As a WordPress site owner, you probably already know that good SEO is essential for attracting visitors and improving your site’s ranking in search engine results pages and you need wordpress seo checklist.
But with so many different ranking factors and SEO strategies to consider, it can be difficult to know where to start.
To help you out, we’ve created this WordPress SEO checklist. It covers all the basics of WordPress SEO, from choosing the right keywords to setting up Google Search Console.
By following the tips in this checklist, you can be sure that your WordPress site is optimised for search engines and ready to attract new visitors.
1. Choose the Right Keywords
One of the most important aspects of SEO is choosing the right keywords. These are the terms and phrases that potential visitors are using when they search for information online.
If you want your WordPress site to be found by these searchers, you need to make sure you’re using the right keywords.
There are a few different ways to research keywords. The first is to use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
These tools will show you how many people are searching for a particular keyword and how difficult it is to rank for that keyword.
You can also use Google’s autocomplete feature to get ideas for keywords. Start typing a relevant search term into Google and see what suggestions it gives you.
These are all terms that people are actually searching for.
Once you’ve identified some potential keywords, it’s time to start using them on your site.
The best place to use keywords is in your site’s title and meta tags. These are the tags that appear in the search results, so it’s important to make them as accurate and keyword-rich as possible.
To edit your title and meta tags, you’ll need to install a WordPress SEO plugin like Yoast SEO.
With Yoast SEO installed, you can edit your title and meta tags for each post and page on your site. Just scroll down to the Yoast SEO section and enter your keywords into the fields.
It’s also important to use keywords throughout your content. But don’t go overboard – too many keywords will make your content difficult to read and could get you penalised by Google.
Aim to use your keyword a few times throughout your content, in a way that sounds natural.
2. Optimize Your Site’s Structure
The next step in our WordPress SEO checklist is to optimize your site’s structure.
This means making sure your site is easy to navigate and that all your content is easy to find.
A good place to start is with your site’s navigation menu. This is the menu that appears at the top of your site and helps visitors find their way around.
Make sure your navigation menu is clear and easy to understand. Group together similar pages and use clear, descriptive titles for each link.
It’s also a good idea to create a sitemap. This is a file that contains a list of all the pages and posts on your site.
Search engines like Google use sitemaps to understand your site’s structure and to find new content.
You can create a sitemap for your WordPress site using a plugin like Yoast SEO. Just install and activate the plugin, then go to SEO → XML Sitemaps to configure your sitemap settings.
Once you’ve created your sitemap, you need to submit it to Google. This will tell Google about all the pages on your site so that they can be indexed and included in search results.
To do this, log into your Google Search Console account and click on the website you want to submit a sitemap for. Then, click on Crawl → Sitemaps in the left-hand sidebar.
Click on the Add/Test Sitemap button and enter the URL of your sitemap. Google will then start crawling your site and indexing your content.
3. Improve Your Site’s Speed
The next item on our WordPress SEO checklist is to improve your site’s speed.
Site speed is an important ranking factor for search engines. Google has even said that they’re working on making site speed a ranking factor for mobile searches.
So if you want your WordPress site to rank well, you need to make sure it’s fast.
There are a few different ways to improve your site’s speed. The first is to choose a fast WordPress hosting provider.
Hosting providers have different levels of service, so it’s important to choose one that can give you the speed and reliability you need.
We recommend using a WordPress-specific host like WP Engine or Kinsta. These hosts are designed specifically for WordPress sites and can offer you great speeds and uptime.
Another way to improve your site’s speed is to optimize your images. When you upload an image to your WordPress site, it’s automatically saved in a full-size format.
This means that your images are taking up more space than they need to and are slowing down your site.
To fix this, you can install a plugin like WP Smush. This plugin will automatically optimize your images and reduce their file size.
You can also manually optimize your images before you upload them to your site. Just open the image in an image editor like Adobe Photoshop and save it in a lower quality setting.
4. Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that gives you insights into how your site is performing in search results.
It can tell you which keywords your site is ranking for, how many people are clicking on your listings, and what kind of click-through rate you’re getting.
It can also show you any errors that Google has found on your site. This is valuable information that can help you fix issues and improve your ranking.
To use Google Search Console, you first need to add your site. Just log into your account and click on the Add Property button.
Enter your website’s URL and click on the Add button. Google will then verify that you own the site and add it to your account.
Once your site is added, you can start exploring the different reports. The Performance report is a good place to start.
This report will show you your site’s click-through rate, average position, and other valuable data.
5. Set Up Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to track your website’s traffic.
It can tell you how many people are visiting your site, where they’re coming from, and what pages they’re looking at.
This information can be valuable for understanding your website’s performance and for making decisions about your marketing strategy.
To use Google Analytics, you first need to create an account. Just go to the Google Analytics website and click on the Sign Up button.
Enter your account details and click on the Get Tracking ID button. Google will then give you a code that you need to add to your WordPress site.
The easiest way to do this is to install the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin. This plugin will automatically add the tracking code to your site.
Once the tracking code has been added, Google Analytics will start collecting data about your site’s traffic.
You can view this data by logging into your Google Analytics account and clicking on the Reporting tab.
6. Submit Your Site to Search Engines
The final item on our WordPress SEO checklist is to submit your site to search engines.
This means telling search engines like Google and Bing about your site so that they can include it in their search results.
The easiest way to do this is to use a WordPress plugin like Yoast SEO. Just install and activate the plugin, then go to SEO → General in the left-hand sidebar.
Scroll down to the Webmaster Tools section and enter your site’s URL. Yoast SEO will then automatically submit your site to Google and Bing.
You can also submit your site manually. Just go to Google’s Add URL page and enter your site’s URL.
You can also submit your site to Bing by going to their Submit Site page.
Once you’ve submitted your site, it can take a few weeks for it to appear in search results. But once it does, you’ll start to see an increase in traffic as people find your site in search engine results pages.
Conclusion
That’s it for our WordPress SEO checklist! By following the tips in this checklist, you can be sure that your WordPress site is optimised for search engines and ready to attract new visitors.