One reason why businesses hire outside experts for WordPress SEO services is that the rules of SEO are constantly changing. Even if you have the time and technical knowledge to do it yourself, you need to keep up with the latest SEO practices to make sure you’re focusing on what matters most (and avoiding the tactics that could hurt your ranking).That being said, the core tenets of SEO have not changed dramatically over the last decade.So, what’s the “secret” to improving your WordPress SEO ranking? We asked our SEO WordPress consultants and here’s what they said:
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
1) Start with an effective keyword strategy.
“Many businesses go off the rails on this first step,” said our WordPress experts. “They focus on keywords that are either too broad or too narrow, which hamstrings their potential for results, right from the start.”
Proper keyword research is essential. Identify core keyword phrases that are:
- Valuable to the business
- Actively searched by prospective customers
- Relatively uncompetitive (i.e. not too many sites to outrank for those terms)
Generally speaking, you may want to start with 4-5 core keyword phrases for optimization. Then, build out additional terms, variations and long-tail keywords to support each of those core phrases.
2) Optimize your site with those keywords.
“This is still the most critical component of WordPress SEO services,” our consultants say.While the specific strategy is different for every business, all websites need to be optimized with the keywords they want to rank for. When applicable, optimize every page (without keyword stuffing – see below) – not just the homepage. And don’t forget your image data, meta descriptions and page titles!
3) Garner backlinks from high-value websites.
If you’re hiring a WordPress development agency for SEO, make sure they can also help with backlinking efforts. Backlinking involves having other websites link back to your website. It’s an important SEO strategy, because it tells Google that your site is valuable and relevant.
4) Improve page speed and user experience.
“Site-load time is such an important ranking factor that many businesses ignore,” our SEO WordPress consultants said. If your pages are slow to load, then you’re probably being outranked by faster websites.Be sure to partner with a WordPress developer that specializes in SEO, such as WP Tangerine, to improve your page speed, as well as your site structure, navigation and other aspects that affect the user experience.
WHAT NOT TO DO
Do NOT use keyword stuffing.
This is a big no-no. If you’re simply repeating a bunch of keywords on the page – with no regard to coherency or value to readers – your site could be penalized by search engines.
Do NOT hide text.
This is an old, deceptive SEO tactic that some websites unfortunately still use. It involves arbitrarily adding content to a page but making it invisible or too small to read. Google defines this as “the act of placing content on a page in a way solely to manipulate search engines” – and as such, it is expressly forbidden.
Improve Your Ranking with WordPress SEO Services from WP Tangerine
Get help from our SEO experts. Request a free SEO analysis to see how our strategies can help you increase your ranking, attract more leads and increase sales.
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