Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a must if you want to get free traffic to your WordPress site. You can improve your search rankings, get more visitors, and get people more involved with your site by using the right SEO tactics. We’ll look at 10 strong WordPress SEO hacks that will help you get a lot more people to your website
1. Make your website load faster
Google gives a lot of weight to how fast a website loads. If a site takes a long time to load, users will not enjoy it and it will rank lower.
What You Can Do to Make WordPress Faster:
- Use a theme that isn’t too heavy, like Astra or GeneratePress.
- Cache your site with tools like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache.
- Cloudflare or BunnyCDN are two content delivery networks (CDNs) that you can use.
- Smush or ShortPixel can be used to improve pictures.
- Change your server company to one that is faster, like Bluehost, SiteGround, or Kinsta.
2. Use URLs that are good for SEO (Permalinks)
Search engines and people can better understand your information if your URLs are clean.
Best way to structure a URL for SEO:
Really helpful: yourwebsite.com/best-seo-tips
Not good: yourwebsite.com/?p=123
How to Make Changes to URLs:
- Click on Settings > Permalinks in the WordPress Dashboard.
- Click on “Post Name”
- Save the changes.
3. Do keyword research and focus on long-tail keywords
When you use the right keywords, your material will show up higher in search results.
Best Tools for Keyword Research:
- Google Keyword Planner is free to use.
- UberSuggest (Pro and Free)
- Ahrefs (For Money)
- Pay for SEMrush
Some tips for optimizing keywords:
✠ Use long-tail terms, like “best SEO hacks for WordPress.” Put keywords in the title, URL, headings, and text, but don’t use too many of them.
4. Make on-page SEO elements better
On-page SEO is very important if you want your website to rank higher.
Key SEO Elements on the Page:
- Title Tag: Use your main term and don’t go over 60 characters.
- Meta Description: Use terms to write an interesting 150-160 character summary.
- Headings (H1, H2, H3): Use keywords to organize text
- Image Alt Text: Use buzzwords to describe pictures
- Internal Links: These are links to useful pages on your own website.
5. Add a plugin for SEO
SEO plugins make optimization easier and help your results.
The best SEO plugins for WordPress:
- Yoast SEO is great for people who are just starting out.
- Rank Math has advanced features and ideas based on AI.
- All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is a complete set of SEO tools.
Once you’ve installed your chosen SEO plugin, set it up to:
6. Get ready for mobile and core web essentials
Google gives mobile-friendly websites more weight in search results.
- How to make mobile optimization better:
- Put in a flexible theme.
- Plugins can be used to turn on AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages).
- Make fonts and pictures work better on mobile devices.
- Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your site is mobile-friendly.
To improve the user experience, you should also keep an eye on Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console.
7. Use HTTPS to make your website safer
Google likes websites that are safe, and having SSL (HTTPS) is a ranking factor.
How to Make HTTPS Work:
- Get an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt for free through your web host.
- To set up HTTPS, use the Really Simple SSL plugin.
- Use.htaccess or a tool to change HTTP to HTTPS.
8. Use Schema Markup to get rich snippets
Schema markup makes it easier for search engines to understand your content, which makes it more visible.
The best schema markup plugins are:
- Schema Pro
- Rank Math (scheme tool built in)
- Yoast SEO (not much help for schema)
Adding schema can improve search results by adding FAQs, star reviews, and information about products, which can lead to more clicks.
9. Put together good backlinks
Backlinks are very important for SEO rankings and reputation.
The best ways to get backlinks are:
- Write guest posts for trustworthy websites
- HARO (Help a Reporter Out) will write about you.
- Get in touch with writers to work together.
- Shareable material includes infographics, guides, and case studies.
10. Check and update content often
More people visit and rank material that is new higher.
Tips for optimizing content for SEO:
- Add new information and tags to old blog posts
- Make videos, podcasts, and infographics out of old material.
- Use Google Search Console to find pages that aren’t doing well and make them better.
Last Thoughts
By using these 10 WordPress SEO hacks, you can get a lot more people to your website and move up in the search rankings in 2024.
A quick review:
✅ Speed up your site 🚀
Start using these tips right away and see your WordPress business go through the roof!