You might have just built a WordPress website using premium managed WordPress hosting services. The next step will be to make the website live. But wait! Are you sure you will find the new website ready to deliver the best user experience? This is where SEO and performance optimization comes in. SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is the optimization process of making the website and every individual page as attractive to search engines as possible.
On the other hand, performance optimization ensures that all the web pages load quickly and efficiently for an optimal user experience that visitors remember. Both play a crucial role in the success of every WordPress website. It is a cost-effective option because of the WordPress website hosting cost. So, it is essential to understand the what, why, and how of SEO performance optimization.
The Importance of Search For Websites
SEO optimization is crucial for positioning and exposure to online businesses. Without visitors and visibility, your website is just one of many other websites that never see page one in Google Search.
If you want to increase traffic, you need to make sure that your site secures as many “front-page” positions as you can. Why? Well, think about what you do when you search on Google. How many results do you scroll through before you find your answer?
Or what are the chances that you will even click through to page 2? If you can’t even remember the last time you clicked on page 2, you are factually in the majority because only 9.47% of individuals even click on 2nd page results. The top 3 results account for a whopping 52.75% of all clicks.
Actionable WordPress SEO Tips for Beginners
1. Create People-First Content
Great content is crucial for making a successful website. It gives the visitors a valid reason to visit the website. Moreover, search engines provide something to crawl, index, and rank. The emphasis here is on greatness, though, not just content.
Specifically, content is designed for people first and search engines second, as Google has pointed out in an official note. Moreover, the best approach to any piece of information you can add to the WordPress website is to show Google you are the best at what you do. Also known by the term “topical authority,” establishing yourself as the best source of specific information people might be searching for is crucial.
2. Use Simple Navigation
Simple navigation is another SEO tweak benefiting both users and search engines. Users must keep navigation user-friendly to quickly identify what they want and where to go.
It improves usability and encourages visitors to stay on your site. In addition to crawling and indexing your site quickly, search engines can rank your pages much more accurately as a result.
Manage menus in Appearance > Menus.
3. Organize Content With Categories And Tags
Content categories and tags make the navigation straightforward. It is pretty easy to locate the blog post when there are simple categories, making everything easy to find. Create relevant categories that accurately describe broad post topics so users quickly discover the content.
Keeping categories broad helps organizations cover most of the topics. Also, it keeps the content categories relevant if your future content strategy pivots. Tags can be used to aid search or in tag clouds. As they aren’t so commonly used anymore, they are purely optional.
Manage categories from Pages > Categories and tags from Pages > Tags.
4. Check WordPress Visibility Settings
While setting up WordPress, you will be asked whether you want search engines to index the website. You may have set it to “No” if you were developing the website directly on your hosting or building it as a staging site first.
Double-check Settings > Reading if that’s the case. Uncheck the box next to ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site.’
5. Add an XML sitemap
An XML sitemap is a machine-readable file listing every page on the website with the URL. It is a crucial part of getting the website crawled, indexed, and ranked by the search engines. It does not affect SEO, but it does make it easier for search engines to rank it. That’s why we recommend having one.
Likely, you won’t have to do anything here since WordPress creates an XML sitemap during the setup process. We recommend, however, that you familiarize yourself with XML sitemaps if you are unfamiliar with them.
Summary
Once you hit the “Publish” button on the WordPress website, remember the significance of SEO and performance optimization. If you want to enhance SEO, focus on creating people-first content. Use simple navigation and different categories to organize content and optimize URL structure by utilizing an SEO-friendly theme.
To improve your website’s visibility, implement an XML sitemap and schema markup. Additionally, ensure that your site is secure by using SSL/HTTPS, and leverage Google Search Console to monitor links and indexing statuses.
For enhanced performance, select a reputable web hosting provider. Optimize image sizes for faster loading times, use a responsive WordPress theme that prioritizes speed, and regularly update all components of your website. It may also be beneficial to incorporate a content delivery network (CDN) to enhance accessibility and performance further.
Also Read: Enhancing SEO with Custom Website Design: An In-Depth Guide