How to Optimize WordPress

With over 150 million blogs live on the internet if you don’t optimize your blog then you will have no chance to complete with the savvy blog owners who are taking steps to maximize their blog’s optimization from the ground up. This guide will give you the complete steps to take maximize your blog’s search engine optimization factors and reach high levels of success.

How to Do SEO for WordPress

Step 1: Use the best WordPress SEO themes for your blog.

Your WordPress theme is your foundation for your blog’s SEO. If you want to rank high on the search engines don’t ever use any of the free themes offered that contain hidden links to the creators website and do not have the proper configuration controls for effective WordPress optimization. Do SEO for WordPress the right way by starting with a strong foundation in your blog theme. See the best WordPress SEO themes

Step 2: Use the best Permalink structure

You need the most SEO-friendly URL structure possible. In your WP-Admin under Settings > Permalinks under the Common Settings choose “Custom Structure” and enter /%category%/%postname%/ If your blog already has a different structure and it is still new you can change this and use the plugin Dean’s Permalinks Migration. If your blog has been around for a while you should not change and use this for the next blog you create.

Step 3: Use the best SEO plugins for WordPress

The best SEO plugins for WordPress will make the difference between your blog ranking on the 10th page and on the 1st page with no question. SEO for WordPress relies heavily on your blog having the right tools. SEO plugins now are so advanced you can literally control any aspect of your blog’s onsite optimization to ensure the best possible ranking not only for your homepage, but for your inner pages and posts as well. See the best SEO plugins for WordPress

Step 4: Navigation

Most of your link juice will come to the homepage of your blog and then be distributed through your navigational links. Ensure you have links to your most important articles on your homepage whether it be the top, bottom navigation or sidebar.

Step 5: Sitemap

Use a sitemap plugin to create a human sitemap so that visitors can navigate to find specific articles and posts of interest. Search engines will also utilize these links to properly crawl and index your site also. See the best SEO plugins for WordPress

Step 6: Design

Design is an important aspect of WordPress optimization. Ensure that the design is:

  • Simple and Clean
  • The headings and sub-headings are big and bold with easily readable body text
  • The text width should not take up more than 2/3 of the total blog template width (about one and a half the alphabet)
  • Keep the main body text and keywords towards the top as high as possible (eye-level before the fold)
  • Don’t overload your blog with ads
  • Make all external affiliate and advertising links rel=nofollow
  • Link internally to other pages on your blog frequently with relevant anchor text
  • Repeat your keywords in the footer

Step 7: Make your blog social

Ensure that your blog links out to all of your main social networks (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc) while ensuring that every single page has the appropriate social share tools so that visitors can share your content on theirs.

Step 8: Enable the Opt-In (Newsletter Signup / Email Marketing)

How do you stay connected with your visitors? Once they leave your site they may never come back and soon forget about your blog. By enabling them to Opt-In via email you can retain loyal visitors and even get them to refer friends and colleagues. Periodically send out an email or two reminding them of any new articles, specials or happenings with your blog. STAY on their mind. You will hear time and time again that this is the most effective form of marketing. The choice of successful email marketers everywhere is Aweber which will allow you to easily manage Opt-In lists, Newsletters, Announcements, and track results. Visit Aweber.com and create your account today.

Step 9: Make a backup

So you’ve invested all this time into building, writing and publishing content, optimizing your blog and you don’t have a suitable back-up? Neither your WordPress software or your web host provide an all-in-one backup solution for your entire blog site (database, widgets, images, content, settings, etc). Moreover, moving your blog to a different domain or web host is a real pain if you don’t have an all-one-backup. Invest in at least one premium plugin and always keep a recent copy of your WordPress blog. See the 5 best premium WordPress plugins

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