WordPress is one of the most powerful, popular, and flexible Content Management Systems (CMS) on the Internet. According to Hubspot, WordPress is used by 45.8% of all websites on the Internet, and it powers 36.28% of the top 1 million websites.

If your site uses WordPress, you need to start thinking about how to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the art and science of getting your website ranked highly on Google and other search engines for your target keywords, making your site easier to find for your target audience, whether that be potential customers, clients, or fellow professionals in your field.

At Proactive SEO Solutions, we work with WordPress every day, and through years of experience, we’ve developed SEO optimization strategies designed specifically for this popular platform. While we can’t share all our trade secrets, here are a few basic tips to get your WordPress SEO up and running.

One of WordPress’ most useful features is its massive library of free plugins. As of 2022, there were almost 60,000 plugins available, and that number has certainly grown since. The plugin with the most active installations and five-star ratings: Yoast SEO, and for good reason.

This plugin is your one-stop destination for almost all your WordPress SEO needs. Using Yoast, you can:

• Edit title tags and meta descriptions using the handy Bulk Editing tool
• Modify your sitemap.xml and robots.txt files
• Make global adjustments to your site, such as indexing or noindexing categories of content (pages, blogs, portfolio entries, etc.)

The very first thing you should do when starting to work on your WordPress SEO is install Yoast.

Sometimes, when you start a new website based on an existing WordPress template, it will come with sample pages and blogs with titles like “Sample Page” and “Hello World!” Once you’ve set up your site, make sure these pages are deleted. Any page that’s marked as published is a page that’s visible to Google and other search engines. Pages like these with generic or no content will drag down your SEO.

Similarly, keep a close eye on your Category and Tag pages. If you don’t plan to use categories and tags, it’s best to get rid of these pages entirely, since they’ll only clutter up your search results. Only pages with an important purpose (like Contact pages) or strong, original content should remain indexable.

So you’ve carefully designed your site with eye-catching graphic elements and strong content that clearly conveys your message. Now it’s time to give some TLC to every page’s SEO elements. This means giving every page, at the very least:

• A unique title
• A unique meta description
• A unique H1 tag

These elements are important shorthand to search engines, telling them what the page is all about. If your page is about teeth whitening, and the keyword “teeth whitening” is included in the title, meta description, and H1, that sends a consistent message about the content of the page, encouraging search engines to rank it higher. 

But if your SEO elements are mismatched, the page will rank lower. A page with content about teeth whitening, but a title and H1 that says “Dental Veneers” is sending an inconsistent message that confuses search engines.

Though these tips should be enough to get you started, the best thing to do with your WordPress SEO is entrust it to the experts. Proactive SEO Solutions will optimize your SEO and strengthen your business’ online presence, leading to more leads, more clients, and more revenue. Contact us today to learn how we can help your business grow.