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5 On-Page SEO Elements to Optimize in WordPress

When it comes to onpage SEO WordPress strategies, which elements are most important for optimization?

Onpage optimization is essential for SEO. If your pages aren’t including the content that users are searching for, then Google will have no reason to rank your pages for your target keywords. On the flipside, by using the right onpage SEO WordPress tactics, you effectively tell Google’s crawlers that your site is relevant and useful, thus leading to better SERP rankings and more organic traffic.

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Here are the 5 elements to optimize first.

Onpage SEO WordPress Best Practices

1) Content keyword density

Keyword density represents the number of times your keywords appear in your content, out of the total number of words that appear on the page. This figure is usually represented as a percentage. For example, if your keyword “dog” appears 10 times on a page that has 500 words, then the keyword density is 2%.

So, what is the ideal keyword density for onpage SEO WordPress?

Short answer: it depends. 

Many SEO experts suggest keeping your keyword density under 3% to avoid the penalties of obvious keyword stuffing. But this can vary depending on several factors, so we recommend speaking to an experienced SEO WordPress consultant before you start optimizing.

That said, if you want your page to be ranked well for your targeted keywords, then a basic rule of thumb is this: your keyword must appear somewhere on the page, usually more than once.

Some WordPress SEO plugins, like Yoast, calculate the density for you, so that you know you’re in the right range.

2) Title headings

Be sure to incorporate your keywords in the “H1” title tag. This serves a few important purposes for your on-page  SEO WordPress strategy: 

  1. It makes your headlines stand out to users
  2. It helps Google’s crawlers understand what your page is about

We also recommend breaking up your content with additional subheadings (H2, H3, etc.), optimized with your keywords.

3) Images

Optimizing your images helps your pages load faster and sends additional clues to Google’s crawlers about the content on your page.

There are a few important ways to optimize your images as part of your onpage SEO WordPress strategy:

  • Image type & size (compress images for faster load speed)
  • Image file name (optimized with your keyword)
  • Image ALT tag (optimized with your keyword)
  • Image text (optimized text within the image, which Google is increasingly good at interpreting)

There are many WordPress plugins available that allow you to compress images and easily adjust file names, tags, etc.

4) Links 

Linking to other content is another important strategy for your on-page SEO. 

Specifically, you want to provide users with links to both internal and external content. This is good for UX (user experience) and good for SEO results, because it shows Google that you’re providing value.

Here’s how to do it properly:

  • Insert 1-2 links to credible external pages (ideally .gov or .edu, when possible) that are closely relevant to your on-page content.
  • Insert 1-2 internal links to other pages on your site to help users find more information relevant to the same topics.

Again, consider using professional WordPress SEO services to ensure you’re using this strategy properly.

5) Meta titles & descriptions

These don’t necessarily appear “on the page,” but they are another important area of on-page optimization.

Your page title (sometimes referred to as “meta title”) and meta description are part of your backend code that helps to tell users (and Google) what your page is about. They are typically visible to users when your page appears in search results. Additionally, a snippet of your title tag will appear at the top of most browsers.

Ask any WordPress expert and they will tell you that page titles and descriptions are among the most important on-page elements to optimize for SEO: they must incorporate your most important keyword phrases (ideally “front-loaded” at the beginning of the tag).

WordPress makes it easy to create these tags each time you create new pages, especially with SEO plugins like Yoast.

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