If you’re fed up with the old saying “content is king,” I’ve got a new one for you. The content itself is next to nothing if it’s not visible on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Do you want the gold medal and always take the first spot with your content? Well, be prepared to do this the hard way. The online environment evolves, Google’s algorithm is constantly changing to crawl & index relevant content. A good Search Engine Optimization strategy helps you stand out with your website in SERP. Consider today’s article as an introduction to the SEO world.
Search engines crawl, index, and understand your site’s content
As we all know, search engines are that one friend that knows everything you ask him. When a search query is received, the algorithm deeply analyzes millions of pages in milliseconds to deliver you the most relevant and related pieces of content. In short, Googlebot first crawls the content’s code. Then, if the information is eligible to appear in search, it’s indexed.
If you want to find out more in-depth information about how search really works, you should check out the Google story on organizing data, search algorithms and more.
S comes from “search,” E stands for “engine,” and O is for “optimization.” The SEO acronym means “search engine optimization,” and it’s the non-paid method to make your brand known in the search results, and naturally increase the site’s traffic.
Why you have to make a strategy
Why is Search Engine Optimization Vital for Your WordPress website? A good SEO strategy keeps on telling Google, “hi, this website publishes real and valuable information” until the complicated algorithm agrees & indexes your pages to show them on SERP. So, you have to get Google to trust you (actually, it’s your website, not you as human.)
How much do you love data analysis? Even if SEO is very much related to the content, you have to analyze and test every tiny detail. And still, you can’t make it work like magic. Why? Because SEO is evolving every day and so should you. What works today may not apply tomorrow. So, you need an SEO strategy that you can easily adjust.
Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first – Wendy Piersall
Let’s start with the basics. Whether we’re talking about text, images, or any other media files, you need to not only to optimize your website but also to further enhance the content for search engines. So, your work goes on-site (on-page) and off-site (off-page). Bear in your mind that on-site SEO efforts refer to a complete strategy all over your website. This means your titles, tags, post content, pages, categories, internal linking & others must be logically organized because nobody wants a negative user’s experience. Also, if a website looks like a jungle with nothing interchangeable, Google will not show it as the top one. External linking from reputable sites is the best off-site SEO method you can use on your site. If you want to understand the Google Algorithm related to search, look no further than what the Search Engine Journal highlighted in their “How SEO Works Exactly” article.
Benefits of well-done SEO
In essence, a great strategy means you have to take care of each page or post you publish on the site. On-page SEO efforts are also represented by keywords, meta descriptions, alt text on images, title tags, URLs structure, minimize CSS or Javascript where you can, and enable the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer.) On the other hand, social media posts and domain authority must be part of your off-page SEO plan. With all the search engine optimizations, your website will be visible in search and you’ll get a boost in traffic, as well as a quality audience. Moreover, you can convert traffic into real buyers.
Most popular SEO plugins to use with your WordPress theme
If you’re looking out for a new SEO plugin or you’re just starting, here’s a shortlist of the most appreciated ones:
- Yoast SEO
- All in One SEO Pack by Semper Plugins
- WordPress SEO Plugin by Rank Math
- The SEO Framework
- SEOPress by Benjamin Denis
The Final Note
In this article, we’ve focused mainly on Google. However, there are many other search engines such as Bing, Yandex, Yahoo, AOL, or DuckDuckGo and vocal searches of the Voice Assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, where you can put your SEO efforts to work. On the Reliable Soft website, you can find a great article that gathers info on the best ten search machines. So, you have to organize your website, provide a friendly UI to ensure a great UX. Also, you need to find your business keywords to add them everywhere on the site and improve your pages and posts. SEO achievements are paid in time. Be patient and wait for results! They’ll come if you’re resolute.
Good post! We will be linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the great writing
This is so true! Search Engine Optimization is important for any website over the internet. Anyone who wants to know why SEO is important for their wordpress site can refer to this blog. This blogpost was really a quick read and informative, Alina? Thanks a lot for sharing this with us!
Thank you for your kind words, Krishna!