Search Engine Optimization (SEO), at a very high level, is the process of finding the best way for search engines to find and index your content. This makes it much easier for people searching for your topic to find you. With the help of a WordPress SEO plugin, you can streamline the process of optimizing your web content.

 

A WordPress SEO Plugin to Help Follow SEO Best Practices

 

Using SEO best practices, your business can greatly improve organic search traffic coming from search engines like Google and Bing. This applies to any written content throughout your website, including web pages, landing pages, and blog posts!

WordPress SEO plugins are the perfect solution for content writers and web designers who are experts in their field, but not necessarily SEO best practices.

 

Examples of SEO Best Practices

 

 

The concept of SEO can be difficult to wrap your head around. For SEO experts, there are endless strategic opportunities for improving onsite SEO. For beginners, a few of the most common SEO best practices include:

 

 

1. Using Targeted Keyword Phrases

 

When writing the draft for a new piece of content, create a list of keywords and phrases that your potential readers are searching for. For example, if you were writing about the “10 Best Ways to View the Foliage in New Hampshire”, your readers may be searching for the phrase “fall foliage NH.” One of the best ways to gather this information is by using SEO tools and plugins.

 

 

2. Checking Content for Keyword Density

 

This is the percentage of times a keyword was mentioned in the blog post. Most experts recommend a keyword density of 1-3%. Most WordPress SEO plugins will check the keyword density to make sure you’ve written it enough, but not too much. You don’t want to appear spammy. 

 

 

3. Internal Page Linking

 

Increase page authority by linking to your other posts and pages in a blog post. For example, if you mention a topic in your blog post that you’ve written a piece on, link to it. That way the reader can find out more about the topic and you can improve on-page SEO. This also helps to keep your website visitors exploring your related content. 

 

 

4. Writing Metadata for Pages and Posts

 

Metadata, sometimes also generally referred to as the “meta description”, is what you see when you’re searching on Google. The title, URL, and description of the search result is that page’s metadata.

 

If you don’t write optimized metadata for your blog post, this will show up blank or with a strange looking automated fill-in. WordPress SEO Plugins notify you when you forget to add metadata.

 

 

5. Using Alt Tags for Images

 

 

The ALT tag is the phrase that shows up if an image will not render, and it describes the images for the Google spiders. It is also what Google pulls from when a searcher is using Google Images. By making sure all images have ALT tags, you give a clear description of the image in case the image will not render. And this makes it easier for searchers to find an image that could lead them to your website.

 

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Using a WordPress SEO Plugin to Automate the Process

 

 

With the help of a WordPress SEO plugin like Yoast, All in One SEO Pack, or SEOPressor, you can check your work to make sure all of the best practices have been included before publishing.

 

Using a plugin saves time and double checks for any basic SEO no-no’s so you don’t have to. Just like a content writer checks for grammar and spelling mistakes, search engine optimization should be checked as well!

 

 

Depending on the WordPress SEO plugin you are using, it will check for:

 

• A custom post title
• Meta description
• Meta keywords
• Tags and categories
• Readability
• Keyword density
• Keywords in Headers

 

And each plugin has its individual set of cool features to help writers get on the SEO best practices bandwagon!

 

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SEO Plugins are Helpful, but Don’t Solely Rely on Them

 

I also want to take a few moments to leave you with two very important pieces you need to tackle when writing content – strategic keyword research is valuable and quality content really matters.

 

Keyword Research for Content Writing

 

While you’re at it, using services like SEMrush, can help you find the best keywords for your content. Check how often that keyword is searched, the competition for it, and where your website currently ranks. See what words are most often used by searchers to find the topic you are writing about. Check out what the top 10-20 results are when you search these terms and see if there is a need for improved content based on those results. 

 

By doing this preliminary research, you can improve the chances of interested searchers finding your content and ranking higher in Google. This leads to an increase of valuable leads to your website and a decrease in the wrong reader finding your content.

 

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Write Content that Matters

 

 

In today’s content optimization world, the very best thing you can do is create content that is genuine and provides value to the reader. As search engines evolve, they can tell the difference between surface level blog content and in-depth educational resources.

 

By using a WordPress SEO plugin, you can focus more on writing content that matters to the reader and less on checking all of these SEO best practices. Plugins help to check your work to make sure you’ve optimized all website content to the best of your ability.

 

 

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If you have any questions about SEO best practices or our preferred plugins, please reach out for more information.

Interested in learning more about getting an SEO audit from the experts? Check out this informative piece, “SEO Audit: Seven Reasons Why You Need One Today.

 

Kelsie Collins
Content Writer and Project Manager
Email me at kelsie at heartbrain dot marketing