5 Biggest SEO Challenges of WordPress Sites

Using WordPress to create websites is recommended for SEO purposes, especially if you are a beginner. Optimising a website on WordPress requires no prior training in content management. The content management system is customised in a way so that you can easily create and optimise your own sites. However, many website owners make SEO mistakes when using WordPress because they have limited knowledge in the subject. If you run a WordPress site, here are some of the biggest challenges you may face and their respective solutions.

1. Duplicating H1 Tags and Content

Duplicating tags and content is common among developers who build their websites fast. They use different H1 tags for the same content. If you are not careful when posting content, you may end up with many similar tags. Duplicate content and tags might ruin your efforts to rank high on search engines. Another related mistake is using too many keywords in the meta and H1 tags. Luckily, you can install plugins like Yoast to avoid duplicate content and optimise your tags.

2. Choosing the Wrong Theme

WordPress has many themes that you can use. One common mistake is to choose a theme based on its look. The theme on your website determines its loading speed, which is an important factor for SEO. Choose themes that are responsive and updated constantly. There are free themes available but for SEO purposes, consider buying updated themes.

3. Adding Too Many Links on the Homepage

Internal linking is part of SEO but many site owners do it wrong. You need to add links to other pages on your website to help your visitors learn more about your business but you shouldn’t over-do it and have too many on a single page. It is important to work with an SEO expert agency to make sure you are creating links in the right way. SEO experts can audit your website and advise on both internal and external links.

4. Using the Wrong Permalink Settings

Perma-linking is a common topic in WordPress SEO. However, many website owners still make mistakes when setting up permalinks. Most of them do not understand how to pick the right settings. SEO experts recommend a permalink option that allows you to add the name of the post and the category. The benefit of such a format is that your visitors can easily tell what your post is about by looking at the permalink.

5. Ignoring Images

Some website owners get it right on the content, but forget to optimise their images. The most common challenge relating to images is forgetting to add ALT text. Another common mistake is failing to add keywords to the description of images. You can easily avoid the problem by checking the names and descriptions of all images before uploading them on WordPress. Ensure that the ALT text is in the right field for all images before adding the images to your posts.

Conclusion

You do not need expert training to create and manage a WordPress website. We have listed the biggest SEO challenges that website owners face when using WordPress. The benefit of using WordPress on your site is that you can install plugins to help you eliminate the common mistakes. However, the best way to ensure that you optimise your website right is to ask for help from experts.