Did you know that there are now more websites than people are living in the United States? There are almost two billion websites online while there are 321 million people in the United States! That’s a whole lot of websites you need to compete with, which is more than the number of consumers.

Because of all that, it’s become more challenging putting your business out there on the Internet. As search engines become saturated with sites, it’s not just about creating a website and expecting traffic to come immediately. You’re going to need to learn about SEO and implement it on your website!

But where should you begin and what do you need to do for better traffic? Read on as I show you WordPress SEO secrets to driving INSANE traffic!

Seven WordPress SEO Secrets to Driving Insane Traffic

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, refers to processes and methods to gain visibility on popular search engines like Google and Yahoo. It’s the process to optimize your website to make it visible as people search for related terms to your website. To make your visibility better on the search engine results page, follow these tips and secrets!

Put In User-Friendly Permalinks

Permalinks are URLs which are assigned to specific posts. These links have dates or numbers at the end by default, and it’s up to you to tweak it according to what the webpage is about. 

For example, your link will look like this: http://www.site.com/12345 but you can tweak it to a URL like http://www.site.com/your-topic-name for more user-friendliness.

By doing this, your URL will provide context on what your page is about. You can even include the post category your permalink. But be wary, your URL should still be short and informative at the same time.

You can change webpages’ permalink in your WordPress dashboard. Go to Settings, select Permalink, select “Post Name,” and tweak all your URLs!

Make Sure to Put In Image Alt Tags 

Web crawlers and algorithms are pretty smart, though not as smart since even advanced coding won’t understand contexts of images UNLESS it’s been specified.

Because of that, you don’t just upload images and leave it to be. You also have to have both an alt and title tag for it. That way, web crawlers will read the tag, understanding the image’s relevance within the content. They will then be able to incorporate it into the algorithm, calculating your SEO score and search engine ranking.

Make sure that the tags you put on your images are relevant to your content and keywords.

Build Your Social Media Backlinks

Many think that the traffic gained from both search engines and social media are mutually exclusive. However, that’s not the case! Search engines will rank blog posts with thousands of share and likes, far higher than those without those social media interactions.

That’s why it’s crucial to improve your social media presence to improve your SEO as well. It’s advantageous because it opens up your website to more traffic AND helps with your SEO ranking.

I recommend that you have social media accounts on at least three platforms, such as Facebook, Twiter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Google+, or other platforms related to your niche. Also, take note to NOT fake any shares or likes, as search engines can detect that!

Build the Correct XML Sitemap

Search engines have dedicated web crawlers who search for websites, indexing content. So if you have a messy and unorganized website, then the crawler can’t navigate through your site well, which results in improper website indexing.

How will you be able to organize your content and posts? That’s where XML site maps come along, which would encompass the posts and pages you have on the site. It will then show the relationships between the content you have.

Through a proper XML site map, it organized your website, making it easier to navigate for search bots. This improves your chance of ranking high, as they know what your site and pages are all about now! 

Focus on Image Optimization

Besides adding the proper image alt tags, you also have to make sure you use high-quality images. Ensure that it’s in the right dimensions and format, while still keeping it in a lower size to have it load quicker for user experience. You can do so by compressing your chosen images or by caching and resizing it, using an image optimization tool. That way, people will be more inclined to stay on your website because of its speed, reducing bounce rate and helping with SEO.

Decrease Your Bounce Rate 

A website’s bounce rate measures just how many people go to your website and leave without checking any other page or post. A higher bounce rate is BAD, showing how uninteresting your page and content is. Not only does this affect your traffic, but SEO and ranking. 

That’s why you aim to lower your bounce rate until it becomes 0%! To do this, follow these tips:

• Have a good theme that looks high-quality and professional, easy to navigate around with.
• Have a related post on your sidebar or at the bottom of your content to read the next post rather than leave.
• Encourage people to view popular or most-read content.
• Edit and update old articles regularly, catering to relevant times.
• Improve your website’s load speed to avoid people leaving from impatience.

Make Your Site Responsive, Too! 

Last but not least, it’s important to optimize your site for both desktop AND MOBILE users. You need BOTH, having a responsive website that adjusts depending on the device people use. This matters to search engine algorithms, as they also focus on responsive websites for everyone, especially now since more people use search engines on their mobile devices.

Make sure that you include Accelerated Mobile Pages support on your website and tweak your layout to make it suitable for mobile, too.

Bonus Tip

Making one of your most important posts sticky will also help make sure you get eyes on the material you want to have viewed.  Want to know how to do it?  Well, the folk over at WPClipboard have a great article just to help you: How to Easily Create a WordPress Sticky Post?

Wrapping It Up

SEO is extremely important for all websites and businesses, with companies like SketchCorp. Brisbane specializing in it. It’s become so important that many hire big companies to help increase the proper traffic needed to generate leads and sales. With that said, it’s crucial to ensure our website’s up to date with the right tips and strategies. 

I hope this article on the different WordPress SEO secrets helped you out. Now that you’re familiar with all these secrets, why not follow these secrets to increase traffic now?

If you have any questions or want to share your own experiences on SEO for better traffic, then comment below. Your thoughts are much appreciated!