ByWriting on the web is something people do almost every day, including myself. But sometimes, I wonder whether people know how search engines are programmed. I remember one friend of mine called me to assist him in optimising his posts on his WordPress website because he had tried his best to rank higher on search engines because, according to him, he wasn’t getting the results after trying for almost a year. So, I asked for login information on his website, only to see how messy his post arrangements were on his page. Maybe you want to start blogging, whether as a hobby or a way to earn a living, that’s fine. But it would be best if you didn’t think spending huge sums of money running search engine ads will always get your website posts to the top. You must learn how to optimise your WordPress posts to rank higher on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo and, if possible, on the first search results page (SERP). I am more familiar with the Yoast SEO plugin, so I will use that to teach you. However, there are other plugins like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and Rank Math, which are all good. But most of them use the same rules I’ll be writing today.
Include the focus keyphrase of the post in the first paragraph.
Let me assume you have already written your post and drafted it on your website, maybe using the Jetpack mobile app. So it’s left with you to optimise it. I get it. Yoast SEO demands a focus keyphrase for each post, which you have to ensure they are unique. But what is it? A focus keyphrase is simply a word, sentence or phrase (without a comma in it) that tells search engines what your entire post is all about. For example, I can choose “optimise” as my focus keyphrase for this post. But I can also use my article title too. I usually go for the entire title because it helps me avoid duplication of its usage since each post on every website post I make is unique.
When you type your focus keyphrase, you must view what Yoast says about it. If it appears in your post too much, you’d have to use some synonyms to replace some of them. But most importantly, it must be included in the first paragraph of your post. Why? Some search engines don’t track your SEO Meta description (a small text, about 156 characters long, including the keyphrase that summarises your post and appears on search result pages) even after specifying it. So, having it in your first paragraph is a huge plus to your post’s SEO.
Insert internal and external links in your article.
Internal and external links are also essential for your SEO. Internal links refer to links to other areas of your website, whether it is a page or a previous post. Please note, only add an internal link of a scheduled post to a post which will be published after it. Otherwise, it’ll lead to a 404 error page when readers click on it, which is also a bad reputation for the website. I am saying this because Yoast SEO can flag that checklist as correct, but it’s not the best. So, get at least one internal link in your post. Even if it’s difficult, include it at the base of your article.
Secondly, include external links also, I mean, links to other websites, especially in areas of the article you referenced in your research. It’s of great help. But don’t contact other web admins to purchase link slots. If you do that, search engines will rank your post low because the crawling bots have been programmed to fight against that. Don’t think they won’t catch you when you do it. Oh, for sure, they will. Most of these search engines process huge amounts of data every day. Your actions on the web cannot single you out from their monitoring systems.
Other essentials
Indeed, there are other must-dos I can’t write about when optimising your content. But what I have discussed from the top, including specifying your meta description, is usually the most demanding one. And lest I forget, ensure your post is at least 300 words long with a good featured image, which has to be renamed in your media library just like the title.
Make sure the Yoast SEO score turns green.
As you expand the Yoast SEO’s recommendations, you might see other things you need to do to make the SEO score better. You cannot fulfil all. But at least make sure it turns green.
A Word for those who edit their posts in Elementor
Sometimes, when you edit your posts with Elementor, Yoast may still tell you there is no image on your post, even if you’ve already inserted a featured image. So, when that happens, go on and make your post edits. After that, “Exit to WordPress” and recheck Yoast’s recommendations. That “no featured image” recommendation will be marked as fulfilled.
Happy writing. 👏
