WordPress is an open-source content management system that allows you to create websites to promote your business. It is not difficult to understand how the CMS works. Below are 12 recommendations on how to quickly set up a website on WordPress and what to look for during the configuration process.
1. Why is WordPress an SEO-friendly platform?
WordPress developers have added all the necessary options to the control panel for easy use of the CMS.
But the main thing is:
- There are free and paid SEO plugins that help to make website promotion on WordPress more effective. We’re talking about various plugins for optimizing loading speed, setting up meta tags from headers, and other things that can only be configured with the help of a programmer on many other CMSs.
- There are quite a few professional developers for this CMS.
- Serious opportunities for self-customization of the system.
2. Choosing the right WordPress website template for SEO (requirements)
When choosing a template, it is important to consider 2 main requirements:
- non-overload;
- adaptability.
The focus is on user experience, loading speed and accessibility on different devices. Heavy graphics or complex animations look “beautiful” but make the website very heavy. In addition, theme developers include blocks that can be useful in theory, but are not always really needed.
The task of an SEO specialist is to strike a balance and help the client choose the most suitable design from the SEO point of view.
3. Choosing the right hosting for your site
Loading speed is an important factor in promotion both on WordPress and any other CMS. It affects the promotion of a website in Google. The optimal loading speed for even a large page is up to 1.5 seconds.
It should be borne in mind that the hosting can be as productive as possible, but if the site itself is overloaded and not optimized, it will have a slow loading speed.
Recommendation: read reviews about the work of the hosting, not only about the speed of its work, but also about the work of support (very often, the solution of serious issues regarding the work of the project depends on the work of the hosting support).
4. SEO optimization of a website on WordPress
Below we will consider the main tasks of SEO optimization, which are solved easier, faster, and more efficiently through the admin panel and additional WordPress plugins. And this, in turn, allows you to reduce costs and see the result faster, thus optimizing the payback of the resource in general.
Setting up a website crawl
Crawling by search engine crawlers and indexing of pages is an important part of SEO website promotion on WordPress. To speed up and manage crawling, you need to create a sitemap.xml sitemap and configure the rodots.txt file.
Creating a sitemap.xml sitemap
A sitemap helps search engine crawlers to understand and analyze the structure of a resource faster. The presence of sitemap.xml is optional for small projects. Search engines will crawl the site pages anyway (if the site is not closed through robots.txt). However, a sitemap can direct the robot to the necessary pages, so when optimizing your WordPress site, you should prepare such a map.
The Google XML Sitemaps plugin will help you to simplify the process of creating and managing a sitemap. It is automatically generated after any operations with the content.
To connect the map, you need to:
- Go to the admin panel.
- Go to the “Plugins” section, then “Add new”
- Enter the name of the plugin in the search.
- Install the plugin.
- Configure it.
The original map is located in the root of the domain, usually https://domen.com/sitemap.xml.
For a detailed guide to setting up an XML sitemap, see the following.
Setting up robots.txt
The robots.txt file is necessary to close service pages and duplicates from crawling. The file is set up by filling in directives. The standard file for CMS WordPress contains the following prohibitions, written through Disallow:
- /wp-login.php
- /wp-register.php
- /xmlrcp.php
- /template.html
- /cgi-bin
- /wp-admin
- /wp-includes
- /wp-content/plugins
- /wp-content/cache
- /wp-content/themes
- /wp-trackback
- /wp-feed
- /wp-comments
- */trackback
- */feed
- */comments
- /tag/
- /category/
- /archive/.
Please note: your site may use /archive/, /category/, and /tag/, in which case they should be excluded from the robots file.
Important! Filling out the robots.txt file is more complicated than it seems. In order to understand all the subtleties, we recommend reading a separate article on setting up the file.
Detailed guide to setting up the robots.txt file
Setting up the main mirror and HTTPS connection
Mirrors are resources with the same content. There is no limit to their number. Mirrors are created when creating versions of a resource with and without www, when transferring pages to a new address, and when connecting the HTTPS protocol.
Mirrors are added for the convenience of visitors when the names of products or brands have different names. For example, med and myod. And also to distribute the address in different zones: ru, com, info.
To optimize a WordPress site (as well as other CMSs), it is important to leave only the main mirror open to search robots. In Google, the mirror is assigned through 301 redirects from non-main to the main mirror.
What you need to do:
- Choose one main mirror, for example, a website domain name without www, with https.
- Set up a 301 redirect from each mirror to the main version (this can be done through the htaccess file).
Topic guide: Setting up a 301 redirect: everything you need to know
CNC settings
Website promotion on WordPress is inextricably linked to link customization. They are given a CNC look. The settings are made through the WordPress administrative panel. There you can choose several types of addresses.
- Short or long URLs
SEO promotion of a WordPress website includes optimization of the URLs of pages that should be understandable to the user.
Instructions on how to change a long link name to a short one or even to a single word that is used to promote a resource:
- In the editor where the article is inserted, there is a line with a link. It is located above the editor panel.
- There is a “Change” button next to the line. Click it and enter the desired URL.
- All words in the new address are separated by a hyphen or underscore.
- Save the changes.
Important! For SEO optimization of a WordPress site, only unique URLs for each page are used.
Detailed guide on the topic: how to set up page URLs
Setting up Dofollow and NoFollow links
Internal links (linking) help to distribute all the pages on the site and prioritize sections. They are of two types: Dofollow and NoFollow. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Dofollow links
By default, any link created through the WordPress admin is a Dofollow link. This type of link allows search engine crawlers to give part of the “weight” to the pages to which the links lead. As a result, authoritative URLs with high static weight appear.
NoFollow links
The NoFollow option is indicated by the rel attribute in the link tag. It is necessary to ensure that the placed link does not transmit the link weight of the page from which the link is placed.
A link with the NoFollow attribute looks like this:
<a href=“link to page” rel=“nofollow”> link text </a>.
You can set the value of NoFollow links in WordPress using:
- Manually
- Using a plugin by theme (there are quite a few of them)
Website loading speed on WordPress
Visitors do not like to wait for a website page to open. Therefore, the speed of loading a resource greatly affects the behavioral factor that is taken into account when promoting a WordPress site.
You can view the page loading speed through the Webmaster panel in Google (instructions).
Related article: How to find out the site loading speed: 14 ways
Microdata markup
Microdata is a method of markup describing certain data. They include information about the organization, product, reviews, etc. They are indicated by the attributes of HTML tags – <div> and <span>.
Microdata is necessary to point search robots to the information they need to process. It affects the display of the site in the search results. One of the markup standards is Schema.com. It is a set of vocabularies for describing objects and entities on pages.
Schema Markup is an auxiliary code that helps search engines generate relevant search results. The implementation and use of Schema Markup affects the SEO optimization of a WordPress site, allows you to achieve good results in search results and increase the CTR of pages.
You can check the presence of this code using the Google Structured Data Testing tool. If you do not see the results in the right column, Schema Markup is not present on the site. You can configure micro-markup through the Schema Markup Management plugin.
Setting up a 404 error page
404 error – the inability to load a page that exists on the site. A page with no access is available in WordPress site templates. And it is worth paying attention to in order to increase visitor loyalty.
Reasons for the 404 page:
- Incorrectly entered URL;
- Deletion of an indexed page without “clearing” the address;
- Temporary lack of access to the specified address.
In all situations, WordPress automatically finds the 404.php file, and in its absence, it simply displays a page with a system error.
Related article: How to make a correct 404 error page
Editing the page
To improve the behavioral factor that affects the SEO optimization of a WordPress site, you need to create a customizable template. To do this, you need to edit the 404.php file copied from another theme. Before customizing, you need to make a backup copy of your WordPress theme.
The file is located at /wp-content/themes/theme-name/404.php. The page is designed in the style of the main theme, has a header and footer. You can edit the header and message to suit your personal needs. Most often, they are customized:
- Add a search bar;
- Change the message on the page;
- Add a link to the footer;
- Add contact information;
- Talk about popular products and sections.
The edited file is saved and added to the main theme.
How to add a new template
The server needs to be helped to find the desired form, for this you need to add ErrorDocument 404/index.php?error=404 to the .htaccess file if index.php is located in the root folder.
When the index.php file is located in a subdirectory named WordPress, you need to add the following phrase to the .htaccess file ErrorDocument 404/wordpress/index.php?error=404.
To make the existing page template unique, but with the corporate identity of the site, use html tags and css styles. You can also use the WordPress plugin for the 404 page.
Image optimization
SEO promotion of WordPress is connected with image optimization. For each uploaded image, you need to register the ALT and TITLE attributes, set the correct file name. This is a brief description of what is shown in the photo.
In the code designation, the ALT attribute looks like this
<img src = "image.jpg" alt = "image description" title = "image title" />.
It is built into the WordPress builder and is easy to fill in when uploading files to your media library.
Instructions for filling in the alt attribute in WordPress:
- Open the library in the platform’s text editor. Select the desired photo, upload it. And click on the pencil (“Edit”).
- In the field under the image labeled “alt attribute”, write the desired phrase or word.
- Click on the save button and upload the image to the page text.
To promote your site, you need to specify a keyword in the alt attribute. But don’t put it in the description of each photo, otherwise Google will recognize them as “spam”.
Tip. Rename files with photos/images. Instead of using incomprehensible letters and numbers, write down a key or a meaningful name for the image. For example, sveziy-limon.jpg. Lower spaces or hyphens are required between words so that the search engine can read them.
Additionally, you can add a pop-up message – Image Title Text – under each image uploaded to the platform. It does not affect the promotion, so its filling is at the discretion of the platform owner. The title attribute is filled in the same way as the alt attribute.
Related article: Promotion and optimization of images – 8 mandatory steps
Manage broken links
Broken links are links that lead to non-existent pages. They also give a 404 error. They appear after deleting pages, moving the site to a new address, or changing the URL. The presence of such links affects user behavior and negatively affects promotion.
You can check for broken links in Google Search Console, the “Coverage” tab. It is recommended to check and clean URLs on a monthly basis.
Additionally, a free plugin for WordPress – Online Broken Link Checker or Redirection– will help you scan your site for broken addresses.
Related article: How to find broken links on a website
Setting up unique meta descriptions and titles
The use of WordPress plugins (namely, Yoast SEO) makes it easier to customize the Title and Description.
Metadata requirements:
- Length (60 sbp for the title and 150 for the description).
- Uniqueness for each page.
- Keyword content.
- Informative + call to action.
Competent meta-descriptions and titles are good for both algorithms and for increasing click-through rates from the SERP.
Setting up breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are the “path” to the current page of the site, which is written at the top of the page. For the user, this is a landmark on a web resource, and for SEO, they are also good because they can be included in the extended snippet, making it more attractive. With the Yoast SEO plugin, navigation chains are automatically enabled on WordPress sites. In other cases, they can be configured manually.
5. WordPress plugins for website promotion
To promote your site on WordPress faster, you can use useful plugins. They allow you to configure many basic search engine optimization parameters without the involvement of a programmer. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones below.
Yoast SEO
Solves the main tasks of optimizing a WordPress site:
- creation of an extended sitemap and archive of publications;
- setting up “noindex” and metadata design;
- setting up breadcrumbs and attractive URLs;
- connecting social networks, etc.
The plugin works in 24 languages, including Ukrainian and Russian, and is regularly updated. After installation, you can customize 50 file types through the administrative panel.
All in One SEO
With this plugin, an SEO specialist can optimize the basic settings to improve the position of a resource in search engines: from marking up schema.org and XML sitemaps to tracking keyword rankings, setting up Author SEO (EEAT), and automating on-site linking.
Recently, the AI SEO feature was also added, which uses artificial intelligence to solve SEO problems.
Rank Math
Thanks to its AI-based development, this plugin makes the life of an SEO specialist easier from the very beginning (it is automatically configured).
In addition to similar features and integrations, Rank Math focuses on content preparation: from writing with AI tools to optimizing for search engine algorithms.
6. Mistakes when promoting a website on WordPress
SEO specialists and WordPress site administrators often repeat common mistakes during promotion:
- Overloaded design to the detriment of SEO.
- Unoptimized content.
- Duplicate pages and tags.
- Not using all the features of the CMS.
- Lack of integrations, for example, with GSC.
- Broken links (inside and outside the site).
Such errors slow down and reduce the effectiveness of website optimization efforts.
7. Frequently asked questions about SEO website promotion on WordPress
What is the difference between SEO for a website on WordPress and other CMSs?
Basically, there is nothing. Website promotion on WordPress is based on the same basic principles as on any other CMS. After all, Google does not care how the resource is made. The main thing for it is keys, content, links (external and internal), and a clear structure.
Does Google prefer WordPress websites?
No, it does not. CMS is not a ranking factor and does not affect search results in any way. WordPress is popular among SEO specialists for another reason: it is simple.
Instead of conclusion.
SEO on WordPress is a convenient solution for both SEO specialists and website owners. To promote a website on WordPress, you should be guided by general principles, while taking into account the peculiarities of the CMS itself. The abundance of SEO plugins is one of the key advantages of this CMS. At the same time, it is quite easy to “crash” the system by overloading it with these plugins, thereby significantly reducing the site loading speed.
