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The proportion of websites in the world that are run with WordPress is estimated at around 40 percent. Interest in WordPress has increased greatly in recent years, largely due to how easy it is to use while being versatile and customizable.
But how do you get more traffic to your WordPress site?
The answer is called search engine optimization or SEO – Search Engine Optimization. The purpose is to rank higher in Google and on more keywords to be able to get some of the approximately 50 – 70 million searches that are done in the search engine every day.
In a nutshell, it is partly about optimizing the website and its content, and partly about building links from other websites.
It sounds pretty complicated. Sure, SEO is actually an art in itself, but the nice thing is that everyone can at least absorb the basics and with fairly small means increase the number of visitors to their WordPress site. In this article, we will take a closer look at how to do it.
WordPress and SEO
WordPress is actually quite well-equipped for SEO thanks to the ability to add so-called plug-ins, small gadgets that improve the basic functions of the software.
Still, it is not just a matter of pressing a button and resolving the issue of search engine optimization once and for all. No, WordPress SEO requires commitment and patience in the same way as other search engine optimization, although you can get help on the stack thanks to handy tools.
Where do we start somewhere if we want to drive more traffic to our WordPress site through search engine optimization?
Here are 10 suggestions!
Get a fast web host
Nowadays, Google thinks that fast websites deserve a better ranking. A fast site provides a more comfortable user experience, which is rewarded by Google.
The first thing you should do is make sure that your WordPress site is hosted on a fast web host. There are a lot of differences in speed, partly between different suppliers, and partly between different packages that each of them has.
If you want maximum power, you can instead choose to install WordPress on a VPS and you get dedicated server resources.
2. Install an SEO-friendly theme
WordPress uses themes that determine how the site should appear on the screen. There are thousands of themes to choose from. By choosing a theme that is SEO-friendly from the beginning, you create good conditions early on to get a lot of traffic to your site.
An SEO-friendly theme is one that loads quickly and has a design that adapts well to different devices. Your website must look at least as good on mobile as on desktop to be SEO-friendly. In addition, it is important that it is easy for users to navigate the site.
Use a free SEO plugin
Whether you do SEO yourself or hire an expert, you will need an SEO plugin in WordPress. One of these gives you the opportunity to easily fill in Meta Description and Meta Title and create a sitemap. More on this soon.
Such a plugin can also give you useful feedback on how you can improve the content so that it ranks better.
There are several plugins. Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack are among the most used. RankMath is another example of a useful plugin.
4. Get SSL
Google wants your visitors to be safe when they enter your WordPress site. One of the most basic ways to make sure a visit is secure is to install an SSL certificate. Most web hosts offer you to do it for free. When you have SSL in WordPress, you see it through the small key lock in the URL field and it says “https: //” in front of the address.
5. Turn on SEO-friendly permalinks
Permalinks are the structure that determines what the address of each page on your WordPress site looks like. After installing WordPress, the addresses of posts will probably look something like this:
www.example.com/?p=123
It is not so nice and it is therefore not so easy to convince people who google that they should click on your particular address.
Instead, you should create a nicer URL structure. You make it easy under the “Permalinks” in the settings in WordPress. There you can set the URL of a blog post instead to look like this:
www.example.com/three-things-I-like- about
6. Create a Sitemap
A sitemap is a kind of map that helps search engines find your site. They will certainly, just like your readers, navigate using links and menus, but with a sitemap, you make it easier for Google and other search engines to map your site.
Most SEO plugins allow you to create such a map which is also called XML sitemap. Next, you should also include the link to the Sitemap in the Google Search Console.
7. Write good content
In order for you to get a lot of traffic to your WordPress site, you need content – content.
Google is constantly looking for interesting new content that responds to what people are wondering about. “What does an echo cost?”, “Where is Falun” or “What is the meaning of life?”.
Can you answer what people are looking for, you have laid the foundation for getting a lot of traffic to your website. It is smart to build your website with a certain focus because no one can write about everything.
Once you have chosen a theme, it is good to do keyword research. There are several good tools on the market such as Ahrefs and Semrush but they cost a lot. You will also find free alternatives such as Ubersuggest.
Generate data on what people are looking for and start creating good content based on this. Write often and preferably quite exhaustively. It will pay off!
8. Format your content correctly
It’s not just about writing. You should also make sure to format your texts so that both Google and your readers get the most out of them.
Here are some tricks that will help you get more traffic to your WordPress site. To begin with, you should always use headings and subheadings. H1 is the main heading. Then you can divide the text into H2s, subheadings. If the text is long, you can add another sublevel under the H2s in the form of H3s.
Write easy to read and make sure the texts are spelled correctly. Never copy texts from the web but create your own content all the time.
When you write, you can take the opportunity to link to other content on the site. It will eventually strengthen each page and make the entire site more robust in Google’s eyes.
9. Fill in the Meta Title & Description
Meta Title is the title of the page. It’s often the same as H1, but it does not have to be. It is Meta Title that appears as a headline in the search results and therefore it is good to figure out for a while what it should be. A maximum of 55 characters is a benchmark.
The same applies to Meta Description. Write an explanation of what each page is about in a maximum of 150 – 160 characters. That description sometimes appears in Google’s search results.
How can Meta Title & Description help you get more traffic to your WordPress blog? Well, if you write these in a good way, more people will feel tempted to click on your particular result in Google. And that leads to more traffic.
10. Build links
Last but not least, we have link building as a way to get more traffic to your WordPress website. Links are needed as they act as “voices” from other websites because your website is interesting. Google notes this and gives a better ranking as a reward.
Unfortunately, far too many people think that SEO is mostly about building links. The most important thing is, in fact, that you first get everything else on the website in order, not least good content. Then you can start building quality links, preferably from similar sites.
If you follow these 10 steps, you will almost certainly get many new visitors to your WordPress site from Google and other search engines!
