Yoast SEO WP

8/15/2016 WordPressSEOTutorialTheDefinitiveGuideYoast
0

Search
WordPress SEO
WordPress SEO
Last update: 05 July, 2016
Post author
Joost de Valk
Tags
Blog SEO Blogging
The de%nitive guide to higher rankings for WordPress

sites
WordPressisoneofthebest,ifnotthebestcontentmanagementsystemswhenitcomestoSEO.That
beingsaid,spendingtimeonyourWordPressSEOmightseemlikeawasteoftime,itmostdefinitelyis
not.Optimizingyoursitetothebestpracticesoutlinedinthisarticlewillhelpyouimproveyour
rankings,gainmoresubscribersandhaveabetterwebsiteingeneral.
Aswetakequiteaholisticviewon(WordPress)SEO,meaningthatwethinkgoodSEOshouldbe
engrainedinallaspectsofyouronlinemarketingandPR,thisguidecoversquitealotofgroundandis
https://yoast.com/wordpressseo/ 1/30
thereforealongread.Checkoutthetableofcontentsbelowforsomequickjumpingaround.
Updates to this WordPress SEO article
ThisarticlehasbeenkeptuptodatewiththebestpracticesforWordPressSEOsinceearly2008and
thereleaseofWordPress2.5,themostrecentupdatewasonNov2015,withWordPressversion
4.0beingthemostcurrentrelease.Thegoalofthisarticleistoletalltheinfoofallthedifferentarticles
wewroteaboutthetopic,hereandonothersites,fallintoonebigpiece:thefinalWordPressSEO
tutorial.
ThefirstversionsofthisarticlewereheavilybasedonusingaplugincalledHeadSpaceandaseriesof
otherplugins.WevesincereleasedourownYoastSEOpluginwhichreplacesquiteafewofthose.That
pluginhasprovensopowerfulthatsiteslikeSearchEngineLand,andTheNextWebnowalluseit.This
YoastSEOpluginisverystableandreadytouseandthisarticlenowassumesyoureusingit.
Get the most out of Yoast SEO, learn everyfeatureandbest

practice in our Yoast SEO for WordPress training!
$ 129Start learning today
Moreinfo
IfyoureusinganotherSEOplugin,likeAllinOneSEOpackorUltimateSEO,butwouldliketoswitch
andmakeuseofourfreeandextremelypowerfulSEOplugin,wevewrittenamigrationguideforyou.
Itsareallyeasyprocess.IfyourenotusinganSEOpluginyet,grabourYoastSEOpluginandget
going.
Assearch,SEO,andtheWordPressplatformevolvewewillcontinuetokeepthisarticleuptodatewith
bestpractices.BesuretosubscribetoourWordPress&SEOnewslettertoreceivenotificationwhen
weupdatethisarticle.
Need your website reviewed?

IfyouneedanoutsidelookatyourWordPressinstall,youmightconsiderourwebsitereview.The
resultsofthisreviewcontainafullreportofimprovementsforyoursite,encompassingourfindingsfor
improvementsindifferentkeyareassuchasSEOtoUsabilitytoSiteSpeed&more.Fromonly$699,
youllreceiveareportthatrepresentsamuchlargervalueinturnoverandprofit.Getitnow!
Table of Contents
ThedefinitiveguidetohigherrankingsforWordPresssites
1BasicWordPressSEO
1.1URLs
1.1.1Permalinkstructure
1.1.2WWWvsnonWWW
1.1.3Stopwords
1.1.4ToSSLornottoSSL
1.2OptimizeyourTitlesforSEO
1.2.1ControllingtitleswiththeYoastSEOplugin
1.2.2Optimizingindividualposts
1.3Optimizeyourdescriptions
1.4Imageoptimization
1.5XMLsitemaps
2Templateoptimization
2.1Breadcrumbs
2.2Headings
2.3Cleanupyourcode
2.4Aimforspeed
2.5Rethinkthatsidebar
2.6HTMLsitemaps
3AdvancedWordPressSEOandduplicatecontent
3.1Noindex,followarchivepagesanddisablesomearchives
3.2Disableunnecessaryarchives
3.3Pagination
3.4Canonical
4Asitestructureforhighrankings
4.1Pagesinsteadofposts
4.2Newwineinanoldbottle
4.3Linkingtorelatedposts
4.4Goeasyonthetags
5Conversionoptimization
6Commentoptimization
6.1Howyougetpeopletocomment
6.2Bondwithyourcommenters
6.3Keepingpeopleintheconversation
7OffsiteblogSEO
7.1Followyourcommenters
7.2UseTwitter
7.3Findrelatedblogs,andworkthem
8Measuringresults
9ConclusionsonWordPressSEO
1 Basic WordPress SEO

Outofthebox,WordPressisaprettywelloptimizedsystem,anddoesafarbetterjobatallowingevery
singlepagetobeindexedthaneveryotherCMSwehaveused.Butthereareafewthingsyoushoulddo
tomakeitaloteasierstilltoworkwith.
1.1 URLs
1.1.1 Permalink structure

Thefirstthingtochangeisyourpermalinkstructure.YoullfindthepermalinksettingsunderSettings
Permalinks.Thedefaultpermalinkis ?p=<postid> ,butweprefertouseeither /postname/ or
/category/postname/ .Forthefirstoption,youchangethesettingto /%postname%/ :
Toincludethecategory,youselectCustomStructureandchangethevalueto
/%category%/%postname%/ .Ifyoupreviouslyhad ?p=<postid> asyourpermalinkWordPresswill
takecareofalltheredirectsforyou.Thisisalsotrueifyouchangefrom /%postname%/
to /%category%/%postname%/ .Ifyouchangefromanyotherpermalinkstructure,youmightwantto
consultourarticleonchangingyourWordPresspermalinkstructureandthetoolthatyoullfindwithin
it.
1.1.2 WWW vs non-WWW

Youneedtothinkaboutwhatyouwantyoursitetoshowupas,www.example.comorsimply
example.com.Makesurethatinyourgeneralsettings,underSettingsGeneral,theversionyouwant
toshowupisproperlyreflected:
Optimize your site for search & social media and keepitoptimized
with Yoast SEO Premium
Buy this plugin now
Moreinfo
YouwillalsowanttosetthiscorrectlyinGoogleSearchConsole.Makesuretosetupyoursitewith
GoogleSearchConsoleandsetthepreferreddomain,youcanfindthissettingunderSettings
Preferreddomain:
Whereyoucansetit:
1.1.3 Stop words

ThelastthingyoullwanttodoaboutyourpermalinkstoincreaseyourWordPressSEO,isremoveso
calledstopwords.Wordslikea,and,theetc.Asofversion1.1.6,ourYoastSEOpluginwill
automaticallyremovestopwordsfromyourslugsonceyousaveapost,soyouwontgetthoseuglylong
URLswhenyoudoasentencestyleposttitle.
Thisisgenerallynotsomethingyouwanttochangeafterpostshavegonelive.Ifpeoplehavealready
linkedtoit,trytonotchangethepermalinkanymoreandifyoudo,makesurethepostisproperly
redirected.InmostcasesWordPressshouldredirecttheoldURLtothenewonebutifitdoesntyou
needtomaketheredirectmanually.
1.1.4 To SSL or not to SSL

In2014,Googleannouncedthattheydgivea(admittedlyminor)rankingbenefittoHTTPS/SSLsites,
andbecauseofthat,moreandmoresiteshaveswitchedovertoSSL.Itmightbeagoodideaforyoutoo.
IfyouwanttomovetoSSL,wehaveanarticlewithtips&tricksformovingtoHTTPSrighthere.
1.2 Optimize your Titles for SEO
Thetitle,thecontentsofyourpages <title> tag,isoneofthesinglemostimportantfactorsfor

rankinginthesearchresults.Notonlyisittheliteraltitleofthetaborbrowserwindow,itsalsothefirst
linepeopleseeinthesearchresults,followedbytheURLandthesnippet,usuallythemetadescription
combinedwithadate:
Onmanyblogs,thetitleforblogpostsisstillBlogtitleBlogArchiveKeywordrichposttitleor
BlogtitleKeywordrichposttitle.ForyourWordPressblogtogetthetrafficitdeserves,thisshould
betheotherwayaround,fortworeasons:
Searchenginesputmoreweightontheearlywords,soifyourkeywordsarenearthestartofthepage
titleyouaremorelikelytorankwell.
Peoplescanningresultpagesseetheearlywordsfirst.Ifyourkeywordsareatthestartofyourlisting
yourpageismorelikelytogetclickedon.
ThismeanstheidealtitleforthatpluginpageonWordPress.orgwouldactuallybeWordPressSEOby
Yoast>WordPressPlugins>WordPressinsteadofwhatitisnow.Formoreinfoonhowtocraftgood
titlesforyourposts,seethisexcellentarticleandvideobyAaronWall:Google&SEOFriendlyPage
Titles.
1.2.1 Controlling titles with the Yoast SEO plugin

YoucancontrolyourSEOtitleswithourYoastSEOplugin.Therearetwopartsofthepluginthat
controlthese.Firstofall,assoonasyouinstall&activatetheplugin,yougetanSEOsectioninyour
admin.NavigatetoSEOTitles&Metasandyoullseeabunchoftabsfordifferenttypesofpageson
yoursite.ForeachposttypeandtaxonomyyoucansetasocalledTitleTemplate(aswellasmeta
descriptiontemplatesbutwellgettothoselater).Forpostsonoursitethislookslikethis:
Theresabunchofvariablesyoucanuseinthetitlesandmetadescription,theyrealllistedand
explainedinthehelptabonthetoprightofthepage.Besuretocheckwhetherthetemplateactually
worksandyourenotgettingaduplicatesitetitleforinstance.Ifthisisthecase,youmightneedto
checktheForcerewritecheckboxonthesamepageorfollowtheinstructionsonthatpagetomodify
yourtemplate.
Fortheotherpages,wehavethefollowingsettings:
Categories,Tagsandothertaxonomies: %%term_title%%%%sep%%Archives%%page%%
%%sitename%%
Searchpages: Yousearchedfor%%searchphrase%%%%sep%%%%sitename%%
404pages: PagenotfoundError404%%sep%%%%sitename%%
Authorarchives: %%name%%%%sep%%Authorat%%sitename%%
Therearesomeothercoolfeatures,forinstance:youcanuse %%cf_<customfieldname>%% tousea

customfield,thiscanbeeitherapostcustomfield,sometimesknownaspostmetavalue,orausermeta
value.Inthisparticularcaseitsthecustomfieldroleweusetostoretheroleofauserwithin
ourcompany.
The%%sep%%templatecodegetsreplacedbytheseparatoryouselectonthefirsttab:
1.2.2 Optimizing individual posts

Sonowthatwevesetdecenttemplates,wecanstarttooptimizeindividualpostsandpages.Forthatwe
usethesnippetpreviewaddedbytheYoastSEOplugin:
Thispreviewwillautomaticallytakethevaluesyouvealreadyfilledininyourblogpostandapplythem
toyourtemplate,butyoucanalsooverridethetitlecompletelyusingthetitlefieldjustbelowit:
Theinputwillshowawarningbelowitifyourtitleisbecomingtoolong.Thetitlelengthisnotafixed
amountofcharactersbutratherlimitedtothelengthofthedisplayinthesearchresults.
Fortitlesthefollowingthingsareimportant:
Theyshouldalwayscontainyourbrand,preferablyattheend,sopeoplemayrecognizeyouin
consecutivesearches.
Theyshouldalwayscontainthekeywordyouthinkismostimportantforthecurrentpostorpage,
whichwellcallthefocuskeywordfromnowon.Thefocuskeywordshouldpreferablybeatthe
beginningofthetitle.
Therestofthetitleshouldenticepeopletoclick.
1.3 Optimize your descriptions

Nowthatwevegotpropertitles,weshouldstarttofocusonmetadescriptions.Themetadescription
canbeusedbysearchenginestoshowinthesnippet,itstheblackpieceoftextshownbeneaththeURL.
Themetadescriptionisusuallyonlyusedwhenitcontainsthekeywordthesearcherwassearchingfor.
Someplugins,mostspecificallytheAllinOneSEOplugin,usesocalledautomateddescriptions.They
usethefirstsentenceofaposttofillthemetadescriptionbydefault.Thatsnotverysmart.Thatfirst
sentencemightbeanintroductorysentencewhichhashardlyanythingtodowiththesubject.
Thus,theonlywellwrittendescriptionisahandwrittenone,andifyourethinkingofautogenerating
themetadescription,youmightaswellnotdoanythingandletthesearchenginecontrolthesnippet
Ifyoudontusethemetadescription,thesearchenginewillfindthekeywordsearchedforinyour
document,andautomaticallypickastringaroundthat,whichgivesyouaboldedwordortwointhe
resultspage.
Autogeneratingasnippetisashortcut,andtherearenorealshortcutsin(WordPress)SEO(nonethat
workanyway).
So,usethemetadescriptionfieldyoufindintheYoastSEOplugintowriteametadescription.Make
sureitenticesthereadertoclickthroughandmakesurethatitcontainsthefocuskeywordofyourpost
orpageatleastonce.
Youllnoticewedonotmentionmetakeywords.Wedontusethemandneithershouldyou,foran
explanation,readthisarticlebyJoost:metakeywordsandwhyIdontusethem.
ContentSEO: learn how to do keyword research, how to structure

your site and how to write SEO friendly content
$ 19Buy this eBook now
Moreinfo
1.4 Image optimization
AnoftenoverlookedpartofWordPressSEOishowyouhandleyourimages.Bydoingstufflikewriting
goodalttagsforimagesandthinkingofhowyounamethefiles,youcangetyourselfabitofextratraffic
fromthedifferentimagesearchengines.Nexttothat,yourehelpingoutyourlesserablereaderswho
checkoutyoursiteinascreenreader,tomakesenseofwhatsotherwisehiddentothem.
UsingtheproperaltattributesforimagesisalsosomethingthatischeckedinthePageAnalysis
functionalityofourYoastSEOplugin.WehavealongerarticleonImageSEOthatwillgiveyoumore
tipstofinetunethis.
1.5 XML sitemaps
TotellGoogleandtheothersearchenginesthatyoursitehasbeenupdated,youcanuseXMLSitemaps.
OurYoastSEOplugincontainsanXMLSitemapmodulebydefaultthatyoujusthavetoenable.Goto
SettingsXMLSitemapsandclickthecheckbox(ifitisntalreadyon):
AssoonasyouvecheckedthecheckboxandhitSave,itllgiveyousomeoptionsbutinmostcasesyou
wontneedthose.ItgeneratesanXMLsitemapforallyourposts,pages,customposttypesandallyour
taxonomieslikecategoriesandtagsand(ifapplicable)othercustomtaxonomies.
Whenyoupublishanewpostorpage,theXMLsitemapisautomaticallysubmittedtoGoogle&Bing
allowingthemtoeasily(andquickly)findyournewcontent.
OtherthanmostotherXMLsitemapplugins,thisplugindoesntgenerateastaticfile,whichisavery
intensiveprocess,especiallyforlargesites.Thismeansthereisnoactiononpublish,whichslows
downthepublishingofthepost.InsteaditgeneratesXMLsitemapsasasortoftemplateusing
WordPressrewrites,whichismuchfasterwhilealsoallowingcachingpluginstocachetheoutput.
Itsalsobeingsmartaboutsplittingthosesitemapsupintosmallerbits,soGoogleonlyhastofetchone
newXMLsubsitemapwhenapostispublished,becausetheothersitemapshaventbeenchanged,
usingthedatemodifiedoptions.
FromanSEOperspective,itsbetterthanmostothersbecauseitalsoincludestheimagesineachpost,
whichmakesyourimagesrank(better)inGoogleImageSearch.Italsointegratestightlywiththerestof
ourSEOplugin,meaningthatanoindexedpostautomaticallyisleftoutoftheXMLsitemap,withthe
optiontoforceitin.
Lastly,ithasaprettycompleteAPI,allowingusandotherdeveloperstopluginextrasitemaps,which
meanswecandothingslikecreateourLocalSEO,NewsSEOandVideoSEOextension.These
extensionsrespectivelygenerateanewsxmlsitemapandvideoxmlsitemap.
2 Template optimization
2.1 Breadcrumbs
Youllwanttoaddbreadcrumbstoyoursinglepostsandpages.Breadcrumbsarethelinks,usually
abovethetitlepost,thatlooklikeHome>Articles>WordPressSEO.Theyaregoodfortwothings:
Theyallowyouruserstoeasilynavigateyoursite.
Theyallowsearchenginestodeterminethestructureofyoursitemoreeasily.
Thesebreadcrumbsshouldlinkbacktothehomepage,andthecategorythepostisin.Ifthepostisin
multiplecategoriesitshouldpickone.Forthattowork,adapt single.php and page.php inyour
theme,andusethebreadcrumbsfromourYoastSEOplugin.Youfindthesettingsforthebreadcrumbs
intheSEOInternalLinkssettingspage.
2.2 Headings
AlthoughmostthemesforWordPressgetthisright,makesureyourposttitleisan <h1> ,andnothing
else.Yourblogsnameshouldonlybean <h1> onyourfrontpage,andonsingle,post,andcategory
pages,itshouldbenomorethanan <h3> .Yoursidebarshouldntbecrammedwith <h2> and <h3> s
eitheretc.
Theseareeasytoeditinthe post.php and page.php templates.Tolearnmoreaboutwhyproper

headingsareimportantreadthisarticleonSemanticHTMLandSEOandourarticleabouttheHeading
StructureforyourBlog(fromwhichalotappliestononblogWordPresssitestoo).
2.3 Clean up your code
AllthatjavascriptandCSSyoumighthaveinyourtemplatefiles,movethattoexternaljavascriptsand
cssfiles,andkeepyourtemplatesclean,astheyrenotdoingyourWordPressSEOanygood.Thismakes
sureyouruserscancachethosefilesonfirstload,andsearchenginesdonthavetodownloadthem
mostofthetime.
2.4 Aim for speed
Averyimportantfactorinhowmanypagesasearchenginewillspideronyourblogeachday,ishow
speedyyourblogloads.YoucandothreethingstoincreasethespeedofyourWordPress.
1.Optimizethetemplatetodoassmallanamountofdatabasecallsasnecessary.Wevehighlightedhow
todothisinourpostaboutspeedingupWordPress.
2.Installacachingplugin.WerecommendyouuseW3TotalCacheifyouretechnicallysavvyorWP
SuperCacheifyourenot.
3.W3TotalCacheworksevenmoremagicwhencombinedwithaCDNlikeMaxCDN.Readmoreabout
WordPressCDNstuffhere.
Also,beawarethatunderpayingforhosting,isnotwise.Ifyouactuallywanttosucceedwithyourlink
baitactions,andwantyourblogtosustainhighloads,goforagoodhostingpackage.
WeuseVPS.netourselves,andtheyveproventobebetterthanmosteverythingweveseeninhosting,
butwevegotgreatexperiencewithSynthesistoo.Ifyouwanttoknowmorebesuretoreadourarticle
aboutWordPresshosting.
2.5 Rethink that sidebar
Doyoureallyneedtolinkouttoallyourbuddiesinyourblogrollsitewide?Orisitperhapswisertojust
dothatonyourfrontpage?Googleandothersearchenginesthesedaysheavilydiscountsitewidelinks,
soyourenotreallydoingyourfriendsanymorefavorbygivingthemthatsitewidelink,norareyou
helpingyourself:youreallowingyourvisitorstogetoutofyoursiteeverywhere,whenyouactuallywant
themtobrowsearoundabit.
Thesamegoesforthesearchengines:onsinglepostpages,theselinksarentnecessarilyrelatedtothe
topicathand,andthusarenthelpingyouatall.Thus:getridofthem.Thereareprobablymorewidgets
likethesethatonlymakesenseonthehomepage,andothersthatyoudonlywantonsubpages.
SomedayyouwillprobablybeabletochangethisfrominsideWordPress,rightnowitforcesyouto
eitherusetwosidebars,oneonthehomepageandoneonsubpages,orwritespecificplugins.
2.6 HTML sitemaps
ForsomesitesanHTMLsitemapmightbenonsense,especiallywhenyoursiteisreallyablog,formore
corporatetypesiteswithseverallevelsofpagesanHTMLSitemapmightactuallybeverybeneficialfor
bothusersandsearchengines.WevewrittenanarticleonhowtocreateanHTMLSitemapPage
TemplatewhichwouldbeagoodstarttogetonegoingforyourWordPresssite.
3 Advanced WordPress SEO and duplicate content

Onceyouvedoneallthebasicstuff,youllfindthattherestoftheproblemsamounttoonesimplething:
duplicatecontent.Loadsofitinfact.Outofthebox,WordPresscomeswithafewdifferenttypesof
taxonomy:
1.datebased
2.categorybased
3.tagbased
Nexttothat,itseemstothinkyouactuallyneedtobeabletoclickonfrompagetopagestartingatthe
frontpage,waybacktothefirstpostyoueverdid.Lastbutnotleast,eachauthorhashisownarchive
too,under /author/<authorname>/ ,resultingincompletelyduplicatecontentonsingleauthor
blogs.
Inessencethatmeansthat,worstcasescenario,apostisavailableon5pagesoutsideofthesinglepage
whereitshouldbeavailable.Weregoingtogetridofallthoseduplicatecontentpools,bystillallowing
themtobespidered,butnotindexed,andfixingthepaginationissuesthatcomewiththesethings.
3.1 Noindex, follow archive pages and disable some archives
UsingtheYoastSEOplugin,makesuretopreventindexing(orevenexistence)ofarchivepagesthatdo
notapplyforyoursite.YoudothisunderSEOTitles&Metas,whereyoullfindthefollowingoptions
ontheOthertab:
Thesettingsabovearethesettingsforoursite.Asyoucansee,wevecompletelydisabledthedatebased
archives,aswedontusethose.Anydatebasedlinkwillredirecttoourhomepagebecauseofthis
setting.Wevelefttheauthorarchivesuntouched,butwehavecheckedacheckboxontheGeneraltab,
whichmakesthesubpagesofthosearchivesbenoindex,followbydefault.Soyoullneverlandonpage
2ofanarchiveonoursitefromthesearchengines(changethisonSEOTitles&MetasGeneral
tab):
Onsmallersitesitmightmakesensetonoindexeitherthecategoryorthetagstructure,butin
ourexperiencenoindexingthoseonyoast.comdoeslittletonochangeatall.
Thereisonetypeofarchivethatisnoindex,followbydefaultaswellintheYoastSEOplugin:thesearch
resultpages.ThisisabestpracticefromGoogleforwhichasettingisleftoutasyoushouldjusthave
thatanyway.
AlothaschangedinhowGooglehandlespaginatedarchivesrecentlywhentheyintroducedtheir
supportfor rel="next" and rel="prev" links.Wevewrittenanarticleaboutthat: rel="next"
and rel="prev" forpaginatedarchives,whichisabittootechnicaltofullylisthere,butsufficetosay
ourYoastSEOplugintakescareofalltheneededchangesautomatically.
3.2 Disable unnecessary archives

Ifyourblogisaoneauthorblog,oryoudontthinkyouneedauthorarchives,useWordPressSEOto
disabletheauthorarchives.Also,ifyoudontthinkyouneedadatebasedarchive:disableitaswehave.
Evenifyourenotusingthesearchivesinyourtemplate,someonemightlinktothemandthusbreak
yourWordPressSEO
3.3 Pagination
Thirdly,youllwanttomakesurethatifabotgoestoacategorypage,itcanreachallunderlyingpages
withoutanytrouble.Otherwise,ifyouhavealotofpostsinacategory,abotmighthavetogoback10
pagesbeforebeingabletofindthelinktooneofyourawesomeearlierposts
Theresaneasyfix,infact,thereareseveralpluginsthatdealwiththis.OurfavoriteonebyfarisWP
PageNavi,maintainedbyScribu,oneofthebestWordPressdevelopersaround.IfyouhavetheGenesis
ThemelikewedohereonYoast.com,youcanjustenablenumericnavigationunderThemeSettings
ContentArchives.
3.4Canonical
InFebruary2009,themajorsearchenginesintroducedthe rel="canonical" element.Thisis

anotherutilitytohelpfightduplicatecontent.WordPresshasbuiltinsupportforcanonicallink
elementsonsinglepostsandpages,butithassomeslightbugsinthat.Itdoesntoutputcanonicallinks
onanyotherpage.WithourYoastSEOpluginactivated,youautomaticallygetcanonicallinkelements
foreverypagetypeinWordPress.
4 A site structure for high rankings

Blogsarespideredsoeasilyduetotheirstructureofcategories,tagsetc.:allarticlesarewelllinked,and
usuallythemarkupisniceandclean.However,allthiscomesataprice:yourrankingstrengthis
diluted.Theyredilutedbyonesimplething:comments.
4.1 Pages instead of posts
Youveprobablynoticedbynow,oryoureseeingnow,thatthisWordPressSEOpostisactuallynota
post.Itsapage.Why?Wellforseveralreasons.Firstofall,thisarticleneededtobeadaughterpage
ofourWordPresspage,tobeinthecorrectplaceonthisblog.Secondly,torankfortheterm
[WordPressSEO],thisarticlehastohavetherightkeyworddensity.Andthatswherethingsgowrong.
Commentsdestroyyourcarefullyconstructedkeyworddensity.
Thatswhywedecidedtomakeourmostimportantarticlesintopages.Thatway,youcaneasilyupdate
themanddoanewpostaboutwhatyouvechanged.
4.2 New wine in an old bottle
Ifapostonyourblogbecomesincrediblypopularandstartstorankforanicekeyword,likethisonedid
forWordPressSEO,youcoulddothefollowing:
createanewpagewithupdatedandimprovedcontent
changetheslugoftheoldpostto postnameoriginal
publishthenewpageundertheoldpostsURL,orredirecttheoldpostsURLtothenewURL
sendanemailtoeveryonewholinkedtoyouroldpostthatyouveupdatedandimprovedonyour
oldpost
waitforthelinkstocomein,again
rankevenhigherforyourdesiredtermasyouvenowgot:
morecontroloverthekeyworddensity
evenmorelinkspointingatthearticle
theabilitytokeepupdatingthearticleasyouseefittoimproveonitscontentandranking
Someamongyouwillsay:Icouldhave301redirectedtheoldposttothenewonewiththesameeffect.
True.Except:youdlosethecommentsontheoldpost,whichisinouropinionasignofdisrespectto
peoplewhotookthetimetocomment,and301redirectstakequiteabitoftimesometimes.Ofcourse
youshouldtreatthistechniquewithcare,andnotabuseittorankotherproducts,butwethinkitcanbe
doneineveryonesbenefit.Forinstancethisarticle:ifyoucameherethroughasocialmediasitelike
Facebook,expectinganarticleaboutWordPressSEO,thatsexactlywhatyougot!
4.3 Linking to related posts
Onewayofgettingsearchenginestogettoyouroldercontentabiteasier,thusincreasingyour
WordPressSEOcapabilitesaLOT,isbyusingarelatedpostsplugin.Thesepluginssearchthroughyour
postsdatabasetofindpostswiththesamesubject,andaddlinkstotheseposts.
Therearequiteafewrelatedpostspluginsbutwetendtostickwithcustomcodeinourtheme.Avery
goodalternativeisMicrokidsrelatedpostplugin,whichletsyoumanuallypickrelatedposts.This
mightcostabitmoretimebeforeyouhitpublishbutmightverywellbeworthyourwhile.
Therearealsoalotofpluginsthatwillautomaticallylinkcertainkeywordstocertainposts.Wedonot
likethisatallaswefindittolookveryspammy.
4.4 Go easy on the tags
Oneofthemostcommonissuesweencounteronsitesinourwebsitereviewsistheoveruseoftags.Note
thatataginandofitselfdoesnotimproveyourSEO.TheonlywayitimprovesyourSEOisbyrelating
onepieceofcontenttoanother,andmorespecificallyagroupofpoststoeachother.
For good SEO, you need a good user experience. Learn about UX&
Conversion!
$ 19Buy this eBook now
Moreinfo
5 Conversion optimization
Get those readers to subscribe!
Alotofbloggersstillthinkthatbecausetheirblogisablog,theydonthavetooptimizeanything.
Wrong.Togetpeopletolinktoyou,theyhavetoreadyourblog.Andwhatdoyouthinkiseasier:
gettingsomeonewhoisalreadyvisitingyourblogtovisitregularlyandthenlinktoyourblog,orgetting
someonewhovisitsyourblogforthefirsttimetolinktoyourblogimmediately?Right.
Oneofthethingswevefoundtobeveryimportant,andmorebloggersseemtohavefoundthis,isthat
anRSSsubscribebuttonisveryimportant,asisofferingawaytosubscribebyemail.Weofferaweekly
emailsubscribeoptions,usingMailChimp,andhavefoundthatpeopletendtoclickthroughonthose
About us
themost.
Work at Yoast
Meet us
Anotherthingtobeveryawareofiswhenpeoplemightwanttosubscribetoyourblog.Iftheyvejust
finishedreadinganarticleofyours,andreallylikedit,thatwouldbetheidealtimetoreachthem,right?
SEO blog
Thatswhymoreandmorepeopleareaddinglineslikethistotheendoftheirposts:Likedthispost?
Content SEO
Subscribetoournewsletterandgetloadsmore!
WordPress
Technical SEO
Anothergreattimetogetpeopletosubscribeiswhenpeoplehavejustcommentedonyourblogforthe
Search news
firsttime,forwhichpurposeweuseourowncommentredirectplugin.Whichleadsustothenextmajor
UX & Conversion
aspectofWordPressSEO:
Analytics
6eCommerce
Comment optimization
Social media
Get those readers involved
Plugins
Commentsareoneofthemostimportantaspectsofblogs.AsWikipediastates:
Yoast SEO
Drupal module
Theabilityforreaderstoleavecommentsinaninteractiveformatisanimportant
Devpartofmanyblogs.
blog
Licenses
Commentsarenotonlynicebecausepeopletellyouhowspecialyouare,orthatyoumadeamistake,or
Courses
whateverelsetheyhavetotellyou.Mostofalltheyrenice,becausetheyshowengagement.And
My Academy
engagementisoneofthemostimportantfactorsofgettingpeopletolinktoyou:theyshowyouthey
SEO copywriting
care,andtheyopentheconversation,nowallyouhavetodoisrespond,andyourebuildinga
Basic SEO
relationship!
Yoast SEO for WordPress
6.1 How you get people to comment

eBooks
Theeasiestwayofgettingpeopletodoanythingis:askthemtodoit.Writeinanengagingstyle,and
SEO for WordPress
thenaskyourblogsreadersforanopinion,theirtakeonthestoryetc.
Content SEO
UX & Conversion
Anotherimportantthingsisyourcommentlinks.IsyourcommentlinkNocomments?OrisitNo
Hire us
Commentsyet,yourthoughtsarewelcome?Feelthedifference?Youcanchangethisbyopeningyour
Yoast SEOtemplate,searchfor
index.php con%guration comments_popup_link() andchangingthetextswithinthat
Gold review
About
function. us
Platinum review
Work at Yoast
6.2 Bond
Yoast
Meet with your commenters
consultancy
us
Anotherthingtodoisthankpeoplewhentheyvecommentedonyourweblog.Noteverytime,because
FAQ
SEO blog
thatgetsannoying,butdoingitthefirsttimeisaverygoodidea.
WordPress
Content SEO plugins
Website
WordPressreviews
JustinShattuckthoughtthesame,andcreatedtheCommentRelishpluginwhichsendsanemailafter
Drupal SEO
Technical
someonehasmadehisfirstcomment,unfortunately,thispluginisnolongermaintained.Another
WordPress
Search news themes
option,whichismaintainedandisalsoabitlessobtrusive/spammy,istoinstallourcommentredirect
General
UX & Conversion
plugin.Thispluginallowsyoutoredirectpeoplewhohavemadetheirfirstcommenttoaspecificthank
Analytics
youpage.
eCommerce
Social media
6.3 Keeping people in the conversation
Nowthatpeoplehavejoinedtheconversationonyourblog,youshouldmakesuretheystayinthe
Plugins
conversation.Thatswhyyoushouldinstallthesubscribetocommentsplugin,thatallowspeopleto
Yoast SEO
subscribetoacommentthreadjustliketheywouldinaforum,andsendsthemanemailoneachnew
Drupal module
comment.Thisway,youcankeeptheconversationgoing,andmaybeyourreaderswillbegivingyou
Dev blog
0 Licenses
newanglesfornewposts.
Our SEOforWordPresseBook
Courses guides you through every aspect
of Academy
My Search Engine Optimization
SEO copywriting
Basic SEO $ 25Buy this eBook now
eBooks
SEO for WordPress
Content SEO
UX & Conversion
Moreinfo
Hire us
Yoast SEO con%guration
Gold review
About us
Platinum review
Work at Yoast
Yoast consultancy
Meet us
FAQ
SEO blog
WordPress plugins
Content SEO
Website reviews
WordPress
Drupal SEO
Technical
WordPress themes
Search news
General
UX & Conversion
Analytics
eCommerce
Social media
7Plugins
O site blog SEO
Yoast SEO
Drupal module
IfyouvefollowedalloftheaboveWordPressSEOadvice,youvegotabigchanceofbecoming
Dev blog
successfull,bothasabloggerandinthesearchengines.Nowthelaststepsoundseasy,butisnt.Goout
0 Licenses
there,andtalktopeopleonline.
7.1 Follow your commenters

Courses
My Academy
TheresbeenamovementonthewebforawhilenowthatscalledtheYoucommentIfollow.They
SEO copywriting
wantyoutoremovethenofollowtagoffofyourcommentstorewardyourvisitors.Nowwedoagree,
Basic SEO
butThatgetsyouawholelotofspamonceyourWordPressblogturnsintoawellrankedblogWhat
wedoadvocatethough,isthatyouactuallyfollowyourvisitors!Gototheirwebsites,andleavea
commentononeoftheirarticles,agood,insightfulcomment,sotheyrespectyouevenmore.
eBooks
SEO for WordPress
Ifyouthinkthatsalotofwork,dorealizethat,onaverage,about1%ofyourvisitorswillactuallyleavea
Content SEO
comment.Thatsagroupofpeopleyouhavetotakecareof!
UX & Conversion
7.2 Use Twitter

Hire us
Twitterisacoolformofmicroblogging/chatting/whateveryouwanttocallit.Almostallthecool
peopleareonthere,andtheyreadtheirtweetsmoreoftenthantheyreadtheiremail,ifyouevenknew
Gold review
About us
howtoreachthemthroughemail.
Platinum review
Work at Yoast
Yoast
Meet usconsultancy
Toboot,ifyouuseWordTwitorTwitterTools,allofyourpostscanbeannouncedonTwitter,whichwill
usuallygetyouquiteafewearlyreaders!PeoplewillfeelevenmorehappytocommentonTwitter,
FAQ
SEO blog
whichmightgetyouintoanextraconversationortwo.
WordPress
Content SEO plugins
Website reviews
WordPress
7.3 Find related blogs, and work them
Drupal SEO
Technical
WordPress themes
Ifyouwanttorankforcertainkeywords,gointoGoogleBlogsearch,andseewhichblogsrankinthetop
Search news
General
10forthosekeywords.Readthoseblogs,startpostinginsightfulcomments,followupontheirpostsby
UX & Conversion
doingapostonyourownblogandlinkbacktothem:communicate!Theonlywaytogetthelinksyoull
Analytics
needtorankistobeapartofthecommunity.
eCommerce
Social media
Need
Plugins help %guring out what to do on your site? We're
here for you! Order a website review

Yoast SEO
Drupal module
Dev blog
0 Licenses
8 Measuring results
Courses
AgoodSEOcampaignreliesonnotonlyimplementingchangesbutalsomeasuringtheimpactof
My Academy
thosechanges,seeingwhatworksanddoingmoreofthat.TwogreatAnalyticspackagestomeasure
SEO copywriting
resultsareGoogleAnalyticsandgetClicky.ForbothoftheseAnalyticspackagesmaintainplugins,
Basic SEO
ourGoogleAnalyticsbyYoastpluginandourClickyplugin.
Youcanalsomeasureresultsbytrackingrankings,theproblemwithranktrackingthoughisthatits
eBooks
hardtodeterminerealrankingsbecauseofpersonalizedandlocalizedsearchresults.Reallythe
SEO for WordPress
bestoutcomeofbeinggreatatWordPressSEOistogetmoretraffic.
Content SEO
UX & Conversion
AnothergreatsourceofdataisGoogleWebmasterTools.Oneoftherelativelysimpletricks
Hire us
wealwaysgivepeopleisthefollowing:
Gold review
About us
gointoWebmasterTools
Platinum
Work review
at Yoast
gotoYoursiteontheweb,thenSearchqueries.
Yoast
Meet consultancy
us
ClickonDownloadthistable.
OpentheCSVfileyougetinExcel.
FAQ
SEO blog
Replacealltheinstancesof<10intheClickscolumnwith9.
WordPress
Content SEOplugins
Selecttheentirefirstrowandclickthefilterbutton,usuallytheiconisafunnel:
Website reviews
WordPress
Drupal SEO
Technical
WordPress
Search newsthemes
Fortheaveragepositioncolumn,choosegreaterthan5,sortAscending.
General
UX & Conversion
ThenfortheClickscolumn,sortDescending.
Analytics
eCommerce
Younowhavethekeywordspeoplearefindingyouforintheresultspageswhereyourankbelow#6
Social media
Thefactthattheyclickedonyourresultprovesthattheyfoundyourresultinteresting:seeifyoucan
optimizeanyofthosetermssoyoullrankhigherthana#6averagerank:usethePageAnalysisin
Plugins
ourSEOplugintoimprovethepage,improvethecopy,askotherstolinktoyou,etc.Besuretoread
Yoast SEO
ourarticleaboutcornerstonecontentaswell.
Drupal module
9Dev
Conclusions
blog
on WordPress SEO
0 Licenses
ThisguidegivesyoualotofstuffyoucandoonyourWordPresssite.Itgoesfromtechnicaltips,to
conversiontips,tocontenttips,toconversationtips,andawholelotinbetween.Theresacatch
Courses
though:ifyouwanttorankforhighlycompetitiveterms,youllhavetoactuallydomostofitand
My Academy
creategreatandcompellingcontentintheprocess.
SEO copywriting
Basic SEO
IfyouwanttokeepupdatedonthelatestnewsaboutWordPress,andhearmoretipsaswecomeup
withthem,thensubscribetoourweeklynewsletterrightnow.
eBooks
SEO for WordPress
Youmightalsowanttoread:
Content SEO
UX & Conversion
Howtochoosetheperfectfocuskeyword
Hire us
Yoast SEO
Share con%guration
Tweet Share Pin it Print Subscribe
Gold review
About us
Platinum review
Work at Yoast
Yoast consultancy
Meet us
Home Academy SEO blog Technical SEO WordPress SEO
FAQ
SEO blog
WordPress plugins
Content SEO
Website reviewsJoost de Valk is the founder and CEO of Yoast. He's a WordPress / Web
WordPress
Drupal SEO developer, SEO & and an Open Source fanatic. He's also (and more importantly)
Technical
WordPress themes
Search news the father of three sons called Tycho, Ravi and Borre, a daughter called Wende
General
UX & Conversion
and the husband of the lovely Marieke, who also works at Yoast. Read all about
Analytics Joost
eCommerce View his other posts or %nd him on
Social media
Subscribe
Plugins to our newsletter and never miss a post!
Yoast SEO
Drupal module
Name Email Subscribe
Dev blog
0 Licenses
Courses
Check out our must read articles about Technical SEO

My Academy
SEO copywriting
Basic SEO
eBooks
rel=canonical:
SEO the
for WordPress hreang: the robots.txt: the
ultimate
Content guide
SEO ultimate guide ultimate guide
UX & Conversion
ThecanonicalURL Thisguidediscusses Therobots.txtfileisa

Hire us
allowsyoutotellsearch whathreflangis,whatit fileyoucanusetotell
enginesthatcertain isforandgivesindepth searchengineswhere
Gold review
About us
similarURLsare informationonhowto theycanandcannotgo
Platinum
Work review
at Yoast
actuallyoneandthe implementitforyour onyoursite.Learnhow
Yoast
Meet consultancy
us
same.Learnhowtouse multilingualwebsite(s). touseittoyour
rel=canonical! advantage!
FAQ
SEO blog
WordPress plugins
Content SEO
Website reviews
WordPress
Drupal SEO
Technical
Want to themes
WordPress
Search newslearn the basics of SEO? Or how to use Yoast
General
SEO
UX properly? Follow a course on Yoast Academy
& Conversion
Analytics
eCommerce
Social media
Academy SEO blog Review your site
Plugins
SEO blog Analytics Website review
Yoast SEO
eBooks eCommerce Gold SEO review
Drupal module
Courses Content SEO Platinum SEO review
Dev blog
Technical SEO Hire team Yoast
0 Licenses
Search news
Social Media
Software
Courses
Usability & Conversion
My About us
DevAcademy
blog WordPress
SEO copywriting
WordPress Plugins About Yoast
Basic
YoastSEO
SEO for Drupal Speaking calendar
Yoast SEO for WordPress Work at Yoast
Media
eBooks Support
SEO for WordPress Contact
Content SEO
UX & Conversion
2003-2016 Yoast BV
Hire us
Some rights reserved | Privacy policy | Terms of service |Refund policy
Yoast is a trademark of Yoast BV
Gold review
About us
Platinum review
Work at Yoast
Yoast consultancy
Meet us
FAQ
SEO blog
WordPress plugins
Content SEO
Website reviews
WordPress
Drupal SEO
Technical
WordPress themes
Search news
General
UX & Conversion
Analytics
eCommerce
Social media
Plugins
Yoast SEO
Drupal module
Dev blog
0 Licenses
Courses
My Academy
SEO copywriting
Basic SEO
eBooks
SEO for WordPress
Content SEO
UX & Conversion

Yoast SEO WP

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Yoast SEO WP

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

8/15/2016 WordPressSEOTutorialTheDefinitiveGuideYoast

The de%nitive guide to higher rankings for WordPress

Updates to this WordPress SEO article

Get the most out of Yoast SEO, learn everyfeatureandbest

$ 129Start learning today

Need your website reviewed?

1 Basic WordPress SEO

1.1.1 Permalink structure

1.1.2 WWW vs non-WWW

Buy this plugin now

1.1.3 Stop words

1.1.4 To SSL or not to SSL

1.2 Optimize your Titles for SEO

Thetitle,thecontentsofyourpages <title> tag,isoneofthesinglemostimportantfactorsfor

1.2.1 Controlling titles with the Yoast SEO plugin

Therearesomeothercoolfeatures,forinstance:youcanuse %%cf_<customfieldname>%% tousea

1.2.2 Optimizing individual posts

1.3 Optimize your descriptions

ContentSEO: learn how to do keyword research, how to structure

$ 19Buy this eBook now

1.4 Image optimization

1.5 XML sitemaps

Theseareeasytoeditinthe post.php and page.php templates.Tolearnmoreaboutwhyproper

2.3 Clean up your code

2.4 Aim for speed

2.5 Rethink that sidebar

2.6 HTML sitemaps

3 Advanced WordPress SEO and duplicate content

3.1 Noindex, follow archive pages and disable some archives

3.2 Disable unnecessary archives

InFebruary2009,themajorsearchenginesintroducedthe rel="canonical" element.Thisis

4 A site structure for high rankings

4.1 Pages instead of posts

4.2 New wine in an old bottle

4.3 Linking to related posts

4.4 Go easy on the tags

$ 19Buy this eBook now

6.1 How you get people to comment

7.1 Follow your commenters

7.2 Use Twitter

here for you! Order a website review

Check out our must read articles about Technical SEO

ThecanonicalURL Thisguidediscusses Therobots.txtfileisa

Potrebbero piacerti anche