It is no secret that Google is the most popular search engine on the planet. They handle over 3.5 billion daily searches and control over 70% of the search engine market share. Therefore, you must ensure that your WordPress website ranks highly for as many people as possible to see and visit your website.
While many factors go into ranking a WordPress website on Google, you can take some simple steps to improve your chances.
Check Your Meta Titles And Descriptions
The top tasks to complete are checking your WordPress website meta titles and descriptions. These short text snippets appear under your website’s title in the search results. These snippets play an essential role in capturing the attention of potential visitors and convincing them to click through to your site.
Ideally, the meta title shouldn’t be longer than 60 characters long, and the meta description should be no more than 160 characters.
Both elements should accurately reflect the content on your page in a compelling and keyword-rich manner. Further, the blog or website page should support the title with content that is also keyword-rich.
Ensure You Have A Responsive Website
Did you know that mobile search surpassed desktop search back in 2015? Today, more people are using their phones and tablets to access the internet.
And while the old web design adage “mobile-first” has been around for a while, it’s critical to keep mobile users in mind. A responsive website will automatically adjust the layout to fit the viewer’s screen size, whether on mobile, desktop, laptop, or even big-screen TVs. Doing so helps ensure that your site can be easily navigated and read, no matter what device your visitors use.
If you’re unsure if you have a responsive website, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check. Enter your URL and click “analyze.”
Use Keywords Strategically
Selecting the best keywords for your website is essential to optimization. Potential customers will use these terms and phrases when they search for businesses like yours.
Be certain to choose keywords that are relevant to your business, localized if possible, and have a fair volume of monthly searches. At the same time, you’ll want to avoid highly competitive keywords that will be difficult to achieve rankings.
Equipped with a list of potential keywords, you want to sprinkle them throughout your website’s content, using them in:
- Page Titles And Meta Descriptions
- Headings And Subheadings
- Body Copy
- Alt Tags On Images
Be mindful not to overuse keywords, however, as this can result in Google penalizing your website for keyword stuffing.
Generate High-Quality Content
Google’s algorithms continuously evolve, but one thing has remained the same: The search engine favors websites with high-quality content. So by developing informative, well-written content relevant to your business, you can improve your chances of ranking high in the search results.
When creating content, be sure to include plenty of relevant keywords. But as we mentioned, don’t stuff your content with keywords or sacrifice quality for keyword density. Ultimately, you want your content to be something visitors will find helpful and enjoyable to read.
In addition, you can also create videos, infographics, or other types of visual content to help improve your website’s SEO.
Claim Your Google Business Profile
Don’t overlook the importance of claiming your Google Business profile. A Google Business Profile is a free listing that appears in the “local pack” section of the search results, and it can give your business a significant boost in visibility.
To claim your listing, visit google.com/business and follow the instructions. First, you’ll need to verify your listing via mail or phone. Then you can enter important information about your business, such as your hours, address, contact information, and website URL.
Offer User Controls For Website Visitors
In an era when concern for data privacy and user experience is so important, it’s essential to offer website visitors the ability to control the information they share. These settings might include the option to turn off cookies or location tracking.
This consideration is important from an ethical standpoint and can also impact your website’s SEO. Google has stated that they take data privacy and security into account when ranking sites, so it’s in your best interest to offer these controls to visitors.
Optimize Your Website’s Loading Speed
The faster your website loads, the better. Not only will this improve the user experience for your visitors, but it will also help your website rank higher in the search results.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool to check your website’s loading speed. Enter your URL and click “analyze.” The tool will provide recommendations for improving your website’s speed.
Other approaches, such as using a CDN or upgrading to a faster web host, can also help to improve your website’s loading speed. For example, a CDN is a distributed server system that delivers content to visitors based on their geographic location. Using a CDN helps to improve loading times by reducing connection hops, providing an improved user experience.
Create Highly Targeted Landing Pages
Ideally, search engines seek to match a user’s query with the most relevant and valuable results. That’s why creating targeted landing pages for each keyword you want to rank for is essential.
A targeted landing page is straightforward and to the point, without any distractions. The goal is to get visitors to take precise action, whether joining your email list or completing a purchase.
Due to the focused nature of landing pages, they tend to convert visitors faster than other types of website content. That’s why creating targeted landing pages for the keywords you want to rank for is essential.
Final Thoughts
If you need to optimize your WordPress website for Google, we hope these recommendations will give you an excellent place to start. But if you have questions or could benefit from professional assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us today . We’re here to help you grow.
