You’ve just set up your first online business with WordPress. But you don’t seem to be getting enough traffic, and not many people are buying your products or know about your services. In this case, it’s time to stop procrastinating on your SEO strategies and start taking it seriously.

If you don’t know where to start then the tips below can help you take that first step.

What is SEO

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. Just like Its name suggests, it’s a method of increasing a website’s visibility in search engines.

Other than uploading quality content and maintaining a great user experience, you need to make it easier for search engines to “understand” your website.

To gather data, search engines send out crawlers to search the web. The crawlers will determine what your website is about and how useful it will be to readers. Your website’s search rank is dependent on the results.

SEO Tips

If you’re using WordPress for your business, then you’re in luck as it’s already SEO friendly. However, you can turn it up a notch and improve your chances to rank high in search engines with these tips.

Get Reliable Hosting

Picking the right hosting provider for your ecommerce site is essential to ensure quality WordPress SEO. This is due to the effect of hosting impacting factors like loading speed and site uptime.

One of the ways search engine crawlers determines your website’s location is via IP address. That also depends on the server’s location of your chosen web host. Search engines do this to show your site to nearby readers that are searching for similar topics to your niche.

Check here for a complete explanation on web hosting and where you can get a quality service at an affordable price.

Optimize Permalink Structure

A permalink is short for “permanent link” an unchanged URL or website address. You might want to pick a permalink structure for every page on your site to enhance SEO. To do this directly go to Settings then Permalink on your WordPress dashboard.

Another way is to incorporate long-tail keywords, key phrases that are made of three or more words. For example, if you sell shoes, “men’s sports shoes” is a long tail keyword and that can be used on the URL of that specific page.

Due to its length, you can convey specific information about your content. They are also less competitive hence making it easier to rank higher with long-tail keywords.

SEO WordPress Plugins

When it comes to WordPress, it isn’t complete without talking about its plugins. Even though WordPress already has reliable built-in SEO features, sometimes you need to have an upgrade.

There are many SEO plugins to choose from, but the most popular is Yoast SEO. This great plugin will make it easy to obtain great SEO for your content.

The SEMRush plugin is mostly used by professionals to gather insights and analytics from their competitors. This plugin has a paid subscription, but the wealth of data you get when using this tool is priceless.

Keyword Research

Taking the time to research on keywords can give your SEO strategy a boost. It allows you to create high-quality content that readers search for. You’ll be able to understand more about the market that you’ve targeted as well.

There are many tools that can assist you with keyword research. Some of the leading ones are SEMRush, Ahrefs, and KWFinder. Using them, you’ll be able to create a list of targetted keywords that’s related to your business.

You’re also able to research business competitors that are in the same circle of niche or market. Through the keyword tools, you can detect which keywords bring them the most traffic.

Use Internal and External Links

Linking out to other sources, preferably high-quality ones, can help you with SEO. It lets Google know that the linked content is similar to that of yours. It provides readers extra information that they need.

If you can, try to use internal and external links regularly. Linking a post to relevant articles or pages from your own website is called internal links. This type of hyperlinking gives crawlers a clearer picture of your site’s hierarchy and structure.

External links are hyperlinks that point to sources outside your website or domain. It helps build your site’s credibility by providing search engines with a definite idea of your business niche. But do keep in mind that the links need to be relevant and trustworthy.

Conclusion

Increasing traffic through SEO strategies can be time-consuming, but the results are satisfying. Traffic will increase, and if you have an online business, this will help in higher earnings. With the tips above you’ll be able to get through the process without a problem as well.

Although you might not get the number one position straightaway, the tips will help to improve your chances.