The content management system (CMS) known as WordPress is responsible for over 1/4th of the pages on today’s internet. That is a pretty astonishing number of websites that are all powered by this one tool.
WordPress is actually one of the best platforms for search engine optimisation (SEO) that has ever existed. Those wishing to build a website with specific SEO goals would be hard pressed to find an better alternative to WordPress.
However, while WordPress enables a lot of useful SEO functions, there is plenty of room for disastrous mistake to be made. Let’s take a look at some of the top SEO mistakes people made with their WordPress websites.
Forgetting to set your time zone
One of the biggest things newbies overlook when making their WordPress site is to set their time zone. This is easily done via the settings > general menu and is only missed because of sheer negligence.
When you schedule posts using WordPress’ CMS you want to make sure they post at the right times, relative to your target audience. Failing to set your specific time zone means posts you schedule won’t be going up at the local time you think they are.
Not making and submitting an XML sitemap
The XML sitemap is effectively a blueprint of your website, showing the relationship between every post, piece of media and page on your WordPress site. The XML sitemap is used to tell Google what you want it to index on your website.
Making a XML sitemap is easily done via the Yoast SEO plugin. All you need to do is click a button to generate a sitemap you can submit to Google.
Not publishing regular content
WordPress is a content management system, implying that it’s meant to process and host large volumes of content. If you’re not posting content regularly and using the SEO benefits of WordPress you aren’t taking advantage of as much as you could be.
Search engines like websites that post regular content and with WordPress’ SEO tools for individual posts, the right content strategy and really boost your rankings. Not posting content on a weekly basis is a huge missed opportunity for WordPress websites.
Forgetting to clean up broken links
Search engines enjoy websites that are clean and lean. This means that having a series of broken links that take users to redirect errors is bad for your SEO.
There are several automated tools you can use that will inform you of broken links automatically so you can easily correct them.