Blogging has become an integral part of daily life for many individuals/companies throughout the world, and the future is gradually leaning towards a blog-centric universe. WordPress, which is in my opinion the best blogging platform, has been instrumental in the blog world and optimizing current, high-traffic WordPress blogs for SEO (search engine optimization) can be an instant money maker. Proper SEO = more exposure, more traffic and more revenue.

WordPress is built quite well, with SEO in-mind, but there are many tweaks that can be made to ensure optimum functionality. Search engine optimization for WordPress involves many aspects, though the key principles of WordPress SEO include:

• Optimize page titles for posts, static pages, categories, etc.
• Install SEO plugins (Google XML Sitemap, Headspace2)
• Eliminate duplicate content
• Create informative, helpful, keyword-rich articles on your WordPress blog

Above and beyond what was mentioned above, to get the most out of your WordPress blog, be sure to continuously build backlinks (links to your blog from relevant, high PageRank sources). Many search engine algorithms, especially Google’s, love a blog with a large amount of qualified incoming links. Backlinks help increase PageRank for respective pages and in return filter “linkjuice” up the website hierarchy; ultimately increasing overall website strength.

Another key aspect of WordPress SEO is optimizing the titles and alt text for images on the blog. For example, let’s say you shoot a photo of new rims on your BMW and load it to your blog. The odds are the image is named DSC001.jpg or another standard image format (varies by camera). All images should be renamed with proper keywords, which will help Google Images and other image crawlers determine what exactly is pictured in the photo.

Lastly, search engine optimization for WordPress is highly reliant on content itself, and large amounts of comments can actually hurt SEO by decreasing keyword density of post/content pages. For new visitors, seeing comments establishes a blog as a reliant source of information, and visitors love participating, though certain pages, such as a company bio, should have comments disabled.

I hope the above information has been helpful and you’re always welcome to contact me with any questions you may have. Follow the above methods, provide unique content, and your WordPress blog will surely be successful.

Good luck!

Sincerely,
Aaron Schoenberger
The Brainchild Group

Aaron Schoenberger is Founder of The Brainchild Group — a top online advertising agency that specializes in strategic SEO and Social Media consulting. He’s known for his work with celebrity clients, top restaurants, professional athletes and Fortune 500 companies. Feel free to Contact Us for more information.