We are often asked whether WordPress is SEO friendly and whether using WordPress to build a site will help in the race to the top of the Google search engine. SEO is a very specialised subject, and there are many facets to gaining success in search engines, including “technical SEO”.
As a website owner, you have many choices when building that website. Some platforms are hosted (like Wix or Squarespace), and others sit on your rented web server.
Some would argue that a fully hosted platform should be configured and enabled for precisely what Google and the other search engines demand their searchers – a good search experience with relevant search results being suggested. Many of the hosted platforms provide a decent base to handle the technical aspects of SEO. Still, they can often be either hard to configure or not so easy to work with when working with a specific SEO campaign in mind. Most of the hosted platforms try to optimise their code, too, so your website loads quickly into both a desktop and a mobile browser. Web Vitals has become a critical element of all technical SEO, especially since most internet users search for answers to their questions on mobile devices.
WordPress does have its hosted version, where you can build your own site at WordPress.com. Still, their open-source version allows you complete freedom to build a site using WordPress, so work closely with your SEO Specialist to configure the pages and posts you need for your SEO campaign.
And since WordPress has a vast ecosystem with many plugins dedicated to improving the technical SEO needed, it makes for a very popular website design and development tool. The flexibility and even the default site structure at the core of the content management system is something Google is more than happy with. WordPress is an excellent platform for your SEO needs.
SEO, of course, is more than just a question of which platform you use to build a website, although this does cover the “technical SEO” aspects you need to consider. The critical thing to remember when planning an SEO campaign is that you need a strategy.
Your SEO strategy should not miss any of the key steps, such as keyword research, content writing and backlinking to your site. All of this can be done by either hiring an SEO expert or by yourself if you are willing to spend the time and learn the skills. If you choose to do this yourself (maybe because of budget constraints), then there are some excellent guides on all the SEO things you need to be aware of or work on. Just use the Google search engine and you will find lots of good information.
If you choose WordPress to build your site and you’d like something different, then consider a DIY Guided SEO software platform to help you speed the process up by connecting your site to the platform and using the SEO tools and feedback reporting becoming your own SEO expert, without the cost of hiring an expensive SEO expert. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, then contact us here and ask about our Guided SEO software platform.
An excellent place to test and find out what an SEO software platform can guide you towards improving is to get a free SEO Audit report.
In summary, WordPress is an excellent choice for building a technically sound website from an SEO perspective, but the actual SEO work and results don’t just come from the content management system you choose to build your website on; they come from your SEO strategy.