We all want to get the best out of the websites we run — and WordPress is no exception. However, while WordPress might offer easy ways to create a website, if it is the first time for you, there will be many things you will not figure out at first.
Today, WordPress powers more than 40% of the total website you see online. That means almost every other website you visit is based on WordPress.
Seeing how you are here looking for tips to make a WordPress website appear on Google Searches, you are probably the new family member of the WordPress website building platform.
If your website is on WordPress, we have fantastic news for you. The wordPress website builder is not only extremely popular worldwide, but also considered to be the best Content Management System (CMS) for SEO.
If you truly want to make the most out of what the WordPress website builder offers, you need to keep updated with the tips and tricks. If you are unable to cope with the latest tips, tricks, and changes, your website will fall behind in rankings.
To ensure you do not encounter such a problem while maintaining your website using a wordpress website builder, we have developed this guide.
Here we will discuss different tips and tricks that will help your website appear on the top pages of Google Searches.
Tips To Make Your Website Appear On Google Searches
WordPress has certainly evolved significantly over the decade. It started its journey as a blogging website builder. Today it is one of the best CMS out there.
Whether you want to run your personal blogging website or an eCommerce platform, you can count on WordPress and all the features that come with it.
While we are talking about growth, with growth comes tricks and tips that further enhance the performance of your website.
If you want to keep your WordPress site running like a well-oiled machine, you need to consider a few things.
Compress Images
Compressing an image reduces the file size without reducing the quality of the image. You might think that images are just part of the content, but let us tell you this – Images are the heaviest part of the content. If you are not optimizing your website’s performance. You are compromising both Performance and SEO.
Having images with larger file sizes affect the loading speed of the website. This deteriorates the user’s experience and increases the bounce rate.
Create Clean Permalinks
If this is the first website you own, you might not be aware of what permalinks are all about. Permalinks are the part of the web address that comes after the domain name. These are the addresses for created web pages.
Whenever you create a new webpage on WordPress, it automatically creates a permalink. However, these defaults need to be changed before the content can be published.
You need to understand that a carefully crafted and custom permalink is valuable and helps readers to understand what content a webpage has to offer.
To modify your permalink, navigate to ‘settings’. There you will be able to see the ‘permalink’ button. Click the permalink and make the necessary changes.
Get An SSL Security
Every website needs security. One way to secure your website is by getting an SSL certificate. Having an SSL certificate indicates to the users that your website is a secure connection. This can greatly boost trust and page views.
Besides this, Google has prioritized SSL-secured websites for users and has been adapting different algorithms accordingly. That being said, if your website lacks SSL security today, it can send a warning sign to users using Google Search Engine.
The warning sign alerts the users that they are on an unsecured site and can inspire a quick exit.
Optimize For Voice Search
Today, voice search has become a popular method to look for anything on search engines. People find it more convenient to talk about the keywords than type them. Furthermore, with technologies like Alexa and Siri, voice search has now become the core method used for searches.
You can do many things to optimize your site for voice search. For instance, you can start using long-tail keywords to optimize your online content.
Use Google Analytics
If you are using a WordPress-based website, Google Analytics is one of the must-have tools. It allows the webmaster to see where the traffic is coming from and what they are doing on your website.
To use Google Analytics, you need to download the tool and insert the Google Analytics code in the theme files. But remember that these codes will disappear if you update your theme or change your theme.
Avoid Using Too Many Plugins
WordPress plugins are the reason why WordPress website builder is so popular among people. However, you can’t just have any WordPress plugin on your website. Too many plugins increase the load and slow down your website.
Only install the plugins you really need. This will benefit your users and website. Don’t give in to the temptation of installing every plugin you find interesting.
Learn How To Use Heading Tags & Meta Tags
Although people are aware of what Heading tags and Meta tags are all about, they don’t use them effectively. Both Heading tags and Meta tags leverage your SEO efforts.
The heading is used in the content where you mark your heading with H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6.
On the other hand, the Meta tag is the small section you can see under the SEO title on SERP. Heading tags and Meta tags are important as they make it easier for users to combine the content.
A Secret Trick Nobody Will Tell You!
Automatically close comments on old articles.
You must be wondering – why? Well, when your article becomes old, they start getting too many spam comments. These affect your website’s health.
There are many ways to deal with this problem. For instance, you can manually go through the comments and delete every spam comment. But this process is too time-consuming.
On the other hand, you can simply stop people commenting span by closing comments on older articles. For that, you need to visit settings < Discussion. Now, scroll down to “other comment setting”. Then, select ‘Automatically close comments after X days‘.
