Everything from microblogs to multibillion-dollar corporations can run on it. There's even a White House website powered by the open-source platform WordPress.

a showcase for the WordPress website

So it should come as no surprise that WordPress is a great platform for search engine optimisation (SEO).

At the very least, it's possible.

WordPress, in the end, is just a tool. There's no substitute for experience in the use of any tool.

We're willing to bet that for every well-optimized WordPress site, there are hundreds of subpar ones. However, rather than the tool being the problem in these situations, the issue is the craftsman.

Assessing WordPress's SEO

How WordPress was evaluated for search engine optimisation.

When compared to the other content management systems in our comparison, WordPress was the most challenging to test in isolation.

This is in part due to the fact that we've been "testing" WordPress since its inception in 2003. In other words, we have some biases. We are aware of all the "flaws" and know how to get around them.

If you're using a "website building platform" like Wix or Squarespace, it's easy to test and draw conclusions based on the results. Each and every Wix website is hosted on Wix Every Wix website is hosted on the same server. Wix sites all share the same foundational code.

While this may be true:

A self-hosted CMS like WordPress gives you full control over the underlying platform and allows you to modify to your heart's content. You have a lot of control on the speed, stability, and performance of your WordPress site, including where it's hosted, how it's configured, and so on.

Let's start with the good stuff, shall we?

You can do anything to optimise your WordPress site, which is great news.

WordPress doesn't have a single "highlight" when it comes to search engine optimisation. There are no limits to what you can do to optimise a WordPress site because of the platform's advantages.

Definitely, you'll need a few plugins.

There's nothing impossible to alter or correct once you know what needs to be improved.

Also, what if you're having difficulty optimising a specific element? There are so many WordPress websites out there that it's quite probable that someone else has encountered the same issue and commented about it. As a result, most of the time, the solution to your SEO problems may be found by performing a Google search.

Google search for wordpress

As a result, the best thing about WordPress is that it comes with everything you need to optimise your site, plus a large user base and a wealth of online resources to guide you along the way.

It's a problem that many themes don't take search engine optimisation into consideration.

WordPress websites can succeed or fail based on the theme they use.

In our WordPress SEO check list, we'll go into more detail about this. While we wait for a more comprehensive analysis, we can safely state that many marketplace themes are not optimised for search engine optimisation (SEO).

Slow and buggy themes that look beautiful can exist. Furthermore, you may be unable to change your mind at a later time if you are locked in.

As a result, make sure you choose with a theme that loads quickly and is properly optimised. If no one can locate your site, what good is a gorgeous theme?

WordPress vs On-Page SEO: How do they compare?

Now, let's look at how we may take command of some of the most important elements of our website's on-page SEO strategy.

Is WordPress able to handle all of them?

I think so. It's easy to optimise your WordPress site with only a few plugins.

Recapitulating what we've spoken thus far.

Assessing WordPress's SEO

A ranking element can be controlled in SEO, but that does not mean it has been optimised. Learn how to thoroughly optimise your website using our SEO assessment guide.

The title of a page is still one of the most essential ranking elements on the page. When it comes to getting more clicks, a well-written meta description is a good way to go.

Your WordPress site's SEO title and description may be completely customised with YOAST installed.

For both mobile and desktop search, you'll see how your snippet will appear.

Slugs should be brief, descriptive, and include the page's core keyword or phrase. It is best practise to separate words with the use of the hyphen.

Using WordPress, you may customise the slug for every page and post on your website.

Permalink

If you make a URL change on your site, be sure to implement a 301 redirect so that the old URL is redirected to the new. Redirection is a free plugin that may be used to keep track of redirection.

It's unlikely that this will be an issue for a smaller site.

However, if you have a number of pages on your site that are very similar to each other (e.g., they all use the same keywords or have very minor differences in content), you may wish to create a canonical (master) URL.

This ensures that there are no concerns with content duplication.

The "Advanced" tab of the YOAST SEO panel has a box for defining a custom canonical URL for any post or page on your site.

Using the robots meta tag, you may tell Google whether or not to index a certain page:

Your page's structure and subject matter are better communicated to Google using heading tags (such as 'h1, h2, h3, etc.) instead of plain text.

They should be arranged in a logical fashion.

H1 tags are usually the primary topic, while h2 tags are usually subtopics (level 2), h3 tags are sub-sub topics (level 3), and so on:

h1>Automobile Products/h1> (topic of the page)

H2>Tyres H2> (subtopic)

How to properly care for your car polish.h3 (subtopic of cars)

what a page's content is (i.e. recipe, review, product, article),

the entity in charge of maintaining this website (i.e. organization),

in addition to displaying extra search options (rich snippets)

Please check out our rich snippets guide if you're not familiar with structured data and its influence on search engine optimisation.

You may provide a default schema type for each post and page on your WordPress site using YOAST.

The schema markup is generated automatically by YOAST once you answer the questions.

a substitute for the primary text (description of the image for screen readers and search engines)

A lower file size (faster and easier to access)

The name of the file (we recommend using descriptive file names)

WordPress is well-equipped to handle alt text and filenames out of the box.

Any image's block settings allow you to choose an alternative text (Gutenberg).

Alt text for images

Moreover, when you upload a picture to WordPress, it won't tamper with the filenames. If you save your work before uploading with an SEO-friendly file name, you're good to go.

This checklist will go over the use of Imagify, which is a third-party plugin for optimising your photos for web use and reducing file size.

To sum it up: WordPress is a fantastic SEO tool.

Because you can do anything to optimise your WordPress site with a clean, fast theme, a few plugins, and some hard work repairing what needs to be addressed.

Of course, on-page SEO is only a small piece of the pie. Your site's authority will also rise if you publish high-quality content, develop a reputation in your field of expertise, and acquire high-quality backlinks from reputable sources.

By contrast, WordPress is an excellent CMS for long-term success in search engine optimisation. Your rankings and traffic will rise swiftly with the appropriate information and a great SEO plan. To find out more, contact us today.