ConnectOver 81% of consumer’s research products and services online before they make buying decisions. That’s according to a study conducted by the National Retail Federation, a world leading retail trade association. They simply type the product or service name in the search engine box and a list of websites that sell them come up. Studies show that if your business website is not on top of this list, you might not be able to sell your products or services. If your business website does not appear on top of this list, it means you’re not taking SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) seriously. If you’re operating a WordPress business website, here are On-Page SEO tips to help your website to rank high on search engines:
1. Generate high-quality content
All SEO experts agree that content is the most important thing for businesses looking to rank high on search engines. In fact, content is the number one Google ranking factor today. Besides being the main Google ranking factor, content is the backbone of any website. Shoppers visit websites to read content about the products and services they intend to buy. Therefore, make sure to generate high-quality and useful content (that will help consumers make buying decisions quickly) if you want your site to rank high on search engines. If consumers are not spending more time on your website, it means your content is low quality and unhelpful, and so your search engine rankings will suffer.
2. Take keyword research seriously
About ten years ago, it was easy to rank high on search engines. Why? You only needed to stuff your content with relevant keywords. Content creators took advantage of this to churn out a ton of poor quality content and stuffed them with keywords. Google discovered this bad practice and changed its ranking algorithm. Now, content creators have to generate quality content for the user and not for search engines. However, the keyword is still a Google ranking factor, but only when accompanied by high-value content. To successfully leverage keywords to rank your website higher on search engines, you need rigorous keyword research to determine words consumers frequently use to search products and services online. Google Keyword Planner and Google analytics are the two best tools to help you find those keywords. They can also generate alternative keywords to insert in your content. You can also use your WordPress website statistics to get keyword ideas.
3. Use SEO optimised themes and plugins
Many people love WordPress because it comes with a huge range of themes and plugins to build a website in a matter of minutes. While WordPress comes with many themes and plugins, using an SEO optimised theme and plugin gives you an upper hand when looking to rank high on search engines. The main Features of an SEO optimised WordPress theme include responsive design, availability of scheme.org mark up, simple design, clean and valid HTML, compatibility with various plugins, and compatibility with multiple browsers.
4. Build a mobile-friendly website
The explosion of mobile devices changed the SEO landscape. According to a Google survey, about 60% of online searchers use their mobile devices. That prompted the search engine to change its ranking algorithm from desktop to mobile-first a few years ago. That means Google prioritises mobile-friendly websites when ranking sites today. So if your website is not mobile-friendly, your website content will not be able to fit into mobile device screens, which means mobile searchers will not be able to view your content clearly. When this happens, your search engine rankings not only suffer, but you also lose a lot of traffic and potential sales. So, when looking to create a website, hire a web designer who knows how to build SEO friendly websites. Luckily, WordPress is optimised for mobile, so you’ll just need to choose a mobile-friendly theme and plugins to make it effective.
5. Enhance your web page load speeds
With the busy lifestyles and the importance of time today, people want to visit an online store, buy what they want and leave to attend to other things that matter the most in their lives. So if your business website loads slowly and shoppers have to wait to land on your pages, your bounce rate will increase. Bounce rate is the percentage of customers who visit your website and leave without looking at other pages. If your website visitors are not sticking around to check out your pages, it means you’ll not make sales. And when these customers leave, they won’t return. This is bad and your business may not survive. You can use the Google Page Insights tool to check the speed of your WordPress website and implement the recommendations it gives you to speed up your site Some of the best techniques to enhance your web page load speeds include:
- Choosing a good WordPress web hosting — Choose managed WordPress web hosting instead of shared WordPress web hosting.
- Remove WordPress plugins that you don’t need
- Optimise your images — You can use the Image Optimiser tool to compress, resize, and optimise your images.
- Minimising ads on your WordPress website
- Choose a theme with a simple design
- Disable jetpack features that you don’t need
- Include a site map on your WordPress website -A site map shows all the categories and pages of your WordPress website. Have a sitemap for search engines and humans on your WordPress website. A sitemap helps visitors and search engines to find what they are looking for on your website quickly. Websites with sitemaps rank well on search engines.
6. Internal link building
Internal links link one webpage to another page within your website. Here are the benefits of internal links:
- They help visitors to navigate your website, this reduces your websites bounce rate
- Boosts web page views: When visitors follow a link and find that the page contains useful information, they will share it with others, and this increases your page views.
- Increase dwell time – Dwell Time is the amount of time visitors spend on your website. If they stay longer on your site, Google construes that as a valuable website. That means it offers value to customers. So its rankings will increase.
- Determine page authority: If a page has many links, it means it’s high-value and Google will rank it higher than other pages.
Note that WordPress On Page SEO requires time to start showing results. There is no magic solution to WordPress On Page SEO success yet. Also, you need to always update your WordPress On Page SEO strategy in relation to industry changes. And always follow SEO guidelines to avoid being penalized by search engines.
Author Bio
The above content related to SEO which is submitted by Sandeep Mehta (SEO Expert & Consultant) who has great experience in SEO. He always shares informative content with others to increase others knowledge. Check his profile: https://www.sandeepmehta.co.in/
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