How to Integrate SEO Into Your WordPress Website

In the world that we live in it is no longer an option to have a business or provide a service without having a digital presence. WordPress is becoming a go to tool, especially for small to midsized companies who don’t have that trusty marketing department. It allows non-developers to build a website without sacrificing functionality and design – one of the major pitfalls of so many website builders out there.

WordPress is a fantastic resource to get your website up and running. However, it does not end there. SEO is a huge variable in your website success. Recently I have been asked

Can I add SEO to my WordPress Website?

The answer is YES and here’s how:

1. Download and Install Yoast SEO

WordPress offers endless plugins that allow you to add additional functionality to your website outside of your theme’s parameters. SEO is one of them. After a good amount of research and testing of ineffective SEO plugins – I stumbled upon Yoast SEO and have never looked back. SEO Yoast is it when it comes to integrating SEO into your WordPress website. Go to Plugins – Add New and type in SEO Yoast in the search field. Simply download, install, and you are ready to get started!

2. Add a Focus Keyword

Once Yoast is installed you will find that a SEO section now appears at the bottom of each page or post. The first area you will want to address is the Focus Keyword field. What is a focus keyword? A focus keyword is a word or phrase that encompasses the content on your page or post. A good way to choose your keyword is to think in terms of Google ranking. What word or phrase do you want correlated with your page when users are searching for you? And more importantly, what word or phrase are people actually searching for when looking for the information on your page? Conducting keyword research with tools like Google Adwords provides insight on your user’s searching habits and will help you determine the most effective keyword.

3. Integrate Keyword into Content

After entering a keyword you will receive an analysis evaluating how well you have integrated your keyword into the content on your page. This is illustrated through color – green is good, yellow is ok and red is bad. Each factor is evaluated separately, allowing you to pinpoint areas of improvement. Go through each factor of analysis and adjust your post or page with the suggestions provided. This can sometimes require rewriting/tweaking content, adding H-tags, changing alt-text on images, increasing page content etc.

4. Adjust Content for Increased Readability

This is a newer feature to the Yoast plugin. Now not only does Yoast analyze your SEO, but it also provides an analysis for your content readability. Once clicking on the Readability tab, you will receive an evaluation illustrated in the same fashion as the SEO evaluation based off of readability factors. Once again, go through each factor of analysis and adjust accordingly.

Follow steps 2 through 4 on each page or post on your website and you will have successfully optimized your website for SEO. No need for an SEO expert – oh wait maybe YOU are the SEO expert. 🙂