How to do Perfect WordPress SEO Updated 2023 Must Read Guide

Alright, folks! Let's dive into the world of WordPress SEO. If you're like me, you've probably spent countless hours trying to figure out how to get your WordPress site to rank higher on Google. Well, guess what? I've been there, done that, and I'm here to share my experience with you. So, buckle up and get ready for a wild ride!

1. Understanding SEO: SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is all about increasing your website's visibility and ranking on search engine results pages. It's a complex process, but with the right tools and strategies, you can make your WordPress site more search-engine friendly and deliver a better user experience.

2. Basic WordPress SEO Settings: There are some basic settings in WordPress that you need to configure right off the bat. These include checking your site settings, setting the correct permalinks structure, and checking your site health.

3. Optimizing Your WordPress Website: Once you've got the basics down, it's time to step up your game. This involves organizing and optimizing your content, establishing a proper website structure, creating and writing quality content, and optimizing your website performance.

4. Must-Have WordPress SEO Plugins: There are several WordPress SEO plugins that can help streamline your SEO efforts. Some of the top ones include All in One SEO for WordPress, Yoast SEO, and Rank Math.

5. On-Page and Off-Page SEO Ranking Factors: It's important to understand the difference between on-page and off-page SEO ranking factors. On-page factors include things like content, title tags, and URLs, while off-page factors include things like guest blogging, influencer marketing, and social media marketing.

SEO is like a giant puzzle, and each piece plays a crucial role in your website's visibility. It's all about making your site more search-engine friendly and delivering a better user experience.

When I first started out, I didn't realize how important the basic WordPress SEO settings were. I mean, who knew that something as simple as checking your site settings could make such a big difference? But trust me, it does.

Site Visibility

The first thing you need to check is your site visibility settings. You can find this under Settings > Reading in your WordPress dashboard. Make sure the box next to 'Discourage search engines from indexing this site' is unchecked. If it's checked, search engines won't be able to crawl your site, and your SEO efforts will be in vain.

Permalinks Structure

Next up is your permalinks structure. Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your individual pages and blog posts, as well as your category and tag archives. A permalink is the web address used to link to your content. The URL to each post should be permanent and never change — hence the name permalink.

Go to Settings > Permalinks to check your permalinks structure. I recommend using the 'Post name' option as it's the most SEO-friendly. It makes your URLs simple and readable, and they'll include important keywords from your post or page title.

Site Health

Lastly, you should regularly check your site health. This feature was introduced in WordPress 5.2 and provides insights into how your site is doing. It includes a health check of your site and provides debugging information that you can share with support or a developer if you need help.

You can find this under Tools > Site Health. If there are any critical issues, make sure to address them as soon as possible.

Table: Basic WordPress SEO Settings

So, that's the foundation of your WordPress SEO settings. It's not rocket science, but it's crucial for your SEO success. Make sure to get these settings right before you move on to more advanced SEO techniques.

Once you've got the basics down, it's time to level up. This is where things start to get a bit more complex, but don't worry, I've got your back.

Organizing your content is all about making it easy for both your visitors and search engines to navigate your website. Here's how you can do it:

1. Categories: Think of categories as the table of contents for your website. They're used to group content into different sections. For example, if you run a food blog, you might have categories like "Recipes," "Restaurant Reviews," and "Nutrition Tips." Each post should be assigned to one category, but it's okay to have sub-categories.

2. Tags: Tags are like the index at the back of a book. They're used to describe specific details of your posts. For example, a post in the "Recipes" category might have tags like "vegan," "gluten-free," and "quick-and-easy." A post can have multiple tags, and you can use as many as you like.

Your titles and meta descriptions play a crucial role in SEO. They're what people see in search engine results, and they can greatly affect whether or not someone clicks on your site. Here's how to optimize them:

1. Titles: Your titles should be descriptive and include your main keyword. But remember, your title isn't just for search engines — it's for humans, too. Make it interesting and enticing. And try to keep it under 60 characters so it doesn't get cut off in search results.

2. Meta Descriptions: Your meta description should provide a brief summary of your page and include your main keyword. But like your title, it should also be interesting and enticing. And try to keep it under 160 characters.

When it comes to SEO, content is king. Here's how to create quality content:

1. Originality: Your content should be original. That means no copying and pasting from other sites. Not only is this unethical, but it can also lead to a Google penalty.

2. Value: Your content should provide value to your visitors. That means it should be informative, helpful, and/or entertaining.

3. Engagement: Your content should be engaging. That means it should be well-written, easy to read, and include images, videos, and/or interactive elements.

Website performance is a crucial part of SEO. Here's how to optimize it:

1. Site Speed: Your site should load quickly. You can improve your site speed by using a good hosting provider, optimizing your images, and using a caching plugin.

2. Mobile-Friendly: Your site should be mobile-friendly. That means it should look good and function well on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.

3. Security: Hey, let's get real for a second. No search engine, Google included, wants to send their users to a website that's gonna put their online security at risk. Not only is website security a big deal for SEO, but if you don't take it seriously, it can totally backfire. Your website could end up penalized and kicked out of search results. So, here's the lowdown on how to make your WordPress site as secure as Fort Knox:

   1. Keep Everything Updated: This means your WordPress software, your plugins, and your theme. Regular updates are key, folks!

   2. Use SSL Certificates: These bad boys enable HTTPS encrypted connections. It's like having a secret handshake with your users.

   3. Strong Admin Password: Go for a password that's at least 12 characters long, with a mix of CAPS, numbers, and special symbols. It's like the protein shake of passwords.

   4. Choose a Secure Hosting Provider: Your hosting provider is like your website's home. Make sure it's a safe one.

   5. Change Login URL: You can do this by installing the free WPS Hide Login plugin. Once it's installed, hit Settings > WPS Hide Login, and switch up that login URL

   So, that's the scoop on securing your WordPress website. It's not just about SEO, it's about protecting your site from penalties and keeping your users safe. And remember, keep learning, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep having fun!

So, that's how you level up your WordPress SEO game. It's a bit more complex than the basic settings, but with a bit of practice, you'll get the hang of it. 

Let's talk plugins. These little tools can make a huge difference in your SEO efforts. Some of my favorites include All in One SEO for WordPress, Yoast SEO, and Rank Math.

All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO)

AIOSEO is a comprehensive SEO plugin that's great for beginners and experts alike. It's packed with features that make optimizing your site a breeze. Here are some of the things you can do with AIOSEO:

• Automatically generate XML sitemaps: Sitemaps help search engines crawl and index your site. With AIOSEO, you can automatically generate a sitemap and submit it to Google and Bing.

• Optimize your titles and meta descriptions: AIOSEO allows you to easily set your titles and meta descriptions for all your posts, pages, and custom post types.

• Social media integration: AIOSEO integrates with social media platforms, allowing you to add Open Graph metadata and Twitter Cards to your posts and pages.

Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is another popular SEO plugin. It's known for its page analysis feature, which helps you optimize your content, images, titles, meta descriptions, and more. Here's what you can do with Yoast SEO:

• Keyword optimization: Yoast SEO helps you optimize your content for your chosen keywords. It checks your content to see if you're using your keywords often enough and in the right places.

• Readability check: Yoast SEO checks the readability of your content, making sure your text is easy to read and understand.

• Breadcrumbs control: Breadcrumbs are great for both usability and SEO, and Yoast SEO allows you to easily add them to your site.

Rank Math

Rank Math is a newer SEO plugin, but it's quickly become a favorite among many WordPress users. It's easy to use and comes with a lot of features. Here's what you can do with Rank Math:

• Easy setup: Rank Math comes with a setup wizard that makes it easy to configure the plugin and optimize your site.

• Rich snippets: Rank Math supports rich snippets, which can help improve your click-through rate in search engine results.

• 404 monitor: Broken links can harm your SEO, but Rank Math's 404 monitor helps you catch and fix them.

My Top 3 WordPress SEO Plugins

So, that's the lowdown on my top 3 WordPress SEO plugins. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, so choose the one that best fits your needs. And remember, the best SEO plugin is the one you actually use!

Understanding the difference between on-page and off-page SEO ranking factors is crucial. On-page factors are things you can control on your website, like your content and title tags. Off-page factors, on the other hand, are things that happen off your website, like guest blogging and social media marketing.

On-Page SEO Ranking Factors

On-page SEO is all about optimizing the content and HTML source code of your pages. Here are some of the most important on-page SEO ranking factors:

1. Content: As I've mentioned before, content is king. Your content should be original, valuable, and engaging. It should also be optimized for your target keywords.

2. Title Tags: Your title tag is the title of your page that appears in search engine results. It should be descriptive, include your main keyword, and be under 60 characters.

3. Meta Descriptions: Your meta description is a brief summary of your page that appears under the title in search engine results. It should be under 160 characters and include your main keyword.

4. Headers: Headers (H1, H2, H3, etc.) are used to structure your content and make it easier to read. Your H1 tag should include your main keyword, and your H2 and H3 tags should include related keywords.

5. URLs: Your URLs should be short, descriptive, and include your main keyword.

Off-Page SEO Ranking Factors

Off-page SEO, on the other hand, is all about increasing the authority of your site through getting links from other websites. Here are some of the most important off-page SEO ranking factors:

1. Backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites to your site. They're like votes of confidence in your content. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your site will rank in search engine results.

2. Social Signals: Social signals are interactions with your content on social media, like likes, shares, and comments. While they're not a direct ranking factor, they can help increase your visibility and get more people to your site.

3. Guest Blogging: Guest blogging is when you write a post for another website. It's a great way to get a backlink and reach a wider audience.

On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO Ranking Factors

This table provides a more accurate comparison of the key factors involved in both on-page and off-page SEO. It's important to remember that both are crucial for a successful SEO strategy. On-page factors help search engines understand your content and its relevance to what users are searching for, while off-page factors help search engines understand how others perceive your website's usefulness and authority.

Once you've got your website all set up and optimized, it's time to let the search engines know you're here. This is where submitting your sitemap comes in. A sitemap is essentially a roadmap of your website that helps search engines find, crawl and index all of your content. Here's how you can submit your sitemap to Google and Bing.

Submitting Your Sitemap to Google

To submit your sitemap to Google, you'll need to use Google Search Console. If you haven't already, you'll need to verify your website with Google Search Console first. Here's how:

1. Create a Google Search Console account: Head over to Google Search Console and sign in with your Google account.

2. Add your website: Click on 'Add Property' and enter your website URL.

3. Verify your website: You'll need to verify that you own the website. There are several methods you can use, but one of the easiest is to install a WordPress plugin like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO, which will add the necessary verification code for you.

Once you've verified your website, you can submit your sitemap:

1. Find your sitemap URL: If you're using an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO, it will automatically generate a sitemap for you. The URL for your sitemap will usually be yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

2. Submit your sitemap: In Google Search Console, select your website, click on 'Sitemaps' in the left-hand menu, enter your sitemap URL in the 'Add a new sitemap' box, and click 'Submit'.

Submitting Your Sitemap to Bing

Submitting your sitemap to Bing is a similar process, but you'll use Bing Webmaster Tools instead. Here's how:

1. Create a Bing Webmaster Tools account: Head over to Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in with your Microsoft account.

2. Add your website: Click on 'Add a Site' and enter your website URL.

3. Verify your website: Like with Google, you'll need to verify that you own the website. You can use the same method as you did with Google.

Once you've verified your website, you can submit your sitemap:

1. Find your sitemap URL: Again, this will usually be yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.

2. Submit your sitemap: In Bing Webmaster Tools, select your website, click on 'Sitemaps' in the left-hand menu, enter your sitemap URL in the 'Submit a Sitemap' box, and click 'Submit'.

Table: Submitting Your Sitemap to Google and Bing

So, that's how you submit your sitemap to Google and Bing. It's a crucial step in your SEO journey, as it helps search engines find and index your content. And remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep learning, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep having fun!

And there you have it, folks! That's my journey of mastering WordPress SEO in a nutshell. It's been a wild ride, but I wouldn't change a thing. I've learned so much along the way, and I hope that my experience can help you on your own SEO journey. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. So, keep learning, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep having fun!