Presentation: SEO Basics for WordPress
SEO Basics Checklist
Printable PDF checklist to tick off
SEO decides whether your WordPress site gets found or not. No traffic, no business. Here I explain the basics that you can put into practice straight away.
At a glance
- SEO brings visitors to your WordPress site — for free and lasting.
- Titles, meta descriptions and content are the levers in on-page SEO.
- SEO plugins like Yoast make optimisation easier.
What is SEO and why do you need it?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. The goal: your site appears higher up on Google. (WordPress for beginners) WordPress already provides a solid technical foundation. But without targeted optimisation, your site stays invisible. I see it in almost every client project: good content, but nobody finds it.
On-page SEO: what you directly influence
On-page SEO concerns everything on your site. (SEO tips for WooCommerce shops) Title tags, meta descriptions, headings, image alt text. A concrete example: if you have „WordPress training Vienna“ as your keyword, it belongs in the title, in the H1 and in the first paragraph. The content itself has to be good — for readers, not just for Google.
Off-page SEO: building backlinks
Backlinks are links from other sites to yours. Google treats them as a recommendation. More good backlinks, better ranking. How do you get backlinks? Write guest posts. List yourself in industry directories. Use partnerships. Quality counts more than quantity.
SEO-friendly URLs
Short, descriptive URLs rank better. Instead of meinshop.at/?p=123, go for meinshop.at/wordpress-schulung. In WordPress you change this under Settings > Permalinks. Use „Post name“. It takes 30 seconds.
Using SEO plugins
WordPress has good SEO plugins. Yoast SEO is the best known. (The basics of WooCommerce for beginners) Rank Math is the alternative. Both help with meta tags, sitemaps and readability. I recommend Yoast for beginners — the free version is more than enough.
Check your SEO regularly
SEO is not a one-off project. Google changes its algorithm. Competitors optimise. You have to stay on it. Google Search Console and Google Analytics are free and show you what works. I check my sites monthly. That is enough to begin with.
You now know the SEO basics for WordPress. Put them into practice, measure, and adjust. If you need support, I offer SEO training.
Frequently asked questions
What is SEO?
SEO is search engine optimisation. It makes your website more visible on Google.
How important are backlinks for SEO?
Backlinks are a strong ranking signal. The more good links point to your site, the better its placement.
What are SEO plugins?
SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math help you manage meta tags, create sitemaps and optimise content.