1. A presentation given to the WordPressInsider meetup on
October 24, 2012
Connect With Me:
Email: Michelle@CastilloMediaGroup.com
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Website: CastilloMediaGroup.com
This presentation can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/wordpress90
2. Visibility + Attraction = Traffic
Visibility: Ranking high
Attraction: People are enticed to
click
3. Ranking 101
Search engines have a selfish interest in providing the
best search results possible. Which means:
User finds what she is looking for - Content is relevant
and reliable
Location
Fast Load time
Your job is to make YOUR Web pages the most
relevant pages available for your business
related keywords.
4. Ranking - What do search engines look at
On page parameters
Off page – Links
Social Media - Links shared through Twitter and
Facebook have a direct impact on
rankings(http://www.seomoz.org/blog/google-bing-
confirm-twitter-facebook-influence-seo)
5. On Page SEO
The single most important thing you can do
on a page to improve its ranking when you're
on WordPress and have it properly set up, is
write better copy, better article
headings, and a better (SEO) title.
Source: Yoast.com
6. Site Structure
A good site structure is a requirement for Search Engine
Optimization. It allows both your users and search
engines to find content within your site more easily. A
good structure is well categorized, and pages within it
only link to other pages on the same topic.
Read more: http://yoast.com/site-structure-seo/
Permalinks
Internal links
XML Site map
7. Configure Permalinks
Permalink the permanent URL to your Individual posts
Always make sure to configure your permalink. This is a general WordPress
functionality and can be accesses in the WordPress admin area under
settings>>permalinks
It is recommended to use either “Post Name”
or /%category%/%postname%/
Including date may reduce click
through rate, use date in
news sites when the
date is really important
8. Body text
Generally, Web pages should have about 200 to 300 words of text with special
emphasis on two or three carefully chosen keywords.
About Headings :
The most important heading on the page should be the H1.
There is usually only one H1 on any page.
Sub-headings should be H2's, sub-sub-headings should be H3's, etc.
Each heading should contain valuable keywords, if not, it's a wasted heading.
In longer pieces of content, a heading is what helps a reader skip to the parts that they
find interesting.
Other ways to highlight important Keywords: Bold, italics, lists
Images: Always make sure to give a meaningful name to images and add alt text
9. Title Tags and meta description
Title Tag
Meta Description
11. Your site on the web
If you type into the Google search box
“site:YourDomain.com” you will be able to see:
1. What pages of your site are indexed by Google -
You will probably find that not all indexed page need
to be indexed.
2. The way the pages are represented at the search
results. Is this the way you want the search results to
look? Is the text displayed going to entice potential
visitor to click and come visit your site?
13. About Titles
Used for search engine ranking –
must include the key words
Shown on the browser tab
Is the first line people see in the
search results
14. Using WordPress SEO Plugin
Each page and post have a WordPress SEO area.
Chose a focus keyword
Edit Title and meta description
For even better results use “Page Analysis”. You must
publish/update the post/page before being able to use
this functionality.
If you dot want the search engine to visit a page ( for
pages such as Terms and conditions, privacy policy etc ).
Use advanced and set Meta Robots Index to “No
Index”
15. Controlling titles
Define global default rules in WordPress SEO >>
Titles menu
Overwrite the default at a post, page, category or tag
level
Guidelines for creating good titles:
They should always contain the focus keyword ;
preferably be at the beginning of the title.
They should always contain your brand, preferably at the
end, so people may recognize you in consecutive
searches.
The title should entice people to click.
16. About Indexation
When you install WordPress SEO, your admin
pages and search result pages are by default not
indexed
Disable date based archives indexation – Unless
your site is a news site.
At a page level , under WordPress SEO >>
Advanced you can set a page to be “Nonindex” .
Pages such as “Terms and Conditions” , shopping
cart and are examples for pages you do not want
indexed.
17. Descriptions
An accurate description communicates to prospective
visitors the make-up and content relevancy of the
page, and compels (or not) that visitor to click through
and visit your site page.
If you fail to include a description of the page, search
engines are likely going to fabricate a description of
their choosing by returning a snippet of text from your
page.
You can control the description at the page, post
, category and tag level using WordPress SEO interface
18. XML Site maps
To enable the creation of XML site maps by WordPress
SEO plugin, all you have to is check the box and save
the settings
The xml sitemap should be submitted to Google
Webmaster Tools in the Configuration>>Sitemaps
panel.
WordPress SEO pings Google and Bing automatically
every time you have a new post
19. Preferred Domain URL
Decided what your preferred domain (Aka canonical domain) is. In other words
you need to decide if you want the world to use www.MyWebsite.com or
MyWebsite.com
You will need to use the same format both in the general settings section as well as
in the Google Webmaster tool.
20. Preferred Domain URL Cont.
In Google Webmaster tools you will need to add the site twice. Once with the
www prefix and once without it.
No account yet? Read my How to setup Google Webmaster Tools
To verify ownership you may use WordPress SEO Dashboard
After you verifying the ownership of both domain names, go to Google
Webmaster Tools>>Site Configuration>>settings and select the prefer domain
21. Resources
Video - WordPress SEO with Yoast, Joost de Valk
Yoast: WordPress SEO Article
WordPressInsider – WordPress SEO
22. Connect With Me:
Email: Michelle@CastilloMediaGroup.com
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook ( Feel Free to Like us )
Website: CastilloMediaGroup.com