google search console.

Canonical URLs:

Setting canonical URLs is essential to help you avoid duplicate content issues. That will help search engines know the best version of a page and which one is the preferred one.

SEO-friendly URLs:

These SEO plugins will help you easily customize and optimize your URLs by including your target keywords and making them more user-friendly to boost search engine rankings and improve the user experience.

Keyword optimization:

They always have tools that will help you analyze and optimize your content for specific keywords. For example, I’m currently using rank math, and when I’m writing content, it always provides me with recommendations for keyword placement and density to help me improve my on-page SEO in WordPress. Super right?

Image optimization:

With these plugins, you will have access to image optimization features, which will allow you to add alt text and descriptions to your images.

Internal linking:

Some plugins can give you suggestions about internal links to help you create a better site structure and guide search engine crawlers directly to important pages.

404 error message:

Some SEO plugins can help you know if you have any 404 errors on your site and fix them or redirect them to a live page on your site. In case you have broken links, they can also help you fix them and maintain a smooth user experience.

Rich Snippets:

Having rich snippets on your site is helpful and important. Some of the best SEO plugins can help you add structured data and rich snippets to your content, which can surely improve the visual appeal of your pages in search results.

Analytics integration:

Some of the best SEO plugins allow you to use web analytics tools like Google Analytics to track and measure the impact of your SEO efforts. But for me, I just use analytics outside of my SEO plugin.

5. Conduct keyword research.

Now is the time to find out which keyword is going to be the best fit for your content. Keywords are the baseline of all SEO best practices.

As an SEO specialist, you can’t wake up and just start writing content according to what you think people are looking for. No!no!no!

If you want to be the best and drive a massive amount of traffic to your website, you should perform complete keyword research to discover what people are looking for and high-impact keywords for your content.

For instance, you can use tools like Ubbersuggest, Ahrefs, and SEMrush to help you find keywords with low competition and high search volume. Keep in mind and always remember to target long-tail keywords that match your target audience and naturally implement them into your headlines, meta descriptions, and your content in general.

6. Optimize the title tags and meta description

Creating and optimizing your title tags and meta descriptions is extremely important for on-page SEO in WordPress. You should always use your primary keyword naturally in the title tag and meta descriptions.

Because well-optimized title tags and meta descriptions are essential for search engines to understand and rank your content accurately, another great thing is that well-crafted title tags and meta descriptions can make your content more appealing in search engine results and motivate users to click on your link to increase the click-through rate. (CTR)

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7. improve heading tags

Improving heading tags, also known as header tags, <H1>, <H2>, and <H3>, can have a big impact on SEO in WordPress. Because they allow you to structure your content and help users understand the main points of your pages.

By properly including relevant keywords and structuring your heading tags, you will help the search engine know about the topic and content of your page.

When you write clear and well-structured headings, that will improve the user experience by making your content easy to navigate.

Remember to have a content table at the beginning of each page so users can quickly find the information they’re looking for, which might reduce bounce rates and increase the time they spend on your site.

To improve heading tags for WordPress SEO, consider the following best practices:

• Use a single <H1> tag for the main title of your page or post.
• Use <H2> to <H6> tags to create a hierarchical structure for subheadings, with <H2> as the main section headings and subsequent tags for subsections.
• Use significant keywords that come up naturally in your headings.
• Make sure your headings are short and explain what’s coming up.
•  To improve the user experience, make sure that your heading tags can be distinguished from standard text.
•  As you add new content or make changes to your website, you should check and change your heading tags often.

8. Optimize image attributes

Well-optimized images make your website better for people who visit it.

They are more likely to engage with and stay on a page that loads quickly and has high-quality images.

When you optimize the pictures on your page, the file sizes get smaller, which makes the page load faster. This will make users happier and lower the number of people who leave the site right away.

Remember, Google and other search engines always take the speed of a website into account when it comes to ranking websites, so faster-loading pages tend to rank higher in search results. Make sure you use descriptive file names that include relevant keywords.

For instance, <img src=”splenddjet-image.jpg”> is a lot more better than <img src=”image.jpg”>

You can also optimize your images by providing meaningful and concise alt text for each image, describing what the image is for. The alt text should always be clear and relevant to the content of the page.

Cutting down on file sizes without losing picture quality is possible with image compression tools.

When you have smaller image files, they load faster and improve page speed. All of that is to enhance your website’s SEO and user experience so that your content ranks well in search engine results and ultimately drives more organic traffic to your site.

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9. Add Internal links

Adding internal links to other pages of your site is a good on-page SEO method that will help search engine crawlers find all other pages of your site easily.

It means giving link value to other pages on your site so that people can find more useful content and find their way around your site. It’s not enough to just add links to make search engines happy; each link you put on a page should also be useful to your users.

People are more likely to stay on your site if they can find and read something that interests them. This will surely lower your bounce rate.

Insert links in anchor text to help search engines understand the content of the destination page. For instance, if I add an internal link to another page of my site using the keyword {Technical SEO}, that will help the search engine understand that the page I link to is about technical SEO, and when people click on it, they will find information about this topic.

Keep in mind to not add too many internal links using the same keyword; that is bad, and it will be a signal of manipulation of the page’s ranking to search engines.

 10. Improve page loading time

Improving the loading time of your website is mandatory for both search engines and the user experience. People are more likely to stay on a site that loads quickly. The faster your site can load, the lower the bounce rates will be, and the more engagement on your site will increase.

For example, search engines like Google consider page speed as a ranking factor. The quicker your pages can load, the higher you can rank in search engines.

Here is how you can improve the loading time for on-page SEO.

• Getting images and other files smaller and better
• Getting rid of as many files as possible will reduce the number of HTTP calls.
• Putting static information in the browser cache
• Using content delivery networks (CDNs) to serve information from servers that are closer to the user
• Reducing the amount of code and using good coding techniques.
• Using good hosting services can cut down on server reaction times.
• Putting in place lazy loading for videos and images so that information loads as users scroll
• Regularly checking and studying how well your site is doing

For WordPress, you can use some plugins that will help you with that.

Improving the time it takes for pages to load should be your top priority if you want to get more people to visit your site.

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11. Create Engaging and Valuable Content

When it comes to SEO in general, it’s very important to focus on creating content that is useful, interesting, and of high quality.

Your readers will be happy if you write material that is interesting and useful. If they find content that answers their questions or meets their needs, they will surely stay on your site, increasing their time spent on the page.

For example, I can spend almost all my day reading Moz’s blog about SEO because they provide valuable content that helps me learn more and become a better SEO.

When users spend a lot of time on your site and visit so many other pages, search engines understand it as a sign that your content is engaging and valuable, which might potentially improve your rankings. If your content is engaging, it will get a lot of likes, shares, comments, and social media mentions.

Another good thing about useful content is that it always gets backlinks from other sites. Remember, backlinks are a crucial off-page SEO factor, and valuable and high-quality content is more likely to get links from authoritative sites, which is important to boost your site’s SEO.

You can get a lot of traffic and rank well for certain keywords if you write useful content about that subject.

Multiple types of interesting content, like blog posts, videos, infographics, and content that people can connect with, can interest and attract different kinds of people.

Watch this video if your want to learn more strategies

Here’s how to create on-page SEO content that is interesting and useful.

1. Do some research on the people you want to reach to find out what they want and need.
2. Offer information that is well-organized, useful, and visually appealing.
3. To get people interested, use stories, situations they can relate to, and a conversational tone.
4. Answer the questions and solve the problems that people in your niche often have.
5. Keep your content up-to-date and relevant.
6. Incorporate multimedia elements, such as images and videos, to enhance engagement.
7. Encourage user interaction and feedback through comments and social sharing.
8. Optimize your content for relevant keywords, but ensure it reads naturally.
9. Keep an eye on user data like time on page and bounce rate to see how engaged people are with your content.

 

Conclusion

If you want to have a website online and start your blog, or you want to learn SEO, WordPress makes it easy for you to implement and practice search engine optimization to grow your business and drive more people to your website.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below.

FAQS

Can SEO be done on WordPress?

SEO can be done on WordPress. It is one of the best platforms that helps people practice and do SEO online. It is quite friendly when it comes to search engine optimization. Because it offers a lot of tools and plugins to help people optimize their website for search engines, like Rank Math and Yoast SEO, With WordPress, you can improve your website’s SEO by creating quality content, optimizing the structure of your site, and following the best practices for on-page and off-page SEO.

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What is an example of on-page SEO?

An example of on-page SEO is optimizing the content and structure of a web page to make it more search engine-friendly. This can include:

• Using relevant keywords naturally in the content
• Crafting a compelling and descriptive title tag
• Writing a meta description that summarizes the page’s content
• Organizing the content with proper headings (H1, H2, etc.).
• Adding image alt tags for accessibility and SEO
• Creating user-friendly and descriptive URLs
• Ensuring fast page loading times.
• Improving mobile-friendliness.
• Internal linking to relevant pages within your website.

How do I add and do on-page SEO in WordPress?

To add SEO to your WordPress page, follow these straightforward steps:

Install an SEO Plugin: Start by installing an SEO plugin like “Yoast SEO” or “All in One SEO Pack” from the WordPress plugin repository. These plugins simplify the process and offer guidance.

Optimize Page Titles: When creating or editing a page, you can set a focus keyword and craft a compelling title that includes that keyword.

Write a Meta Description: In the same plugin, you’ll find an option to write a meta description that summarizes the page’s content and includes the focus keyword.

Use Headings: Structure your content with headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) and include your target keyword naturally in these headings.

Internal and External Links: Add internal links to other relevant pages on your website and include external links to authoritative sources when appropriate.

Image Optimization: Use descriptive alt text for your images to improve accessibility and SEO.

Permalinks: Ensure your page’s URL is clear, concise, and includes the target keyword.

Mobile-Friendliness: Make sure your page is mobile-responsive for a better user experience and SEO.

Quality Content: Make sure you create good content that meets the needs of your audience.

Regular Updates: Keep your content fresh by making periodic updates and adding new information.