WordPress Search Engine Optimization

Working with WordPress is also using plugins to provide your blog or website with a lot more functionality.

Some of those functions you are going to use to improve you rankings in the Search Engine Results pages.

Below are some of the plugins I use on my own WordPress installations and give me a head start over the competition, so can you!

My List of basic SEO Plugins:

• Robots.txt by Joost de Valk
• Sitemap.xml by
• Sitemap generator from
• WP Supercache
• Related Entries
• SEO Title Tag
• Headspace2 by
• Feedburner plugin

each of these plugins will receive there own Hub page on which I will explain the use, configuration (if any) and why you should use that specific plugin.

But before we look at the Plugins, you need to look at you Blog or website first!

• If you have a critical look at your website, just do this little practice (it is harder then you might think...)

Step 1. First.: forget all you know about your website, forget the hard labour that has gone into it, forget about the time you spend on getting your images right and forget about what you know about the topic of you website...

Step 2. Look at the website that is ranking nr 1. in the search engine result pages on the keyword where you would lik te rank better.

Step 3. Review this site with new eyes, how do you know at first glance that this is the site that will give you information on the keyword you searched for?

Step 4. And here is the hard part! Look at your own site or blog the same way you reviewed the first site...

If you have a totally cluttered screen, no structure in the topics concerning your websites topic, you really need to shape up!

Here is an example: I will use the term WordPress as you are looking at a WordPress SEO topic :-)

If you never used the new improved search on ask.com, here is you change>

Go to www.ask.com and search for WordPress.

You will see a nice overview of related terms on the left site of you screen saying: Narrow your search.

Below there are some of those suggestions:

• WordPress Theme
• WordPress Plugins
• WordPress Templates
• WordPress Tutorial
• WordPress Layout
• WordPress Widgets
• WordPress Blog
• WordPress Tags

Now here is how you can use these topics to get a highly focused website:

Create categories for: Themes, Tutorials, Manual, Widgets, Plugins en Tags.

Now look at the topics covered using that categories...

Does a site with a menu using that categories look to you as a website about WordPress? So does it for the search engines!

No go and restructure your website using the main topics of your websites subject to get the right structure for your site, and your visitors!

The later is afcourse why you build your blog or site, give them the best experience ever!