Previously, I wrote a WordPress SEO blog post that you’ll want to take a look at. This post is a follow-up to that one. That blog post is a comprehensive guide for beginners to improve your WordPress website’s SEO. It doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge and is basically an Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide.

Below, I’m going to give you a bulleted list you can use as a checklist for when you write a blog post on your WordPress website. I’m going to link each item to a little more detailed information. But if you’ve already read the other post and realize that it’s a lot to juggle and keep in mind and just want a quick reference, this is it!

When you write a blog post on your WordPress website, make sure you have:

• Blog title/page heading (H1)
• Featured image
• Post category/categories
• Post tags (optional)
• Page headings within the post (H2, H3, etc.)
• Internal site links within the post
• Meta description
• Page slug (keyword rich)
• Word Count

Blog Title/Page Heading

When you make a new blog post, at the top of the page you’ll see where it says “Add title”. This is your blog post title. And in the last SEO post I discussed page headings and H1s; this is your page heading also known as H1.

Featured Image

Every post in WordPress has a place where you can put a Featured Image. On the vertical bar on the right side of the page, on the Post tab you’ll see a button that says “Set Featured Image”. The image file name can have keywords and the alternative text might have keywords. The alt text should describe the image which may or may not have SEO keywords in it. Don’t cram SEO keywords in in a nonsensical manner just to have keywords on the alt text, as that will be confusing to blind site visitors when their screen reader reads the alt text to them.

Remember that page load times impact SEO rankings. So keep your image at under 200kb in file size. A good width for a featured image is 800px wide and it’s usually best to save it as a JPG instead of PNG. The PNGs are best for when a transparent background is needed.

Post Categories

Remember to select a post category. This should be broadly what the blog post is about. For example, “plumbing” or “SEO”. Only one or two categories is needed and if you select two categories, you’ll need to select a primary category.

Post Tags

Not all blogs use these but they can help site visitors find information. These are more specific to what the post is about. For example, I could write a post with a blog category called “web design” and it could have tags like “fonts” and “color theory” to address web design topics.

Page Headings

This is where you add section headings to the page. Remember that your page title is Heading 1 (H1). Your subheadings will be Heading 2 (H2) and if you have subheadings under the H2 then those will be H3. You can see an example of how section headings are used on this blog post. For example, the different font with larger text that says things like “Blog Title/Page Heading” and “Featured Image” and “Post Categories” are all H2 as they are subtopics within this post about WordPress SEO. I also have more specific information on How Page Headings Work in another blog post.

Internal Site Links

As you write, use keywords that you can link to other pages within your website. For example, if I want to have keywords for “web design” in my post, I can link them to my web design services page. Make sure you are linking the actual keywords and not linking some text that says “click here”. We try to avoid “click here” on the web. Also, avoid using underlines on text that’s not a link as people will try to click the underline and think you have a broken link.

Meta Description

Your SEO plugin like Yoast or All-in-One SEO will have a meta description field on each page and post. You can scroll down to that and enter your description. It should say what the page is about and be around 140 to 160 characters. Don’t go over 160 characters as Google cuts off the text at 160 characters. You description is what appears in search engine results. Here’s an example of what it can look like.

Page Slug

Your page slug is what becomes the page name or page URL. If you write a page title and hit “Save Draft”, WordPress will automatically create a page slug for you for the blog post. However, you can take a look and make sure it is what you want it to be. It is also viewable on the blog page in the section for your WordPress SEO plugin. Here is an example of a page slug in the Yoast SEO section of a blog post.

Word Count

The general recommended word count for a web page is a minimum of 300 characters (including spaces). You can view the word count on your blog post under the featured image on your blog page on the right sidebar. And of course, more than 300 words is fine too. When it comes to Google and written content, more is better.

As always, if this SEO blogging is more than you want to deal with, I am available to write website content including write blog posts. I am an SEO web developer with extensive experience in copywriting for a wide variety of industries. Get in touch!