SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about optimizing your site to rank well on Google and other search engines so they will recommend your content when people search for specific words or phrases.
There are many factors that determine whether or not your site will come up on the 1st (or 2nd, or 3rd, or 57th) page of search results.
Many of these factors are completely out of your control. However, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of landing in a favorable spot. Here are my SEO tips.
1. Make your site mobile-friendly
There are plenty of themes with this baked right in.
2. Make your site load fast
Remove things on your site that slow it down. Use as few plugins as possible. Don’t use random widgets, gadgets, and apps. Use a well-built WordPress theme. Use Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom and GTMetrix to see how fast your site is and how you can correct optimization issues.
3. Optimize your images
Don’t utilize images on your site without optimizing them. I recommend installing and WP Smush, which automates all of this.
4. Understand & use keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases that sum up what a piece of content is about. For example, the main keyword on my post about blogging for money is “how to make money blogging.”
If you’re a blogger or website owner, keywords are the words or phrases search bots associate with the content on your web page. If you’re the one searching for this topic, keywords are the main terms you’ll type into Google or another search engine.
Now that you understand keywords, use them in your content so the search engines know what your content is about and how to categorize it.
Not sure what the best keywords to use are? How would someone search for the information in your post or page? What would they type into Google? Those are likely good keywords you can use in your content—in the body of your posts or pages, in your permalinks and even your domain name when appropriate.
5. Use long tail keywords
Long tail keywords have 3+ words in them. “Keyword” is a bit of a misnomer since they are really more like phrases or strings of words, but you get the point. Long tail keywords often return better search results for real people and are therefore more useful for bloggers and website owners.
Short keywords with one or two words (like “dog” or “cake recipes”) are very difficult to rank for these days, simply because there are so many sites competing for them. So use keywords that are longer and more specific.
6. Don’t use too many of the same keyword
Some people use keywords in an unnatural way in the hopes of improving their SEO. Search engines see right through this tactic and will often tag a site as spam when they see “keyword stuffing.” If you write normally, for humans, you won’t have a problem.
Also, don’t use the exact same keyword word or phrase over and over in your content. Mix it up. Use keywords that are similar. If you’re talking about mowing the lawn, use “mow the lawn” but also use “how to edge properly” and “types of lawn mowers” and “best lawn mower brands,” etc. Think of related ideas or concepts someone might be curious about if they are searching for information about mowing their lawn.
7. Use Yoast’s SEO plugin
The WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast gives you a lot of SEO functionality without you having to think. It’s a solid plugin and it’s free. Here’s Yoast’s documentation for the plugin.
8. Get worthwhile backlinks
A backlink is an incoming link to one of your site’s pages. (A “page” here is a general internet term referring to a single piece of content. Any WordPress Post or Page is a “page” in this general sense.)
As far as we know, the number and kinds of backlinks you get to your site impact your SEO. There are good backlinks and bad backlinks. Obviously and unfortunately, you can’t always control who links to you, but there are things you can do to try to get good backlinks.
You can try to guest post on sites that are well-regarded, have been around for a long time and produce excellent content. Work hard on building meaningful relationships with others online so that if and when they decide to share your content, you will benefit from those backlinks.
9. Change your permalinks with caution
Once you’ve published content, try not to change your site’s permalinks structure or on individual posts or pages, without redirecting the old URLs.
You see, each time you publish a piece of content on your site, it is assigned its own URL. This is its unique web address. If you change an already-published URL, anywhere that link has been shared (on other sites, on social media, etc.) it will no longer work since it is now different. Broken links are not good for SEO.
10. My absolute best SEO tip
I hear from a lot of bloggers who worry about SEO. Many times they ask me what they should do to improve their SEO and what I do to improve mine. Here’s the deal: Write great content. Excellent content is the only thing that has consistently withstood the dramatic algorithm changes I’ve watched over the years. You just can’t go wrong with solid, original, high-quality content. A lot of people spend a lot of time and money on SEO but the truth is, writing good content on a regular basis, in the long run, will be best for your SEO.
The bottom line
Is SEO real? Yes. Is good SEO helpful? Sure. But if you’re like me and you’ve got limited time, stress less about SEO. Note the tips above, but most of all, write good stuff! Write helpful stuff! Get involved in the community. Be authentic. Build relationships and let your great content work for itself.