10 Important Tips to Optimize WordPress for Search Engines

 Posted in WordPress 955 days ago • Written by: Ayaz Malik
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Wordpress Seo Tips

There is a wide concept in publisher’s mind that using wordpress means getting maximum traffic from search engines because wordpress is a very good CMS which hardly requires Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Well this concept is not as correct as it sounds. WordPress also requires some optimization to get max out of search engines. For this purpose i made a list of 10 Important Changes which should be a part of your wordpress blog.

preview important tips optimize wordpress search engine wordpress howto wordpress

1. Use a sitemap generator and generate XML sitemaps like twice a week.

2. Use an Ideal Robot.txt File which do the following:

Points to the sitemap in first line.
Disallow unnecessary pages, folders so search engines get to your content instead of wasting time and getting less important stuff.
Here is a sample : http://www.designzzz.com/robots.txt

3. Using rel=”nofollow” Attribute in outgoing or less important links.

This Attribute tells the search engine bots not to follow the specific link or do not share that page’s Rank with this link. This is a very important tip , you can control your site’s SEO and Page rank by just using proper nofollow attributes. Here is a post i wrote earlier which can show you how to control your page rank and seo by using nofollow. Ok, the Less Important links includes links like Read more.. , Click here etc. This can be done by editing the template files easily.
Some plugins which we use in Wordpess blogs requires a must nofollow and we never thought about that.  Here is a very cool example. You are using the easy retweet plugin and Retweet buttons are shown on start of every post even on your homepage. Lets say you have 10 posts blocks on your homepage and have 10 retweet buttons on it link to twitter.com !!! that means there are ten outgoing links, you are sharing your site’s page rank and getting lesser visibility in search engine. it can be nofollow from its settings.

4. Proper URL and Title Structure

It is the most important part which we neglect while publishing a post. Lets take a simple example. I am about ot publish a post lets say.
10 Awesome Graphics Designs and Digital Artworks  the URL would be :

www.yoursite.com/category/10-awesome-graphics-designs-and-digital-artworks
Seems pretty much alright, right? Well..here u miss about 30% of your visibility!!
A simple reason using STOP WORDS in title and URL are the worst idea u can think up of. !! AND is a stop word. About the url why make it so long using extra stuff in it like the word 10 , and etc. Trust me no one will search for your content in search engines with these words 10 graphics design.  If they look for that they will search graphics designs etc.
So get rid of 10 , and from your URL. Here is how they should be:

  • Title: 10 Awesome Graphics Designs n Digital Artworks
  • URL: www.yoursite.com/category/awesome-graphics-designs-digital-artworks/

Makes sense? well i don’t even use the category name in the URL structure to make it smaller and more powerful!

5. Using Keywords and Meta Description:

Ok, i have noticed that most of the bloggers use very tiny keywords. Well, guys small get a habit of using long tail keywords,because with them u get traffic for life time. Lets take the example of that above title post. keywords/tags which bloggers normally select are: graphics, design, digital, artworks. Why don’t you spice them up a bit to get even more traffic?  If i would do it , I would use these keywords:

Graphics, Design, Digital Artworks, Graphic Designs, Digital Graphics.

I actually spread the same keywords with order and words variation!!

About meta description keep it below 160 characters and add your keywords in it as well as possible like each keyword should be mentioned at least once.

6. Automatic SEO Plugin for WordPress

Well, I have used several plugins to test which one is good and the only plugin which satisfied me is Headspace2 SEO. I Recommend it.

7. On post page title of post should be written in Heading 1 (H1). and its very important to use your keywords in h2, h3 and h4 if possible.

8. Title and ALT Attribute in Links:

Ok, this is an important part which none of us actually look at. Title and alt attributes in links plays an important role in telling search bots that what this link or image is about.
Title and alt attributes are written like this if you are unaware of it:

  • <a href=”link…” title=”keyword name or what it is about”>Keyword</a>
  • <img src=”path to image” alt=”what image is about” />

My site gets 10% of its traffic from Google image search!! Because I use proper alt attribute.
Consider this example!! Like the graphics design post we discussed above. Your post consists of 10 Images. That means not much text to get good ranking and visibility in search engines. So why not use alt attribute in an optimized way!! in 10 images add alt tags with picture name + keyword/tag.

For example, the image name is abcd. i will add the alt attribute as alt=”abcd design” or abcd graphics etc.  That means in 10 places on your page’s source code your keywords are used! I think you get my point.

9. Avail WordPress ping facility to get max exposure and inbound links

Here is a list you might consider putting in your ping section in admin>settings>Writing:

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2http://1470.net/api/ping

http://api.feedster.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://api.moreover.com/ping

http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

http://bblog.com/ping.php

http://bitacoras.net/ping

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC

http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc

http://blogmatcher.com/u.php

http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc

http://coreblog.org/ping/

http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt

http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/

http://ping.amagle.com/

http://ping.bitacoras.com

http://ping.blo.gs/

http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/

http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/

http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc

http://ping.feedburner.com

http://ping.myblog.jp

http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://ping.weblogs.se/

http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/

http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/

http://rpc.newsgator.com/

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php

http://www.a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b

http://www.bitacoles.net/ping.php

http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://www.blogoole.com/ping/

http://www.blogoon.net/ping/

http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://www.blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1

http://www.blogshares.com/rpc.php

http://www.blogsnow.com/ping

http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi

http://www.mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php

http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud

http://www.newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php

http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php

http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2

http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/

http://xmlrpc.blogg.de

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

10. This might sound odd!! No follow Home Page !!

See this post for proper info about no-following homepage and why is it important.

Hope this helps! Maybe you have some more tips you would like to add? Feel free to write them in comments! Thanks and enjoy!

 Did you enjoy this article and found it useful?

I am a web designer, developer and Search Engine Optimizer work as a SEO from about last 5 years. Also running online photoshop and art community called Blasting Art and design blog Designzzz
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 78 Brilliant Comments - Join Discussion Now!

  • Freelance Web Designer

    Posted 942 days ago
    38

    I am trying some new plugins and will write report as soon as possible I get the result. btw, thank you for the article. two tumbs up !!
    .-= Freelance Web Designer´s last blog ..Free WordPress Template: Hijau Pupus Theme =-.

  • Mark94

    Posted 944 days ago
    37

    Does it make sense, in other words, to ask what my experiences are really like, as opposed to how they appear to me? ,

  • Delighted

    Posted 949 days ago
    36

    Great advice on the Robot.txt, Best i have seen.. should explain if you use the XML map to disable Virtual Robot.txt ? regardless… EXCELLENT! thank you

  • Surfers G

    Posted 949 days ago
    30

    One of the best articles I have read so far on SEO and WordPress and I read them almost every other day or so for the last 3 years.. Fantastic Stuff, thank you.

  • Omar Tringali

    Posted 950 days ago
    29

    Oh, It’s a beautiful and magik asset. Thank you Malik. Bye!!
    .-= Omar Tringali´s last blog ..Guadagno Intelligente, la nuova rivoluzione di Speculandes =-.

    • Ayaz Malik

      Posted 949 days ago
      31

      Your welcome :)

  • Jakub

    Posted 950 days ago
    28

    Can I just ask you why you disallow /about or /contact-us ?

    • Ayaz Malik

      Posted 949 days ago
      32

      hey , yes. the thing is disalow/nofollow are to tell the search bots that these pages are not or less important in this website. in the example case. its my site’s robots.txt so i dont feel the contact and about page an important part of a design blog to be indexed in google search results. so instead of going and indexing it why not index useful pages.
      .-= Ayaz Malik´s last blog ..52 Beautiful Vector Illustration and Designs =-.

  • Steve Sipress

    Posted 950 days ago
    27

    Good tips. Very useful.

  • Tomas

    Posted 950 days ago
    26

    Very useful article. I’m using All in One Seo plugin should I choose Headspace2 SEO? Which one is better? Thanks
    .-= Tomas´s last blog ..26 jQuery Plugins for Superb Navigation =-.

    • Ayaz Malik

      Posted 949 days ago
      33

      hiz, ok well both of the plugins are good and get the job done. As for me i prefer using headspace. no such comparison which differentiate them much from each other just that headspace makes things alot of automated.
      .-= Ayaz Malik´s last blog ..52 Beautiful Vector Illustration and Designs =-.

  • Dolphin CMS

    Posted 950 days ago
    25

    Thanks for a tips. WordPress is nice solution. Sure.
    .-= Dolphin CMS´s last blog ..OpenSocial =-.

  • Ayaz Malik

    Posted 954 days ago
    20

    wow i did made alot of spelling mistakes i guess O_O sorry about that guys

    • Dainis Graveris

      Posted 954 days ago
      21

      oh, article is still great! I spent some time to fix those mistakes, I hope it’s not so bad now :)

  • Robert

    Posted 954 days ago
    18

    Blog and ping should be a vital part of EVERY BLOGGER’S PROMOTIONAL ARSENAL.

    For a comprehensive list of 142 ping services consult my blog post:

    Blog And Ping — Expanded List Of Ping Service

    If you find sufficient value in this list of ping services, please link to it in your “Resources” section.

    Thanks.

    Best of success,

    Robert A. Kearse

  • Garrett

    Posted 954 days ago
    17

    Nice list… but I disagree with using “rel=nofollow” – Its just a way for Google to tell if you’re “doing SEO”.

    • Ayaz Malik

      Posted 953 days ago
      22

      ok as for this thing, now google support optimizing your pages for Search Engines if u will look in google blog.
      They have given new attribute to the nofollow , firstly it was for telling google dont index this page but now it means that share my current page’s Page Rank with the following link page.

      If u want to read more u can take a look at this article i wrote about nofollow when google updated its policy
      Nofollow link and the Truth
      .-= Ayaz Malik´s last blog ..35 Beautiful Anime Manga Style Art and Illustrations =-.

  • LUis Lopez

    Posted 954 days ago
    16

    Excellent article, I agree with your ideas and that WP is really great CMS for SEO if you use it well, there are a lot of plugins to increase this, so let’s do all this tips.
    I’ll only add to the list, add also keywords to your images, and tittle tags.

  • Andy Feliciotti

    Posted 954 days ago
    15

    Good tips and nice ping list, never realized what nofollow is for

  • Gustavo Freitas

    Posted 954 days ago
    14

    Parabéns,
    excelente artigo. muitas das dicas já utilizo, mas algumas não, vou colocar em prática,
    um abraço desde o Brasil.
    .-= Gustavo Freitas´s last blog ..Como migrar do Blogger para o WordPress em apenas alguns minutos =-.

  • Andrew Gerber

    Posted 954 days ago
    13

    I would like to say that it is not very difficult to optimize websites in search engines at all. Just follow all these clever tips and your success will be guaranteed.

  • ezra

    Posted 954 days ago
    12

    Thx Gooood but verrry good post
    .-= ezra´s last blog ..RADIO KILLER – Voila | Videoclip =-.

  • Ben Rama

    Posted 954 days ago
    11

    excellent post – i have done 3/4 of these already i thoght they were set it and forget it – i need to get my seo up to scratch – its not that interesting -
    cheers
    .-= Ben Rama´s last blog ..What Everybody Ought to Know About Franz Jeitz from Fudgegraphics : Interview =-.

  • Lam Nguyen

    Posted 955 days ago
    9

    Great content. I found something I missed out :D. Thank you!
    .-= Lam Nguyen´s last blog ..10 Important Tips to Optimize WordPress for Search Engines =-.

  • MCEctoCooler

    Posted 955 days ago
    8

    Great! Luckily, practicing good accessibility techniques and writing good copy is half the battle!:)

    Question:
    Any suggestions on how to automatically produce a site map?
    .-= MCEctoCooler´s last blog ..8 Web Marketing Tips from the The Predator =-.

    • Dainis Graveris

      Posted 955 days ago
      10

      If you are using WordPress, I would suggest Google XML Sitemaps

    • Ayaz Malik

      Posted 954 days ago
      19

      ok as dainis suggested using google xml sitemaps yes its very good plugin but i personally use a stand alone sitemap generator software which generates sitemaps in xml, txt and html and automatically submits them to google, bing, yahoo etc. its of about 25$ but the price worths it.You can find it over here http://www.xml-sitemaps.com

  • Max

    Posted 955 days ago
    6

    Thanks for this post, it contains some good tips. I agree with the comments made by others though. There were so many spelling and grammatical errors that some parts made very little sense.
    .-= Max´s last blog ..I Can Icon =-.

  • Max

    Posted 955 days ago
    6

    Thanks for this post, it contains some good tips. I agree with the comments made by others though. There were so many spelling and grammatical errors that some parts made very little sense.
    .-= Max´s last blog ..I Can Icon =-.

  • Akbar Shah

    Posted 955 days ago
    5

    Thanks for the list

  • David

    Posted 955 days ago
    3

    All the sitemap generating plugins automatically update the sitemaps, so you don’t need to ever update them. Did you mean “submit” them to the SE’s? I wouldn’t recommend that, but instead just make sure your blog is pinging out to ping-o-matic every time to publish a new blog. Good tips though.

  • Ryan Elliott Turner

    Posted 955 days ago
    1

    Great article! Quick typo though: http://www.yoursite.com/category/awesome-graphics-designs-digita-artworks/ “digital” is missing the l

    • Dainis Graveris

      Posted 955 days ago
      2

      Thanks for noticing! Fixed! :)

      • Leon

        Posted 955 days ago
        4

        Thanks for the tips. Will try some of them out on our next project.

        Ps. You might want to make some words italic or bold in parts where you mention keywords and url words. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the sentence from keyword etc.

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