May 10
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This post will explain which steps you can take in order to improve your Wordpress site’s postition in the search engine results pages.
Create unique but representative page titles
The page title should accurately describe the page’s content. This is very easy with WordPress because the description which you give to your post or page automatically becomes the website page title.
Make sure that you always choose a page or post description which is as unique as possible.
Make use of the “description” meta tag
Install WordPress SEO plugins such as all-in-one SEO. This allows you to enter information which which is automatically placed into the description meta tag. Accurately summarise the content of posts and pages and enter the information in the appropriate boxes which can be found right at the bottom of the “edit post” page.
Tools exist to help you construct unique descriptions by analysing your text and suggesting how good your choices are.
Improve the format of the URLs
Use words in URLs instead of post numbers/codes by adjusting your Permalink settings accordingly. The permalink settings can be changed by clicking on “Permalinks” under the Settings section on the left hand side.
Look for the section at the top called Common Settings. Under this section you should select the option for “custom structure” and enter the text /%postname% . Your website URLs will now be more readable for users and search engines alike.
Make your site easier to navigate
Create a logical hierarchy for you pages using parent-child menu functionality.
Avoid using images for navigation.
Use a plugin to generate an XML Sitemap file.
Generate a helpful friendly 404 page.
Write quality content and services
Write text using plain English – assuming that English is the language used for you website:)
Present your information organised around the topic
Choose terminology which is appropriate and relevant for your content
Research your topic thoroughly and create unique content
Look for niches in your subject to that you can offer exclusive content
Write you content for humans, not for search engines. Poor content will cause people to leave your site quickly, and this “bounce rate” will harm your ratings.
Improve the anchor text for your links
Text links should be concise and contain descriptive keywords
Ensure that the links on screen are easy to recognise
Internal links, pointing to other pages within you site should also contain clear & relevant text
Conservative use heading tags
Headings can be generated using the HTML view as follows <h1>Heading</h1> Headings can also be created using the style drop-down in the WordPress editor Headings should contain your target keywords – which should also appear in the main text. Headings provide users with an overview of the text when skimming through
Use headings sparingly in pages and posts
Allow search engines to “see” your images
Use relevant, short, but descriptive filenames. Use the “alt text” attribute which is available when editing/inserting your images in WordPress
Place images in a separate directory
Use the regular file types such as JPEG
Be aware of the robots.txt file & rel=”nofollow”
The robots.txt file will guide the search engines in how they analyse your website. This enables you to steer them away from content which you consider inappropriate or unhelpful for the search results.
Using rel=”nofollow” will prevent search engines from following links on you site. This is useful if your blog allows comments because people will place sometimes undesirable links which can harm you sites SEO. It is also handy when you need to reference a website, but don’t want give it kudos.
Promote your website effectively
Post new content frequently – at least once per month
Submit articles to sites such as ezinearticles.com with links back to you site
Utilise social media sites such as Facebook & Twitter Bookmark your pages using a tool such as Digg or Delicious.
Try to build good relationships with other sites offering similar content
Check out free tools from Google
Google’s Webmaster Tools is the most popular source of information but also consider Yahoo! Site Explorer & Microsoft Bing Webmaster.
Google analytics & Alexa
The Google Analytics service will allow you determine how users reach you site. You can allow see how they behave and discover which content on your site is the most popular. Regular use of this service will enable you to monitor and measure the impact of changes you make to your site.
