How to Improve WordPress SEO Strategy

The new year is almost upon us, which can only mean one thing: now is the time to take a look at what we’ve been doing in terms of marketing to find out what is working and, more importantly, what we could be doing even better.

Search engine optimization (SEO) should absolutely be at the top of this list, as a search engine like Google is how the vast majority of people will discover your business’ website for the first time. By following just a few key tips and tricks, you’ll be able to make the best first impression in the most effective way possible.

Building the Best WordPress SEO Strategy That You Can

By far, one of the best ways to improve your WordPress SEO efforts in 2022 involves the acknowledgement that quality content is still the most important factor of all.

Gone are the days when all you needed to do was include a few targeted keywords in a piece and you’d fly right to the top of the rankings on Google. These days, Google changes its algorithm several times a year and tactics like that may actually get you penalized.

While Google keeps the actual makeup of its algorithm a closely guarded secret to help prevent people from “gaming the system,” they have been clear on a few things. First, whatever collateral you’re publishing needs to be as accurate as possible. Not only should it be relevant to your target audience, but it should also provide factual information. This helps keep people on your page for longer periods of time, which ultimately goes a long way towards improving your rankings.

Likewise, your content needs to be natural and readable – something that you can’t really do if you’re more focused on keywords than the actual “meat” of the collateral itself. Try to write blog posts, white papers and similar types of text-based content in a way that is easy to read and even easier to understand.

In a lot of situations, this can be helped by taking certain ideas and expressing them visually. Instead of writing a 1,000 word blog post for your website, for example, maybe take as many of those ideas as you can and make Infographics. You can still provide supplementary text to give people an introduction into what the piece will be about, but the most important ideas will be conveyed in a visual way that is far more compelling than words alone could ever be.

Another way to improve your WordPress SEO strategy in 2022 involves optimizing your site for voice search. Think about the number of Alexa, HomePod and similar devices that people have in their homes at this point. They’re not just using them to play their favorite songs. They’re also using them for answers to basic information, too. It’s common for someone to say “Alexa, what’s the weather going to be like today?” or “Hey Siri, what time is the local electronics store open until?” They’ve become true virtual assistants in the best possible way.

All of this is why it’s critical that you start optimizing your WordPress site for voice search, and sooner rather than later. According to one recent study, over 50% of people already use voice search when trying to find information about local businesses – a number that is only expected to grow over the next decade.

Thankfully, this isn’t as difficult to accomplish as it may seem. It just means that you need to think about how someone would conversationally ask a virtual assistant to find out more information about a business like yours. To get started, make sure that all the titles on your site – and even the subheadings – are written in a question-based format. This mimics the language that someone would use when interacting with Alexa or Siri.

Likewise, make sure that your keywords are formatted in a more conversational way. If someone is looking for a dry cleaner in Cleveland, Ohio, they’re not going to say “Hey Siri, dry cleaner Cleveland.” They’re going to say some variation of “Hey Siri, where is the nearest dry cleaner in Cleveland?” It’s a subtle difference but it’s an important one, to be sure.

You can also include a lot of content on your WordPress site that is question-based, which gives you an opportunity to provide the answers. A lot of sites have had success with including a “Frequently Asked Questions” page on their site for this specific purpose. Go on social media and pay attention to the types of conversations that your ideal customers are already having. Look at the questions they’re asking and create a page dedicated to answering them accurately. This is how you can help them find you via voice search and once they do, they’re much more likely to explore the rest of your domain as well.

Finally, make sure that your WordPress site remains as accessible as possible – something that Google has indicated is very important when determining rankings. Every person, including those with disabilities, should be able to easily find and interact with your website. You can include as many images as you want – just make sure that they have ALT tags that allow people who use screen readers to understand them. Add ARIA attributes to your site to make it easier for people to read text.

In the end, if proper WordPress SEO seems like something of a moving target – that’s largely because it is. But that’s okay, because it’s moving in the right direction – one that creates better content that is easier to access for all of us. It’s a lot of work, to be fair – but it’s also important, because it allows us to do our part to create a better Internet experience for each and every person out there.