How to Optimise a WordPress Site for SEO

WordPress, the blogging platform, can also build well optimised sites for SEO purposes with just a few adjustments and techniques – and all for free!

Assuming you have installed WordPress onto your own hosting (which is often simple enough using a  click script which many hosting providers give you) then you can also follow these steps to optimise your WordPress site for SEO:

1. Change Domain if not showing www. in URL

Go to Settings/General, then change WordPress and Blog address (URL) to include www.

2. Change Permalink Structure

This builds keyword rich URL’s for you automatically. Go to Settings/Permalinks/Common Settings, tick Custom Structure, paste:
/%category%/%postname%/

3. Remove Comments (optional)

More of anti spam than SEO issue but go to Settings/Discussion/Default article settings/untick Allow people to post comments on the article.

4. Create Sub heading

Write a keyword rich sub heading of about 8-12 words in Settings/General/Tagline. Check how it looks in your chosen theme.

6. Install All in One SEO Pack Plugin

Go to Plugins, search for All in One SEO and install. Then Activate and write unique page title, meta description and tags for the home page. All other settings can be left out of the box.

7. Delete Post

Delete the ‘Hello World’ post put in the Posts section by default and replace with  new post.

8. Target Content

After you’ve done your keyword research write blog posts on each topic, then also repeat keywords in Categories and Tags.