An SEO Checklist For Managing A WordPress Website

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Thanks to its architectural simplicity and high functionality, WordPress is arguably one of the best platforms for creating your web presence, and an equally popular one – over 25% of all websites use this CMS, and the numbers only seem to grow. With names on the list such as Forbes, Walt Disney and MTV News, it’s no wonder so many aspiring web wizards choose this particular platform to launch their brainchild online.

However, in addition to a stunning visual identity and a competition-crushing portfolio you plan to present on your website, the key ingredient to online success is an SEO strategy that will ensure your presence is not only spotless, but well-known.

Need for speed

With so many appealing WordPress themes to choose from, it might be tempting to pick one that ends up being exceptionally strenuous on the search engines with the sheer amount of code used to create that mesmerizing visual identity. However, just like your loyal users prefer sites that don’t take ages to load, Google and other engines prefer themes that are lighter in terms of code.

The loading speed of your website will significantly influence your ranking, and ultimately, user satisfaction, and it all begins with the right structure of your pages. Themes that are already optimized will be one of your greatest assets in boosting the number of visits, as these themes allow for greater keyword density and greater focus on quality content.

Quality combined with quantity

No clever SEO strategy or stunt can save your website’s ranking if you’re not providing plenty of high-quality content on a regular basis. In fact, your other SEO efforts will only be as powerful as your content, so start optimizing your site by providing the right kind of information for your audience. One common mistake that content veterans avoid is aiming your content at search engines to begin with, instead of your readership.

Wise usage and arrangement of your keywords, well-chosen image names and tags, along with easy to navigate categories all work together with your readable pieces to attract and maintain visitors. However, this topic alone deserves a separate post on all the intricacies of how to structure your writing, but it boils down to ensuring meaningful, digestible pieces of information that are in line with your brand’s identity.

Your domain and SEO

With about two hundred different factors Google keeps in its mind when ranking your website, some of them are bound to fall through the cracks for someone who is just beginning their SEO journey. One of those typically overlooked factors that deeply impact your position in search results is the seemingly minor, yet surprisingly relevant, choice of an SEO-friendly domain for your business.

The more you understand the impact of your domain name, its reputation in terms of age and authority, how you can prevent Google from misconstruing some of your content as spam, and to what extent you can leverage domain bias to reach greater numbers of people, the better your business will establish a trustworthy, consistent identity across all channels.

Ensure variety via social media

Visibility is a valuable resource, and using your social media to boost your online presence is a key component of any worthy SEO practice, no matter how powerful your WordPress website already is on its own. Still, this does not mean swamping your followers with constant pitching, ads or self-promotion, but using your online voice to offer meaningful insight and connect with your audience for long-term success.

This includes posting articles and sharing content by other websites that already have a reputation and represent an authority in the field, sharing and re-posting valuable and interesting pieces by likeminded people in your network and encouraging communication. It might not result in an instant “sell”, but it will increase your validity in terms of SEO and ensure more opportunities for creating a strong, reliable voice in your community.

The matter of links

Over-cluttering your content with backlinks or completely failing to link back to relevant pieces will damage to your SEO efforts. In order to improve the way search engines rank your site, you need to find the right balance between adding informative, relevant sources of information to support your claims, and linking back to your own previous content on the website.

That said, internal or external, links are an essential element of your content, and their main purpose should be to help your readers understand your content better. Just like with creating your content, your links should also be reader-centric and chosen with the purpose of guiding the reader – improved SEO will come as a natural result of the process.

Publicado 27 septiembre, 2017

Nate Vickery

Marketing manager and business consultant

I am a marketing manager and a business consultant mostly focused on latest tech trends and practices applicable to startup and SMB marketing. I also edit a business-oriented website Bizzmarkblog.com and write for some top-tier online publications such as TheNextWeb.com and MarketingInsidergroup.com.

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