21 Days to SEO Your WordPress Site…

So, you’ve got a WordPress site. It’s your pride and joy (especially if we designed and developed it) and you’re really excited to show it off – but you’re not quite sure what to do to get traffic. The brass ring here is good placement with Google (and to a lesser extent, Bing and Yahoo.) How do you do that? You optimize your site – SEO. Search Engine Optimization. There are a few steps – and they can seem a little daunting, but for the next 21 days, we’re going to walk you through how to really SEO your WordPress site, get it set up right and get some asses in the seats.

3 weeks. No guarantee that you’re going to dominate Google, but in those three weeks, you’ll learn what to do and what not to do to set your site up for success with search engines – and more importantly, how to set it up for long term, sustainable and legit traffic.

Why do you want to SEO your WordPress site?

• Search engines (especially Google) are a hugely important traffic source.
• Usually, before someone decides to use your goods and services, they’re going to Google you.
• You’ve got a website – don’t you want to generate leads and sales? If folks are out there searching for the products and services you offer, don’t you want to stand up and be counted? Yes, you do.
• Google is ubiquitous, and they control much of the search (and hence, a lot of the business) on the web. It’s a fact.

As good as dominating Google can be, you don’t want to put ALL your eggs in that basket – and you don’t want to design and develop your marketing strictly on the merits of good SEO.

Search Engine Optimization should be a part of your total marketing strategy. An important part – but a part, nonetheless.

There’s 3 reasons for that thinking:

1. SEO Can Take a Long Time to Work Optimally: You’re not going to see overnight results. The stuff you do during these three weeks could take months to pay real dividends. SEO is a long, slow burn – but that burn is important.
2. SEO Changes: Google is the consummate tinkerer. They change their algorithm more than Rue Paul changes wigs – and your traffic and placement can go up and down. Your competition makes changes and improvements. There are so many variables, but the constant is change. If you stay on top of it, though – you WILL see long-term benefits from good SEO practices, regardless of what Google does.
3. SEO Can Make People Sick: An over-optimized site can be irritating. If your site and your posts and pages are set up to first and foremost make Google happy, you’re going to alienate the folks that visit your site. Getting them there is important, but you can’t present them with something that is ugly or confusing and stuffed with keywords. Always think user experience FIRST – SEO second.

So – don’t put all your eggs in the SEO basket. It’s important, but you need an overall marketing plan for your business (and your site.) Don’t neglect content, social media and traditional marketing efforts. SEO is part of the gestalt of good marketing. In this day and age, it’s enormous – but it’s not the only place to look.

Stay tuned for the next (now) 20 days. You’ll come away with a better understanding of what good SEO is, a little more intimate knowledge of your WordPress site and a bit of a plan to keep it up and get more visitors, more clicks and more sales. It’s gonna be fun, kiddies!

Tomorrow: Installing Yoast SEO and Setting Up Webmaster Tools

And, for your auditory pleasure, a vaguely relevant reggae tune…