Introduction to WordPress for SEO

In this course, we’ll be focusing on WordPress, because it’s the most widely used website platform for small businesses in Australia (and worldwide). The good news is: WordPress is naturally very SEO-friendly, and with a few simple steps, you can set up a strong foundation for your website’s visibility.

https://youtu.be/fQZntbd5QGI

That said, the principles we cover apply to any CMS (Content Management System) — whether you’re using Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, or something else entirely. The main difference is just where you find the settings.

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Why WordPress is SEO-Friendly

WordPress is popular with SEO consultants and marketers because:

• It gives you direct access to important SEO elements like titles, headings, and URLs.
• It’s flexible and can be extended with plugins (like Yoast SEO or Rank Math) to make optimisation easier.
• It has a large support community, so almost any problem you face has already been solved by someone else.
• Google’s bots generally have no problem crawling WordPress sites, as long as they’re well maintained.

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Key SEO Elements in WordPress

Here are the areas we’ll be working with most often:

• Page titles & meta descriptions – these are your first impression in Google’s results. WordPress makes them easy to edit (especially with an SEO plugin).
• Headings (H1, H2, H3) – used to structure your content in a way both people and search engines can understand.
• URLs – clean, keyword-rich URLs like /brisbane-plumber are preferred over random strings like /page?id=123.
• Categories & tags – help group your content logically. Used wisely, they help both users and search engines navigate your site.
• Images & alt text – WordPress allows you to add alt text to every image, which helps accessibility and gives Google more context.

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Plugins to Make SEO Easier

The two most common SEO plugins for WordPress are:

• Yoast SEO – one of the oldest and most trusted SEO plugins. Great for beginners, with easy traffic-light signals.
• Rank Math – newer, but very popular thanks to its user-friendly dashboard and AI-powered suggestions.

Both plugins allow you to:

• Edit titles and descriptions quickly.
• Generate a sitemap (a file that helps Google find your pages).
• Add structured data to improve how your site appears in search results.

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Maintenance Matters

SEO on WordPress isn’t just about setup — it’s about maintenance. Keeping WordPress updated (core software, themes, and plugins) ensures your site stays secure and fast, both of which are important ranking factors.

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Why This Applies Beyond WordPress

Even if you’re not using WordPress, the same concepts still apply. Every CMS will give you some way to:

• Set titles and descriptions.
• Organise content with headings.
• Optimise URLs.
• Add alt text to images.

So while we’ll be using WordPress in examples, know that you can transfer these skills to any platform.

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Action Step

1. If your website is on WordPress, log in and explore your dashboard. Look for:
   • Pages and Posts (where your main content lives).
   • Settings → Permalinks (where you can check your URL structure).
   • Any SEO plugins already installed.
2. If your site is not on WordPress, log in to your CMS and locate where you can edit:
   • Page titles
   • Headings
   • URLs
   • Image alt text

Make a note in your SEO log of where you find these settings — we’ll be coming back to them throughout the course.

Here are some useful resources:

WordPress user guide:

https://youtu.be/fQZntbd5QGI

Wix user guide:

https://youtu.be/fQZntbd5QGI

Shopify user guide:

https://youtu.be/fQZntbd5QGI