Having a blog is the advice you’ll always get when you start an e-commerce or try to improve your position. Though it sounds easy, it’s not as simple as launching a plugin and being done. Do you know how to place a SEO post well in WordPress?

Realistically, it’s important to understand why and how each of the factors is influential.

WordPress alone does notplace itself

You know that we always talk about WordPress as a SEO friendly CMS. Although this is partially true, since it’ll depend in large part on the template you use and how you set it up, it doesn’t guarantee that everything you write on it will magically position itself.

Steps to optimize a WordPress post for SEO

Let’s look at the steps you should follow for your posts to rank in Google.

#1 – Plan

Behind every actionmeant to achieve organic positioning, there has to be a strategy and plan. Don’t write a single word before having the keywords clear or the search you want to optimize in the text.It needs to be:

• Unique: don’t make the mistake of cannibalizing other pages from your website. If you sell Adidas Samba shoes, don’t write a post for them if it’s not in long tail, you run the risk of placing a post above a product and that goes against the business.
• Relevant: you need the WordPress context to have a homogeneous thread, which, in turn is aligned with your money site will be easier to position. Also, what good is it to have the recipe for roast chicken at the top if you sell sneakers?
• With certain volume: This is a bit more debatable. You obviously need to contribute some traffic but you shouldn’t obsess over it. If you have a niche product, you may have to play it down because maybe 100 highly segmented visits per month are more efficient at the conversion level than 100,000 general purpose visits.

So, we’ll start by making a good keyword research that will lead to an editorial calendar. We’re going to do things correctly from the beginning.

#2 – Choose the URL

It’simportant that the keyword you selected is included in the URL. Pay attention because many times WordPress doesn’t have the permalinks configured, meaning the addresses aren’t very nice; define the structure well.

Try to be as far to the left as possible. Avoid using strange characters and don’t capitalize.

I would also recommend that you avoid stop words like articles, prefixes or prepositions. They lengthen the URL and take value away from the SEO.

#3 – The length of the text

Here there are usually certain discrepancies too. Obviously, it should be decently long, but there’s a consensus among the SEOs, who usually don’t agree on much, that it should be at least 300 words. My advice is to go a bit further and surpass 500.

More for readability than anything else, it keeps subparagraphs from being too long. It’s better to break up the information.

#4 – Headings and hierarchy

The famous H1 that still has a lot of pull. You have to enter the keyword in H1 and try semantic alternatives in the rest of the headings (H2, H3 …). This type of header is a clear sign for Google whatthe subject of the post is, so make sure you always keep it in mind and that it’s not duplicated with other posts and pages.

After the H1 you should put an H2 in the following headings and if there are subparagraphs lower in the hierarchy within the H2 paragraphs, label them as H3.

Example: Places to visit before you die (<H1>)> Spain (<H2>)> Cuenca (<H3>), Salamanca (<H3>), Ponferrada (<H3>). In WordPress these tags are placed using the dropdown menu which, by default is a paragraph.

#5 – The key word in the content

There’s a bad habit that stopped working years ago that’s called “keyword stuffing”. Don’t fill in the text with the keyword again and again, that doesn’t work and in the worst casescenario, you might even be penalized for over-optimization.

So, I don’t put the keyword? Of course you do! The keyword should be there just not repeated again and again. Alternate the keyword you want to place with different semantic variants. This not only enriches the quality of the text, search engines recognize it and it opens a wide range of possibilities.

Important: links to relevant external and internal sources (other related posts) make it more natural.

#6 – The images

Google can’t interpret images, at least for now, which means you have to submit things that have already taken a bit of shape. Enter the word you want to place in the WordPress post:

• The name of the file: best sneakers-adidas-samba-negras.jpg that 344562DSC.jpg
• The Alt text:this is the text that browsers substitute when the image is down or if users havesightproblems. Google takes a lot into account because it converts images into words that can be understood and associated with each other.

#7 –SEO Title

One of the most important labels in SEO terms. Just like with the URL, remember to put the keyword at the beginning of the tag. There are other things to keep in mind: it shouldn’t be too different from othersused in the blog,make sure it isn’t the same as the H1 and, most importantly, it should be between 30 and 65 characters.

#8 – SEO Description

This tag doesn’t have SEO value, but that doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. If the keyword appears, you’ll increase the number of clicks (called CTR), which is relevant.

Like the rest of the labels, make sure it’s unique and isn’t repeated on the page. This also has a limited range; try not to be below 70 characters or above 155.

Do I use any SEO plugins?

Yes, it’s a good idea. Yoast SEO is popular because it works quite well and has many advanced options (even at the meta robot and redirection level, but don’t use it until you’re used to it).

Yoast SEO also has visual aids, a stoplight that tells you how to place the post well and what points you should improve.