This document provides a comprehensive guide on improving SEO for WordPress sites by focusing on keyword usage, permalink structure, and optimizing content for both search engines and users. It emphasizes the importance of using relevant keywords in site structure, anchor text, and meta descriptions, while also recommending specific plugins for enhancing SEO performance. Additionally, it outlines strategies for writing effective content, managing images, and leveraging social media for traffic generation.

1. SEO for WordPress Ruth Maude, Dandelion Web Design How to do better in Google

2. Choose the best SEO platform

3. Keywords: make a list Know what search terms you want to target before you begin your web project Poll your client base for terms List multiple ways to say the same thing Use the Google Ad-words keyword tool Check out Google Suggests

4. Use Keywords in the Naming Structure of Web site Keyword-rich domain name

5. Anchor Text Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink Search engines give weight to the keywords used in link so don’t use “click here”

6. Use Keywords in the Naming Structure of Web site Keyword-rich domain name People use your business name or your domain name as the anchor text of a link Permalink settings

7. Permalink settings /%postname%/ /%category% Use Permalinks Migration Plugin for WordPress

8. Use Keywords in the Naming Structure of Web site Keyword-rich domain name (anchor text) Permalink settings Customize permalinks for each page And customize the permalink for every post you publish

9. Customize the permalink for each individual page/post

10. Plugin: WordPress SEO by Yoast Titles and meta descriptions Robots Meta configuration Canonical Breadcrumbs Permalink clean up xml sitemaps RSS enhancements Edit your robots.txt and .htaccess Clean up head section

11. Titles and Meta Descriptions Title Meta Description

12. Snippet Preview Tool Enter a 70 character custom Title Enter a 140 character custom description

13. Page Analysis Tab

14. xml sitemap Tells search engines which pages are to be crawled Links to all the URLs for a site Metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is relative to other URLs in the site) The plugin will automatically update the xml sitemap when you publish a new post

15. Content Write for search engines Write for the way people read on the Web

16. Write for Search Engines Images are pretty but search engines need text Pull out your list of keywords If you don't have a word on your site – search engines won't return your site for that term H1 – one per page - used for Page/Post titles H2, H3 …

17. Adjust the label Don’t worry if changing your page title messes up your menu. Adjust navigation labels under Appearance -> Menu

18. Write for Search Engines Images are pretty but search engines need text Pull out your list of keywords If you don't have a word on your site – search engines won't return your site for that term H1 – one per page - used for Page/Post titles H2, H3 … Use image alt text

20. Write for Search Engines Images are pretty but search engines need text Pull out your list of keywords If you don't have a word on your site – search engines won't return your site for that term H1 – one per page - H2, H3 … <h1>Page/Post title with keywords</h1> Menu Use image alt text Use anchor text for internal linking

21. Page Speed Keep image file size as small as possible Don’t scale images Use the W3 Total Cache plugin

22. Write for People People read differently on the Web Chunk text Keep sentences and paragraphs short Call-to-action button Keep main message above the fold

23. Google Tools Google Webmaster Tools Google Analytics Google Place Page Google Plus

24. Links Number of inbound back links How reputable is the link Relevance of link Anchor text Create great content Social media

25. Drive traffic to your site with social media

26. Links Number of inbound back links Relevance of link Anchor text Create great content Social media Guest blogging Commenting on other blogs

27. Recommended Plugins Permalinks Migration Plugin WordPress SEO by Yoast Google Analytics for WordPress by Yoast Rank Reporter W3 Total Cache Sexy Bookmarks, Social Media Widget Related Posts Plugin

28. dandelionwebdesign.com @dandelionweb Web Copy Writer: dawncomber.com