WordPress SEO and Your Article: Landing Page BFFs

BAS + SEO = 4E

This is a tutorial “article” that will show writers how to do all their own SEO for each of their own articles. Search Engine Optimization? Sounds scary! Well, it is, scary awesome how easy it is for everyone to be diligent about putting forth the effort so that all articles are search engine efficient and effective. 

What is SEO?

It’s a marketing and writing discipline that focuses on growing visibility in non-paid (organic) search engine results. This tactic, encompasses both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness via internet searches, i.e. Google, Yahoo, Bing, Dogpile, AskJeeves, etc. (Are the last two even a thing anymore?)

What does it do?

Search Engine Optimization takes very relevant, authoritative, and content rich pages and adheres them to the proper search results. This happens when a search engine crawls individual pages, whole websites, and URLs with clout.

Why is it important?

Without a good SERP ranking (search engine results page) how will you receive the best possible organic traffic? Exactly, and that’s why we optimize each page/article for better results. In a world of saturated content, the combo of awesome writing and following made-up internet rules is a competitive advantage.

What can you do to get the best Search Engine Optimization on WordPress?

Follow the color-coded analysis at the bottom of each post page, the red, orange, and green tell you what you can do and how well you’re doing to have better search prowess.

All green means good to go!

• Tags
  • These are the simplest tactic because you’re literally just plugging in search terms that are relevant to your article. Remember, this isn’t what you think will work best it’s also what you feel that will have the most search value.

Tags, you’re it, when it comes to search terms!

• Meta Description
  • The meta description is the first thing a Googlebot will crawl for and it’s the first impression searchers will see. Think about this short but effective blurb as your dating profile. 50% of readers will choose to click on your article link because of this.

The Tinder profile of search tools.

• Must have photos – no seriously, having photos is a requirement for the best search optimization as it’s two-fold. Not only does it help for SERP ranking but when filled out properly the search terms you add to the article photos will help that photo that’s linked to your article show up in Image/Photo search. This is a two-parter; one area of content when you upload, and the additional content is when you edit the photo after it’s uploaded to the article.

Caption those images!

Scroll over your uploaded image, click the edit pencil and fill in the blanks as shown.

• Categories
  • The easiest part of all of this. Just click the appropriate sections/pages where your content is most relevant.

Content, phone home!

• Focus keyword(s) are what will get you the search value and all those green dots next to the parameters in which you’re trying to fulfill. 
  • Appropriate keyword content, but not too heavy
  • Title must contain the exact focus keyword
  • Same goes for the first paragraph
  • Yes, you guessed it, the meta description

One, or three, little words can make or break your search clout.

• Outbound Links
  • https://www.aclu.org/ (see what I did there?) Although you should always hypertext your hyperlink instead of just throwing the URL out there.
• Duplicate/copyrighted content
  • Coachella comes around every year, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be the same. Well ok maybe a little, but when you write about, don’t reuse last years article and change the dates and performers. When over half of your content is already indexed somewhere else on your site, it will get flagged and punished with lower rankings. Forget everything you learned about writing a report the day before it’s due and you never read the book, that does not apply here. Keep this in mind if you sell a lot of similar products. Do not just copy and paste.

That, my friends, is perfect WordPress SEO

Most importantly, from scholar Joe Dirt, we should remind ourselves, that yes please write compelling content, but when it comes to SEO and WordPress, it’s not about what you want, it’s the web surfer.