Search Engine Journal recently published an article about making better use of WordPress to manage website content more effectively in relation to local SEO. The article explores seven practices that can help businesses take advantage of WordPress’s dynamic functionality. We’ll examine these local SEO practices more closely in our analysis.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
7 Local SEO Best Practices for WordPress
by Aleh Barysevich, published by Search Engine Journal, May 19, 2021
“WordPress is one of the most flexible open source Content Management Systems (CMS) in the world.
Its rich functionality, low barrier to entry, and unbeatable price tag (it doesn’t get better than free, does it?) have all led to its meteoric rise as the web’s most popular CMS.
So it’s no surprise that WordPress has been downloaded more than 32.6 million times or that it powers 40% of all websites.
WordPress is also SEO-friendly, to the point where even non-techies can easily implement some simple optimization techniques. This is great news for small local businesses which may not have the budget for sweeping SEO improvements, but still want to rank better in local search.
In this article, I’ll show you seven simple SEO improvements you can make to boost the local search ranking of your WordPress site…
You can make even more improvements to your WordPress site beyond what I’ve suggested here by manually creating robots.txt files, generating XML sitemaps, optimizing your site structure, and more.”
Here is our take on the above excerpt and article:
The Importance of Local SEO
First of all, why is local SEO so important to businesses today? After performing a local search on their smartphones, roughly 50% of searchers visit a physical store WITHIN A SINGLE DAY. In a recent year, as many as 97% searched for a local business. Are they finding yours?
Optimize Your WordPress Site for Local SEO
For businesses that rely on WordPress as their content management system (CMS), they have access to some terrific functionality, but they might not be taking advantage of it as well as they could be. The article spotlights some key local SEO practices that businesses might not be performing, but should.
For instance, it’s no wonder the author leads off with “optimize your content.” Failing to optimize your content for a local audience translates into lost website traffic. No matter how well your website is designed or how fast it loads, you can’t impress potential customers if they can’t find you.
The author also addresses mobile optimization in particular, and that’s important because 60% of Americans search for local businesses on their smartphone or tablet. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, that means that it doesn’t fit the mobile screen, doesn’t load quickly enough for mobile users, and is simply too difficult for mobile users to navigate. All this means is that consumers will bound off your site fast and click on a competitor’s site that is optimized for mobile.
Boost Traffic and Sales
In addition, the article encourages businesses to rely on structured data, evaluate and repair links, speed up their sites, and beef up location keywords. These are all practices that the digital marketing specialists at Blue Interactive Agency prioritize daily. If your business wants to make better use of WordPress to increase website traffic and boost sales, get in touch with us and learn more about our customized digital marketing services.