Almost half of all the websites on the internet are on WordPress. Let that sink in for a minute.
That means WordPress commands a massive share of the internet’s total “real estate.”
What does it mean?
Well, a lot of things. But one is that there is intense competition for organic rankings at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPS) and not all of it comes from WordPress users, either.
The answer to those on this open-source platform lies in the effective administration of WordPress SEO services that hinge on the four pillars of SEO: technical, on and off-page SEO, and content.
Here’s the high-level view to put it all in focus.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to the series of practices that make it possible for web crawlers to find, crawl, and index your website in order to assign it authority.
A lot of technical SEO will be “implemented” by the Content Management System (CMS) you use, but there are other things to take into account, such as whether or not a website is mobile-friendly, has a rational site structure (and a sitemap), and is secure and offers fast load times.
There are tools you can use to audit your website for tech-SEO friendliness, but WordPress SEO experts also know what to look for and how to make beneficial adjustments.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to the collection of practices taken to optimize a website at the page level so that individual pages can rank higher in the SERPs.
There are a number of on-page ranking signals that will affect long term WordPress search engine optimization, including but not limited to:
● Meta titles and meta descriptions.
● URL slugs.
● Structured data markups.
● A logical page structure that is easy to navigate and encourages a positive user experience.
● Content optimization: How valuable content is to readers, whether or not it contains original, authoritative information, and whether or not it is keyword-optimized.
Together, these ranking signals help Google and other search engines determine whether or not a WordPress site is an authority and should be ranked higher in the search results.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page or off-site SEO pretty much has to do with link-building which is one of the most elusive aspects of SEO and one of the most difficult to implement.
This is partly due to the fact that you can’t just “create” links. Typically, bought links are bad, and only links from high-quality sources will boost authority. Spam links can hurt a website.
Basically, the more high-quality backlinks a website has, the more referral traffic it will get and the more Google will consider it an authority.
Most WordPress SEO companies have their own proprietary SEO strategies for sewing the seeds of successful backlinks to improve the domain authority of their clients’ WordPress websites.
The Role of Optimized Content in SEO
Content plays a central role in SEO. It’s tough to say, but a case can be made that it is as important if not more important than all of the other components.
That is, no SEO strategy is complete without both keyword research and a steady stream of optimized content.
Optimized content can take the form of blog posts, new landing pages, product page updates, and even meta descriptions.
The first role of optimized content is to get Google’s attention through the use of keywords. However, once Google serves that content to users, it has to offer a high-quality UX and meet user search intent.
If it does, users will stay on the page longer, link to it, share it on social media, or even convert through the landing page on which they started.
All of these things are signals to Google that your content, in specific, and your website, in general, have authority and should be ranked higher.
Ready to Learn More about WordPress SEO Services
WordPress may be compatible with a wide range of SEO plugins, but the plugin can’t do the entire job. It can only help.
The rest of the heavy lifting should be left to a qualified SEO consultant. For more information, for an SEO audit, or to get started putting the gears in motion for WordPress SEO services for your own eCommerce website, visit Genius eCommerce today at GeniusEcommerce.com.
