How To Do On-Page SEO With WordPress

One of the easiest ways you can ensure an SEO-optimised WordPress site is to install Yoast. It measures lots of the SEO variables you need to refine and improve your on-page SEO. It operates a handy traffic light system that shows you exactly what you need to do in order to refine and improve both your content and on-page SEO.

Green = Great stuff

Amber = Needs Improvement

Red = Poor

Website not built in wordpress? Don’t have the Yoast plug in? There are lots of different ways you can maximise your SEO. For example CTRL-U will bring up the source code for a site which allows you to do a manual check against Yoast variables.

WordPress allows you to assign a Heading tag to each of your headings on a website page. Here is a quick rundown of the essentials:

A H1 (Heading 1) tag should be the only H1 tag on a page. A strong H1 title is positioned at the top of your page to let both Google and your users know exactly what the page is about.

Too many H1s can confuse Google. A single H1 will send a strong message about what the topic of the page is.

Unlike H1s, you can use as many H2s as you like. Try to think of the layout of your webpage like a newspaper article, with 1 main heading and various subheadings below. Using heading tags in this way helps search engines to understand the layout of your content, rather than just changing the font size.

Top Tip: Mention your keyword in your H1 and at least one of your H2 and H3 headings. It’s ideal to include it in the beginning of the heading but it is also important to make sure your copy reads well, so it may not always be appropriate.

The H tags tell Google what your page is about. The sooner you add your H tags, the sooner Google can begin to rank your page for the keyword.

Meta data refers to the 3 variables you see when you scroll down Google search results:

• Title
• Description
• URL

Each of these should include your keyword. A plugin such as Yoast gives you clear guidelines on the optimum length of your meta data as well as a handy reminder to include your keyword.

Both Google and users typing a keyword into Google want to see the same keyword in a search result. It signifies it’s relevant and matches their search intent. Matching search intent will lead to more clicks, more traffic and more conversions – providing your page copy is relevant to the meta data!

75% of website credibility comes with design.

A user-friendly website that looks visually appealing is much more likely to keep people on your page for longer. A few, well-placed images can go a long way in boosting brand image and engaging your users.

Adding an Alt tag to optimise the images on your website. Replicate your keyword across your image Alt tags so Google knows exactly what your image relates to. This is also an easy way to make your site more accessible to your users.

Finally, don’t forget to add a mix of internal and external links to your website.

An internal link is a link from one page of your website to another. Not only do internal links help people navigate through your website, but they also pass weighting from your high authority pages to the ones you want to help rank.

Never underestimate the power of internal linking.

An external link is a link from your website that links to an external site. These are great to include if your page refers to statistics or research as it helps to verify your facts and figures.

Always ensure your external links open in a new tab – you don’t want users to navigate away from your site!

Yoast goes through all these variables in detail. It is one of the quickest and effective ways to get your WordPress SEO up to scratch which makes it ideal for small-medium businesses.

A word of warning…while Yoast is a great way to refine your on-page SEO, it does have its limitations. Sometimes it’s hard to hit those green lights, especially in the readability section. For instance, a lawyer or accountant will typically use longer sentences and specialist vocabulary in comparison to other businesses that naturally use shorter, more concise sentences.