WordPress is undeniably the most popular blogging platform in the world. On wordpress.com, around 409 million viewers view nearly 22 million pages every month! When it comes to blogging, the world is a highly competitive place. While all bloggers aspire to have millions of readers, getting a few hundred regular readers is an uphill task in itself. With search engines being the primary source of traffic for most websites, bloggers need to focus some of their efforts towards Search Engine Optimization. Unfortunately, many bloggers are guilty of committing basic SEO mistakes resulting in a drop in their page ranks. Today, we will list down some common SEO mistakes made by most WordPress bloggers and hope that you avoid them at all costs.
1. Continuing with the free blog and not purchasing a domain
In WordPress, most bloggers start their journey by creating a free blog with WordPress.com and a default blog address – something like https://yourusername.wordpress.com. They start blogging and slowly but steadily develop a reader base. This is a great option allowing bloggers to test the waters before investing more time and money. However, many bloggers continue using the free blog even after years of blogging and writing hundreds of posts. This is a huge mistake.
A blog needs its own identity – something that the readers can relate to. And an identity starts with a name. Choose a relevant and targeted domain name for your blog. This can help new readers find your blog easily and also improve your SEO.
When you get a new domain for your blog, you also need to choose a good host. If you think that you have it in you to be a successful blogger, then choose the best WordPress Hosting plans that can handle automatic backups and database optimization, automatic updates, and also integrate a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and caching servers for fast page load speeds. As page load speed is a ranking factor considered by major search engines, there is a need to have a blazing fast speed.
2. Not using a theme that is optimized for SEO
Not many bloggers are aware that WordPress offers SEO-optimized themes. They usually choose a blogging theme which is popular or looks good. SEO-optimized themes can be highly instrumental in improving your search engine rankings. Search for SEO-optimized themes in the WordPress directory and change your theme.
3. Not using keywords or using irrelevant keywords
We have come across many bloggers who live in denial of the importance of SEO. They don’t use keywords and if they do, then not much thought process goes into it. Like it or not, but search engines play a massive role in determining the success of a blog. And search engines, use algorithms to find the relevant websites in a jungle of billions of sites with the help of keywords.
If you have ignored keywords for all this time, then pull up your socks and create a keyword strategy for your blog. Ensure that the keywords are relevant to the content, do not have a lot of competition, and are common words or phrases used by your readers.
4. Uploading Images without optimizing them
Many bloggers have realized the importance of images or infographics and ensure that all their articles have 2/3 high-quality images in them. So, they go to an image downloading/purchasing site, find the relevant images, and download the highest quality image available. Then, these images are uploaded on the blog.
Images come in varying sizes while looking similar in resolution. Also, a heavy image can drastically slow down your website leading to a bad user experience. Ensure that you optimize your images for speed before publishing them. You can use some image optimization tools to help you with the same.
5. Not thinking about the speed or performance of the blog
There is no denying the fact that the quality of content is of paramount importance when it comes to a blog. However, you cannot turn a blind eye to the overall user experience either. What is the loading speed of your blog? Can users navigate to different sections easily? Does your blog open on different devices while maintaining its integrity? Keep these factors in mind too.
Remember, optimizing your blog for search engines is a complex process. Avoid these common mistakes and continue your SEO efforts. Good Luck!
