The infographic above was created by Brian Dean (Backlinko) I will highlight how to optimize a webpage on wordpress following the tips above in the infographic.
- Seo Friendly Permalink Url Structure – To change the permalinks structure of your wordpress blog, click on “settings” on the menu bar in your dashboard. Click on “permalinks” and select the structure you will like to use. The default permalink structure looks like this (http://www.example.ca/?p=123) it is advised that you select “post name.” You can also choose “day and name” or “month and name”
- Title Tags and Keywords – Studies by Moz have shown high a correlation between high rankings and webpages with titles that begin with the searched keyword. For example, if I created a page about the benefits of “dog food” a good title tag optimized for high ranking will look something like this: “Dog food Benefits Your Canine” . There is a note to be made here though, certain words and phrases receive a higher click through rate on Google when used at the beginning of a title tag. You will notice there are loads of “list posts” and “how to ” posts on websites like Marshable, that is no mistake. Here is a list of words that show the highest click through rates as found by Neil Patel in his post.
- How to…. For example. “How to find amazing deals online”
- List related …For example, “101 ways to increase your traffic,” “200 reasons Jesse Quist is an excellent Marketer”
- Free…For example, “Free techniques to gain more traffic,” “Free search engine optimization tips”
- You…. ”You Need these tips to be successful”
- Tips…”Tips on how to rank number 1 on Google”
- Blog Post… (Someone needs to get creative with this one)
- Why… “Why your on-page optimization sucks”
- Tricks..”Tricks most Seo experts don’t want you to know”
- Great… “Great ways to find your target audience”
Notice that with each of the examples above the keywords were either in the middle or towards the end. You will have to decide between a small boost in ranking or a small boost in click through rates, maybe being number 3 on the first page with a more desirable title tag will get you more traffic than being number 1. The key here is to test and see which yields the best results.
- Include Pictures and Video – Pictures will transform a bland wordy blog post into a dynamic and interesting one. The drawback here is including pictures that are too large in size can reduce your webpage’s load speed. Reduce the size of pictures you load in your posts, place them strategically through out your page to break up long content into bite sized sections.
- Outbound Links – You are afraid of linking out because the links might take visitors away from your website. This is a legitimate fear most people have, your visitors will not stray away from your page if your content in engaging. Also, just select the “open link in a new window/tab” when linking out.
- Add your keyword in the first 100 words – This is one I usually forgot because of the intros I used to create. These days my opening sentences are questions geared to catch the attention of the reader. Implement this by opening your blog posts with question that capture the visitor’s interest. “Do you want to improve your on-page seo?” Follow up by giving a reason to why the post should be read.. “This post will give you step by step details on how to optimize your on-page seo and outrank your competitors.”
- Use the H1 tag for the title of your page
- Improve your website loading speed – You can use tools like Yslow and Page Speed to test how fast your website loads. There is also a way to find individual page speed improvement suggestions through Google analytics.
- Add Modifiers such as “reviews” to your title. Adding Modifiers to your title will help you rank for longer tail keywords. To find popular modifiers people search for in relation to your keyword, just perform a Google search of your keyword and scroll all the way to the bottom of the search page to find the “related search” section. It is usually rich with common modifiers.
- Use Social Sharing Buttons – This is an easy one to implement, there are many WordPress plugins that will enable users to share the content you create. Try to include a call to action at the end of your post directing users to share… on that note “Click on one of the social share buttons below when you finish reading”
- Long Content wins over short – It’s been shown that posts with over 2000 words rank a lot higher in the search engines. There is a catch, this only works when the posts are actually useful and engaging. Google can and does track how users engage with your page so please make sure everything you say is necessary and useful. Try creating long detailed step by step guides on your website.
- Reduce Bounce Rate – Bounce rate can be reduced by serving a web visitors exactly what they are looking for when they click through to your website. If the title of your page is “on-page optimization” don’t start your post by talking about fluffy cats. Engage your visitor in a conversation, make them feel comfortable and at ease… Keep the website simple and elegant, avoid things like red text or dark backgrounds.
- Latent Semantic Keywords – That is just a fancy way of saying “related keywords.” These are keywords usually associated with the target keyword being used. They can be found using the same “related search” trick I mentioned in tip number 8. They are keywords Google expects to find when speaking about a particular subject, use them but don’t overdo it, be natural.
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