WordPress is the most widely used content management system (CMS) in the world ? roughly half of sites that use a CMS use WordPress.
There is good reason for WordPress? popularity. It?s versatile, easy to use and highly customizable, due to the numerous plugins and themes available.
Many believe that using WordPress to host a site automatically guarantees good SEO. As the belief goes, all you need to do is start a WordPress site, and your SEO will take care of itself.
It doesn?t work that way. If you?re on the cusp of launching a new WordPress site, here?s what you need to know to maximize search engine visibility. My goal in this article is to provide several overarching strategies (rather than a technical how-to) that will improve your search potential.
1. WordPress Is Not An Automatic SEO Solution
First, let me reiterate the fact that WordPress is not an SEO silver bullet. The value of WordPress for SEO is that it is simple and intuitive. The platform doesn?t require a lot of coding or difficult customization. As such, it can be easy to get up and running with great search-optimized functionality.
Another benefit of WordPress is its technical beauty. Obviously, the technical wonders of WordPress are only as good as the theme you?re using. Generally speaking, however, most themes use sound technical structure, eliminate unnecessary code and are mobile-friendly.
That being said, WordPress doesn?t automatically do SEO for you. Here are a few examples:
Out of the box, WordPress has the potential to be slow. Load time is a significant search factor. Since WordPress does not automatically provide caching, users must install their own caching functionality. Plugins like WpSuper cache and W3 total cache allow for faster site loading.
WordPress?s default permalink settings are not optimized, either. You?ll want to adjust your permalink structure in order to make your site?s URLs search-friendly. The default permalink structure ?
Example Domain ? is not the way to go. Instead, go for something human-readable (and therefore more search-friendly).
Warning: If you manage an existing WordPress site, you should not simply change your permalinks. This will change all your existing URLs, thus resulting in 404 errors and (almost certainly) a significant loss of traffic and rankings. If you need to change your permalink structure on an existing WordPress site, make sure you take the time to set up proper 301 redirects first.
By default, WordPress creates external links by opening them in the same window. If a user opens a link on your page, they navigate off your page and onto the new page or website. In other words, you may have just lost a reader, user or customer.
Finally, WordPress does not automatically create XML sitemaps. Creating a sitemap is an integral part of optimizing for search.
To sum up, WordPress doesn?t make your SEO happen. So what does make your SEO happen? Your theme?
No. Read on.