WordPress is one of the best CMS for SEO. Maybe websites built in WordPress has the best possibilities for ranking in SERP, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to work on their optimization.
Like all other websites on the Internet, WordPress websites require certain settings so they become SEO friendly. With large number of WordPress themes, plugins and tricks you can achieve this in very short period.
No matter if you are serious WordPress publisher or you just want to start your own blog, everyone has the same goal to rank good in search results. This article will be your guide how to create SEO friendly WordPress website.
For SEO of WordPress website it is necessary to have knowledge about these crucial parameters:
- SEO friendly WordPress themes
- Key SEO plugins for WordPress
- SEO settings of WordPress
SEO FRIENDLY WORDPRESS THEMES
First step before publishing WordPress website is choosing the right theme. This is very important factor and it is necessary that theme is developed in accordance with the requirements of SEO.
Many WordPress themes are declared as “SEO-friendly”, but if you aren’t developer or SEO expert, it’s hard to define does that theme fit its description.
We suggest that you consult with SEO expert before choosing WordPress theme no matter if it is free or premium version.
If you have required knowledge, read advices from the best SEO experts for WordPress and try to check theme on your own.
Avoid these mistakes:
- Setting website name on first place in title tag
- Adding static meta description tag – which is shown on every page
- Using static robots meta tags – tags like “index, follow” which hardens work for search engines. If we want to create some pages that are “noidnex” via plugin, that will not be possible because of this tag
- Using H1 tag for logo on every page – this tag has the highest priority so it has to be used only for title of the page. Google suggest only one H1 tag per page, so don’t waste it on the logo.
- Setting hidden links in theme – one link in footer section is enough and it belongs to creator of the theme.
- Sidebar below content of the page – content of the page has priority in HTML code. Sidebar is used depending on type of the page, but not beneath the content.
Theme has to provide:
- Display of taxonomy description – most of taxonomy archives displays only recent posts for specific category and they don’t have any unique content. WordPress has this function integrated so theme should display description, with taxonomy title in H1 tag.
- Display of archive excerpts – Archive pages with whole post shown aren’t good for SEO at all. This can be good if it is done for few posts on home page, but for archives it is not recommended.
- Breadcrumbs – great way to make good structure of inner links and make it easier for users and search engines to navigate through website. It is required that they work for taxonomies too.
- Use post title as first anchor text – it isn’t recommended to use “read more” text as first anchor text for post
- Code transparency – theme code has to be readable and fast loading as much as it is possible and it has to be easy for search engines to scan pages
There is no need for adding functions in theme that aren’t required like adding title and description, because there is already some good plugins which are provided for that.