WordPress SEO
Search Engine Optimisation Plugins for WordPress CMS
WordPress SEO (search engine optimisation) plugin installation is essential to achieve a decent position in SERPs. The default installation of WordPress has no SEO factors and it;
- Produces non-search-engine-friendly page names (URL’s)
- Usually produces duplicated H1 Headings across all pages
- Does not include a Description meta-tag!
- Does not include a Keyword meta-tag!
- Does not include an HTML Sitemap
- Does not inclue a Google XML sitemap
All of that is seriously counter-productive! Google and other search engines detest duplicate content and if your WordPress Blog is to deliver maximum benefits to your business, you absolutely need to ensure pages appear as unique as is possible to the search engines, and that pages are accurately described so that their content is able to be assessed properly.
WordPress SEO Tools
The big advantage (of using WordPress) is that here are numerous WordPress SEO “plugins” that allow you to eliminate the default problems. Foremost among those are plugins which;
- Dynamically generate SE-Friendly URLs based on page / post titles
- Manually generate unique Titles
- Manually generate unique Descriptions and Keyword meta-tags
- Dynamically generate and auto-update Google XML Site Maps
- Dynamically generate and auto-update HTML Site Maps
We will install and test a set of SEO plugins that will fully automate the process of generating unique, accurately described pages. This includes;
- All In One SEO pack
- Google XML Sitemaps
- Dagon HTML Sitemaps
- RSS output to Google Feedburner account
Links are Mission-Critical
To get your WordPress CMS or Blog content fully indexed and distributed across search engines and directories, we also recommend and advise you to take advantage of the Link-building / Submission Packages we offer.…
To learn how we can help your business grow, click HERE for a Free Site Assessment!
10 Search Engine Optimisation Tips For WordPress Blogs
Search engine optimisation for WordPress is essential if you are to gain maximum traction from your efforts. Many corporate or business blogs are started with the intention of using them to;
- broaden the companies information distribution
- provide an easy way to grow the site
- provide an easy way to create fresh content
- increase the “stickiness” of the site
- generate additional qualified traffic
- increase incoming link count
However, what many people fail to understand is that the default installation of WordPress simply does not include even the most basic SEO functionality. The default WordPress installation generates unintelligible URLs, generic Page Titles and neither Description nor Keyword meta-tags. Thus, the chances of achieving the desired goals is severely compromised! That search engines hate duplicate content is a given – and 3 of the key indicators are page URL, Title and Description!
Fortunately, SEO for WordPress is facilitated by the concept of “plugins” or easily installed mini-applications which provide specific functionality. They do so dynamically – in other words, once installed the applications automate the process of generating accurate outputs, with no manual efforts required by you. Here are ten essential enhancements to WordPress that will make a huge difference in the qualified traffic your blog delivers to you!
1. Page Names or URLs
This is controlled by the Permalinks setting – the default produces garbage URL’s which give no indication of the actual page or post content. However, its not particularly difficult to have every page URL show as a keyword-rich plain-English file name with an HTML extension! This can be based on the post title or Slug, so you have precise control over the page name / URL. Achieving this simply requires the use of the Custom Permalink option.
2. Titles
The Optimal Title plugin provides a quick solution – once installed it dynamically inserts the post title into the pages Title tag, in front of the Weblog title you have set. This facilitates keyword-rich titles specific/unique to the page / post. Accurate titles are the single most important on-site SEO element.
3. Description Meta-tag
There are several plugins that dynamically provides good Description meta-tags. The one I like is Head-Meta-Desc as its a no-brainer to install, and by default uses either the optional excerpt if present, or the first 20 words from the first paragraph of the posting. The only thing I change is to edit the number of words it takes – from 20 to 30, which usually produces a Description tag containing 180 – 200 characters.
4. Keyword Meta-Tag
To produce an accurate page-specific keyword meta-tag, I use Ultimate Tag Warrior – a keyword meta-tag is an on/off option within this plugin, and it dynamically produces keywords based on post category + tags used in the post. That’s not all it does!
5. Tag Management
When you see the word “tag” in the blog context, simply think “keyword.” Tags are the blogger’s version of keywords, which are “pinned” to blog post to help categorise them, and find them, or similar / related posts again. The Ultimate Tag Warrior plugin previously mentioned will manage your tags for you… the ultimate convenience being the drop-down list of tags available on new posts! This speeds up the tagging process, and assists in tag name consistency. UTW provides various options for displaying tags on each post – as a list, as a tag cloud…
6. Google Sitemap Generator for WordPress
A sitemap is a key SEO tool to ensure pages have the best possible chance of being found and indexed by search engine spiders. This plugin creates a Google-compliant XML-Sitemap of your WordPress blog, including homepage, posts, static pages, categories and archives. This plugin also notifies Google whenever the sitemap gets regenerated – which happens automatically every time a new post is made!
7. Categories
Use them wisely! take care to use keyword-rich, accurate Category names, these will be used in URLs, and in keyword meta-tags.
8. Post Titles
Use them wisely also! Keyword-rich, accurate post titles can make the world of difference to your SE rankings. Coupled with Optimal Title, the post title is going to be the first section of the Page Title. Each post title should include a relevant keyword / keyword phrase…
9. Maximise Blog & Ping Potential
There are services that scan blogs regularly for updates, and publish the recent updates. To derive the benefit of that, you need to add an expanded ping list to the Options / Writing / Update List. By default, WordPress only pings the Pingomatic service with new posts. There are a growing number of other distribution services that you need to be notifying, to get the best results.
10 Blog Search Engines & Directories
You must manually submit your blog to 100+ top blog search engines and directories to gain maximum traction. Registration on those offering ping services ensures that your blog’s update pings will be accepted and processed by them.
If you implement these 10 simple WordPress search engine optimisation modifications to your blog, I can guarantee you will achieve a huge boost in traffic flows! If you need help, its part of what we do…
Blog Search Engine Optimisation
As mentioned in previous posts, using blogs to generate additional traffic for your primary site can pay huge dividends. Just “doing it” can mean significant increases in traffic, but what you really want to do here is – as in your main site – generate qualified traffic.
Content Creation Discipline
By that, I mean you want to draw in people who want exactly what you offer. That requires a disciplined approach to content creation;
- Research and consider carefully what your post is about, and know why you are writing it – the objective!
- Identify the keyword phrase/s that people are using to find information relevant to the topic you will write on
- Ensure you place keywords in the post title, and early in the first paragraph, with some additional emphasis on the words, such as bold / italics
- Include “exact match” keyword phrases throughout the body of the article.
- Add tags/slug i.e. a short list of specific relevant keywords – this may be used in the post page Keyword meta-tag.
- Write a concise Excerpt, loaded with keyword phrases – this may be used in the post page Description meta-tag.
- Use the Spell Checker!!! This article may be the first introduction a potential client has with your business.
Remember that “You NEVER get a second chance to create a first impression!”
Business Blogs Should Inform & Educate
In a business blog, which is there to inform & educate potential clients about aspects of your business, try to provide useful information, without a blatant sales pitch. By all means, encourage readers to “Inquire about Free Personal Advice” or “Contact us for More Information” but don’t overdo the sales pitch. Your goal is to convey your depth of knowledge and experience, and build credibility.
Blog Search Engine Optimisation
To maximise the penetration of your Blog posts, it is not sufficient to just write it and forget it. You need to ensure that your Business Blog is properly “optimised” to produce unique, accurately categorised, and clearly labelled content. This requires a SEO package implementation on your blog to ensure that your Posts, static Pages and Category pages are UNIQUE! We think WordPress is the fastest and easiest blog platform to customize. It also has a comprehensive array of free SEO options, and following comments are specific to WordPress.
This is best done dynamically, with installation of plugins that provide automation of;
- HTML Page URLs – using mod_rewrite to generate verbose, keyword-rich page file names.
- Page Title Tags – if you write good post titles, these can be used verbatim in the Title Tag.
- Page Description Meta-Tag – uses the post Excerpt, or the first 20 words of 1st paragraph.
- Page Keyword Meta-Tag – used the post Tag or Slug to generate keywords.
Accurate Content Cataloguing Pays Dividends
The combined impact of attention to detail in posting generation and publishing, plus Search Engine Optimisation finesse on the page production, will deliver dramatic improvements to blog traffic. At the same time, it will ensure that visitors get exactly what they were seeking, due to the resulting accuracy of your blog content cataloguing efforts.
That will encourage them to bookmark the site, or specific page, and to come back looking for additional details.
Yet Another Insightful SEO Article by; 
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (Co. Ltd)
Web: http://www.comauth.co.nz/ – www.theSeoGuy.co.uk – www.TheSeoGuy.us
Email: SEO
Contact us for a Free SEO Site Review….
