Many users don’t realise that website builder platforms have a huge influence on their overall SEO score – so how does WordPress have such a good reputation?
Otherwise known as Search Engine Optimisation, SEO is the term we use to describe the practice of including specific content on your website. When actioned well, this content has the potential to improve your visibility on search engines, with the end goal being to connect with the right audiences. Put simply, it helps your site show up more often in relevant searches, and is crucial if you want to reach the lofty heights of the first page of results on search engines like Bing and Google.
Between the buzzwords like keyword research, readability, meta descriptions and title tags, the world of SEO can be overwhelming for the inexperienced. The internet can be a tricky place to navigate even at the best of times, which is why both beginners and seasoned veterans use the frameworks available through various website builder platforms such as Wix, Square and WordPress.
While the many platforms available each have their own relevant lists of pros and cons, not all of them include the right types of optimisation and input options that Google needs for high quality SEO. Thankfully, WordPress still holds a reputation for being one of the most reliable and easy to use platforms to navigate for this purpose – but what factors make it the standalone winner?
The Relationship Between WordPress And SEO
WordPress is a content management system, otherwise known as a CMS, and is renowned for being a robust tool for creating and managing your website. Blogs, business websites, personal sites, and ecommerce stores alike can all benefit from using WordPress, as it’s designed to be so simple to use, that just about anyone can build their own website. This platform is run online, meaning you don’t need to download any desktop software to use it. Unless you’re a savvy coder, many people use a CMS system to launch the website of their dreams by using the built in widgets and functions that these systems provide.
However, not all of these providers offer all the bells and whistles that you actually need when it comes to proper optimisation, such as technical SEO, content and user experience (UX), and on page SEO. Thankfully, WordPress is regarded as one of the few that has everything a rookie digital marketer needs to make their mark online, with some of the major perks including the following.
SEO Friendly Themes – A theme is the term we use to describe a set of files that users can download and install to their site, which defines the styling and user display – think of them as a template. By default, themes found in the WordPress Directory must be responsive and mobile friendly to qualify, which in turn makes them extremely SEO friendly before users even input any information or content.
The Many Plugins – When a CMS system allows plugins, it offers a whole new world of customisation and efficiency. Thankfully, WordPress has no shortage of both free and subscription based plugins that are available for users to streamline the functionality, look and feel of their site to improve their SEO. Some of the most popular for WordPress include Yoast SEO, Google Search Console, and ShortPixel Image Optimizer.
Optimisation Options – From appropriate blog heading structures, alt tags for images, and even meta descriptions, the built in SEO features that WordPress offers is world class, and in turn allows just about anyone the chance to properly optimise their website without too much technical experience. Many other website builders include some of these options, but rarely ever all, which is one of the key reasons why WordPress is regarded as the most SEO friendly.
Custom Permalinks – Instead of having a URL full of less than desirable looking characters or numbers, WordPress makes it easy for users to create their own custom permalinks. While it may not seem like that big of a deal for SEO purposes, it actually means that users can incorporate their desired keywords in the link itself, and thus giving the content another boost to ensure it’s ranking at its best.
Faster Load Times – Google is a big fan of speed, and it’s even included as one of the key ranking factors in the freshly released Google Page Experience guidelines. The faster a page loads, the easier it is for the search engine to crawl through the information on your entire website, and index it accordingly. This is also particularly relevant when it comes to being a mobile friendly website too.
As of May 2021, around 409 million people view over 20 billion pages each month through pages and websites hosted by WordPress. Users publish over 80 million new posts through the CMS every month, making it one of the world’s largest website building platforms since its inception in 2003.
Ultimately, Google doesn’t care about your CMS platform of choice, so long as your website and it’s content meets the qualifying criteria outlined by the search engine giant. However, all the optimisation in the world won’t save you if you aren’t producing the right content, but who can you turn to for assistance?
The Key To Good SEO Is Great Content
Producing quality, consistent and on brand content that’s SEO and ultimately Google friendly takes time, effort, experience and resources – and you’re not alone if you can’t quite commit to that. Avoiding the use of content marketing altogether may actually be doing your brand a disservice, but thankfully – investing in a solid strategy has never been easier.
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as social media posts, blog articles, videos and even animated Instagram stories.
We believe that this model means we can produce high quality content in faster than normal delivery times. It also means that because you have a monthly credit, you are going to want to make sure you use these up – and so do we – meaning that your digital content is always consistent.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
