If you’re looking for ways to drive traffic to your WordPress site and build a strong web presence, you will be applying the same SEO basics that you would use to optimize any website. However, with WordPress, there are a few specific methods for you to customize your SEO plan to achieve success. Check out the following tips:
Tip #1: Host your blog on your own domain.
When your blog is hosted at WordPress.com you are restricted to the revisions you can make to your template. This also restricts your SEO and only benefits WordPress.com. So for your to have an effective SEO strategy with your WordPress site, it is crucial that you have full control by hosting your blog on a domain that is all your own. Doing so will give you all the credit for backlinks and will build a solid reputation of your domain in popular search engines across the web.
Tip #2: Utilize SEO Plugins.
These handy little tools can be a great way to optimize your content and provide an easy way to manage your WordPress blog. Picking WordPress plugins will be a matter of personal preference and be based on what will fit the specific needs of your site; however, here are a few popular plugins that have proved beneficial in SEO efforts: Urban Giraffe Redirection, SEO Smart Links, Broken Link Checker and All in One SEO.
Tip #3: Avoid being hacked.
Because of the increasing problem of WordPress accounts being hacked, Google is now equipped with alerts that will inform you of such an incident. If your WordPress account is hacked, it can have a negative impact on the SEO for your site. Make sure that you stay up-to-date and check Google’s malware reports so that your site remains safe and secure.
Tip #4: Use the right keywords.
With its title tags, headers, internal/cross-linking, text formatting and more, it’s easy to see that WordPress was built very well for SEO. But despite these features, WordPress itself won’t do everything for you. As previously stated, it is a great idea to use plugins but you should also remember the basics of SEO—use relevant keywords that are directly related to your blog’s content.
Tip #5: Create great content.
Of course, what ultimately draws visitors to your WordPress site is your award-winning content. This is why it is imperative that you focus on creating the best content you can to attract thousands of links (links are one of the most important ranking factors in SEO). Be sure to include target keyword phrases in titles and throughout the bodies of your posts while continuing to write meaningful material geared toward your users.
