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SEO and WordPress: Best Practices for WordPress Sites
Mastering the art of search engine optimisation (SEO) for a WordPress site is essential to ensure that your site is not only seen, but also well organised and easy to navigate. This is where you can achieve your performance and user engagement goals. In this article, we'll explore how SEO works on WordPress as well as tips and recommended practices for maximising the potential of your WordPress site.
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Choosing hosting optimised for performance
Hosting is the cornerstone of a high-performance WordPress site in terms of SEO. Search engines, and Google first and foremost, use display speed as a ranking signal. In 2020, Google even introduced Core Web Vitals to quantify user experience. A low-cost, saturated and poorly configured shared server can easily increase the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) from 1.5 s to more than 4 s, causing a drop in positions overnight. Conversely
s like Kinsta or WP Engine have built their reputation on Google Cloud or AWS infrastructures with guaranteed resources, integrated CDNs and server-side caching.
A telling example: the site of the decorating magazine NordicHome. Migrated from OVH Pro to Kinsta at the end of 2022, its average response time fell from 650 ms to 110 ms. As a result, organic traffic grew by 27 % in three months, without any change in content. The only variable was the speed of the TTFB (Time To First Byte). This experience is a reminder that on-page optimisation or a semantic audit will not bear fruit if the hosting foundation remains fragile.
Site architecture and taxonomies
WordPress natively offers categories and tags, but the temptation is great to create an infinite number of them. A messy architecture leads to duplication of content and dilutes internal PageRank. For a food blog, for example, limiting the categories to "Recipes", "Techniques", "Utensil reviews" and "Nutrition" offers a clear hierarchy. Sub-categories (custom taxonomies or child categories) should only appear if the volume of articles justifies the granularity. Yoast and Rank Math offer options for noindexing author or date archives, which are often unnecessary and redundant.
Case study: the LevainBio online bakery was referencing each recipe in 14 separate tags; after restructuring, only four useful tags (breads, pastries, gluten-free, tips) were retained. In six weeks, the number of URLs crawled by Google fell from 4,200 to 1,100, reducing the crawling budget wasted. Search Console impressions rose by 18 % because Google found high-potential pages more quickly.
Effective internal linking
Mesh circulates pop
internal regularity and guides the user. In WordPress, the classic editor such as Gutenberg accepts internal links on the fly, but plugins such as LinkWhisper or Internal Link Juicer automatically suggest relevant anchors. Beyond the tool, strategy is key: cornerstone content pages should receive the largest number of internal links, ideally from regularly updated satellite content.
A concrete example: the "DevFacile" training site created five pillar pages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress) and then linked each specific tutorial to its pillar page at the beginning and end of the article. Result: the "Learn JavaScript" page went from 11ᵉ to 4ᵉ position on the query "free javascript course in two months. This progression did not require any additional external backlinks.
Optimising permalinks and slugs
WordPress permet de configurer des permaliens lisibles sous « Réglages > « Permaliens . La structure « /%category%/%postname%/ est appréciée pour la clarté, mais au-delà de deux niveaux de profondeur, les risques d’URL trop longues ou de confusion augmentent. Les slugs doivent contenir le mot-clé principal sans stop-words inutiles. Par exemple, « /guide-backlinks-seo est préférable à « /un-guide-complet-sur-les-backlinks-et-le-seo .
Never modify an already indexed slug without providing a 301 redirect. In 2021, the "BioCosméto" shop removed the "the and" item from 300 product slugs, but forgot about the redirect. In 48 hours, 12,000 404 errors were detected, and organic sales fell by 22 %. A simple plugin such as Redirection or SEO Press can automate these 301s and preserve SEO juice.
Performance and Core Web Vitals
The Core Web Vitals are made up of three metrics: LCP, FID (soon to be replaced by INP) and CLS. WordPress, because of its "all-in-one" themes, often contains unnecessary scripts. A high-performance approach starts with a lightweight theme such as GeneratePress or Astra, supplemented by targeted plugins. Measuring with PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest helps to identify non-optimised images, CSS blocking and JavaScript loaded into the head.
The online journal DataAnalytics-FR has replaced the Newspaper theme (2.3 MB empty) with Blocksy (600 KB), reduced the Google fonts from six to two families, and moved the live chat script to delayed loading. The LCP has been reduced from 3.4s to 1.8s, boosting the mobile PageSpeed score from 48 to 91. In terms of SEO, the average position for 450 keywords has risen by 0.8 points, enough to take first place on several long-tail queries.
Cache management and CDN
W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, WP Rocket... there's a wide range on offer. The principle: reduce server requests, compress files, reduce CSS/JS, and activate browser caching. CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) such as Cloudflare or BunnyCDN replicate assets around the globe, shortening the physical distance to the end user. WP Rocket even offers a "preload" setting that generates the cache before the first visit, which is crucial when Googlebot crawls a freshly published page.
Cloudflare's free version also adds a WAF firewall and HTTP/2, and even HTTP/3. In 2023, the MadeForWeb agency tested Cloudflare APO (Automatic Platform Optimization) on twelve WordPress sites. The TTFB dropped by 200 ms on average, but more importantly, the speed variance between Paris and Montreal was halved. In an international e-commerce context, this consistency reassures search engines and reduces the bounce rate.
Essential SEO plugins
Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO Pack and SEOPress meet 90 % of needs. Rank Math is gaining ground thanks to its native compatibility with the WooCommerce URL reconstruction plugin. Yoast, the pioneer, retains the advantage of notoriety. Common features: meta tags, autogenerated XML sitemap, breadcrumb trail, redirects. Caution: activating several SEO plugins simultaneously creates conflicts (duplicate tags, multiple sitemaps).
A point that is often overlooked: structured data schemas (HowTo, FAQ, Product) integrated into Rank Math can help to obtain rich snippets. The VoyageSolo blog has implemented the FAQ type in three practical guides. The CTR rose from 3.2 % to 5.1 % according to Search Console, thanks to the question box that appeared below the Google result.
Security, HTTPS and trust
Since 2014, Google has favoured HTTPS sites. A free Let's Encrypt certificate is all you need, but beware of mixed content warnings. Really Simple SSL makes it easier to switch completely to HTTPS. At the same time, a security plugin such as Wordfence or iThemes Security protects against SQL injections. Flaws have an indirect impact on SEO: a hacked site can be blacklisted or display malicious redirects, causing a sudden loss of traffic.
Case study: in 2022, the Fit&Zen health blog was hit by an injection of links to counterfeit pharmaceutical sites. Search Console reported "security problem detected. After restoring a clean backup, updating the WordPress core and hardening the .htaccess file, traffic returned to normal within three weeks. Proof that security should not be dissociated from SEO.
Structured data and schema.org
Google enriches its SERPs with carousels, starred reviews and lists of recipes. WordPress has plugins (Schema Pro, Structured Content) and Gutenberg blocks such as Recipe Card. HowTo structured data enabled the RénoFacile DIY site to attract 40 % of additional traffic to its "Build a terrace" page, occupying a complete insert in position zero.
Beware: spamming incorrectly filled-in schemas can lead to penalties. In 2021, Google has announced that it will filter out 50 million Recipe schemas that do not comply. It's best to validate via the Rich Results Test before going live.
Quality content and keyword research
SEO success is not just a technical matter. Tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs and KWFinder shed light on the potential of keywords. The concept of thematic clusters, made popular by HubSpot, integrates perfectly with WordPress via Gutenberg blocks or Custom Post Types. Each cluster includes 2,000 words of anchor content linked to 800-1,200 words of satellite articles.
Example: " GreenTravelBlog has built a cluster " Sustainable tourism in South-East Asia . After publishing 15 articles, the blog captured the Featured Snippet on "Responsible travel in Cambodia". The approach has also reduced the bounce rate, with users exploring an average of 3.7 pages compared with 2.1 previously.
EEAT: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust
Google is reinforcing the importance of authorship and proof of expertise. In WordPress, creating a detailed author page, linking social networks and displaying diplomas or certifications in the footer increases trust. The "CryptoSavvy" blog added an engineering degree to each signed article; the "Helpful Content" update in August 2022 kept the site in the top-10, while many anonymous competitors were falling.
Optimising images and media
Images often make up the largest part of the page. WordPress 5.5+ supports native lazy-loading for images. Plugins like ShortPixel or Imagify will compress WebP and AVIF, saving 30 % to 50 % of bandwidth. The alt text attribute is non-negotiable for accessibility and universal search. An e-commerce site would be well advised to name an image "baskets-vegan-homme-bleu-marine.jpg" rather than "IMG_3021.JPG".
The MusiqueLibre YouTube channel also integrates its videos via the embed block; however, delayed loading with the loading="lazy" attribute or the use of FacetWP to display thumbnails limits calls to the YouTube player to interaction, improving the CLS.
Multilingualism and international SEO
WPML, Polylang and Weglot are the three pillars of WordPress multilingualism. The crucial element is the use of the correct hreflang tags. Weglot generates them automatically, while WPML requires a plug-in. Dedicated URLs per language (e.g. /en/, /de/) are preferable to a single directory with parameters (?lang=). The fashion magazine StyleMondo observed a 70 % increase in German traffic after isolating /de/ and correcting hreflang previously pointing to the French home page.
Mobile-first and responsive themes
Since 2019, Google has been indexing sites first on their mobile version. The theme must be responsive, but also avoid JavaScript-heavy full-width slides. Page builders (Elementor, Divi, WPBakery) can inject 500 KB of unused CSS. The Lighthouse audit "unused-css-rules" identifies these burdens. The PhotoNomade site migrated from Elementor to the native Gutenberg + Kadence block: the size of the home page fell from 4.8 MB to 1.9 MB, and the mobile score from 38 to 84.
Managing redirects and 404 errors
404s squander PageRank and frustrate users. The Redirection plugin tracks a log in real time. Regular expressions (RegEx) can handle batches: redirect /blog/20(1[0-9]|20[0-3])/.* to /blog/. The Search Console ("Coverage" section) lists URLs that have not been found, often after a redesign. Never use permanent 302s, except in the case of tests or temporary campaigns.
For a news site, dated URLs quickly become outdated; the weekly "TechNow" sends its articles that are more than four years old to a thematic archive hub, avoiding the reader the impression of obsolete content while preserving the SEO juice.
Updates and ongoing maintenance
WordPress publishes a major core update every quarter. Not updating means exposing yourself to vulnerabilities but also depriving yourself of PHP optimisations. A site running on PHP 7.4 consumes around 25 % more CPU than one running on PHP 8.2. Themes and plugins are also benefiting from SEO fixes: in 2023 Yoast integrated the new "imagesize" attribute into its sitemap, an improvement directly supported by Google. Monthly maintenance (backup tests, access log audits) saves sleepless nights in the event of an incident.
Measuring and analysing: Google Analytics, Search Console, etc.
Installing GA4 via the official Site Kit module simplifies configuration and adds Search Console reports to the WordPress dashboard. But analytics is only useful if you define objectives: conversion, session duration, newsletter sign-up. Hotjar, combined with GA4, makes it possible to view clicks and identify a button that is not visible on mobile and is slowing down conversion. On the BioRun blog, an A/B test carried out with Google Optimize (now replaced by Firebase Experimentation) showed that moving a CTA below the introductory paragraph increased the click-through rate by 12 %.
Case study: redesigning a niche WordPress blog
The DroneNature blog (2,000 visits/day) underwent a complete overhaul in 2022, switching from an Avada theme to GeneratePress, optimising WebP images, restructuring categories and adding FAQ structured data. The project was carried out in three phases:
- Audit: Screaming Frog crawl, Core Web Vitals measurement.
- Implementation: staging, setting up WP Rocket, Cloudflare APO.
- Monitoring: monitoring via Jetpack Monitor and GA4.
Three months after going live, the results were as follows: +44 % page views, +35 % organic sessions, average LCP down from 3.2s to 1.6s, reversed mobile/desktop ratio (60 % mobile compared with 45 % previously). This redesign illustrates the synergy of the good practices mentioned above: without a new netlinking strategy, technical and structural optimisation alone was enough to reposition the site.
Checklist for your next projects
- VPS or cloud hosting with TTFB < 200 ms
- Legible and durable permalinks, short slugs
- XML sitemap sent to Search Console
- Light theme, ideally < 1 Mb CSS/JS loaded
- Cache and CDN active, GZIP/Brotli compressed
- WebP/AVIF images, native lazy-loading
- Validated relevant structured data
- Well-managed 301 redirections, 302 deletion
- Security: HTTPS, WAF, updates
- EEAT content, thematic clusters
- Internal linking to pillar pages
- Core Web Vitals in the green (<2,5 s LCP) et CLS < 0,1
- Hreflang correct in multilingual
- Analytics tracking + Search Console + server logs
- Monthly maintenance with off-site back-ups
By rigorously applying these steps, every WordPress site owner lays a solid foundation for sustainable SEO. Engines evolve, but the quest for performance, relevant content and a frictionless user experience remains the common thread of effective SEO.
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1. Use an SEO plugin: Plugins like Yoast SEO can help optimise your WordPress site for SEO. It allows you to highlight keywords, optimise meta descriptions and adjust URLs for better SEO.
2. Create SEO-friendly permalinks: By default, WordPress uses URLs that are not SEO-friendly. You can configure your site to use more SEO-friendly URLs that contain keywords.
3. Optimise your images: Using a descriptive alt tag for your images helps search engines to understand their relevance. What's more, compressing your images by reducing their weight helps your website load faster.
4. Use SEO-friendly themes: A well-coded, SEO-friendly theme can make a huge difference. The theme should be quick to load, mobile responsive and designed with SEO recommendations in mind.
5. Create quality content: Writing high-quality content that is unique, keyword-rich and regularly updated is fundamental to good SEO.
6. Add internal links: Links to other pages on your site help to guide search engines. Add such links to your content at the right time to improve navigation and the user experience.
7. Simplify your navigation structure: Categories and tags (also known as taxonomies) play an important role in your site's ranking in search engine results. Use them judiciously to organise your content and make navigation easier.
8. Use Schema Markup: Adding schema markup to your WordPress site can help search engines better understand your content.
9. Optimise your Meta tags - The page title and meta description are important for SEO. Make sure you include relevant keywords and phrases.
10. Monitor your site with Google Search Console: This free tool from Google lets you monitor and report on your website's presence in Google search results. You can submit your sitemaps, check your backlinks and identify technical problems that could affect your SEO performance.
To find out more
1. https://wpformation.com/optimisation-seo-wordpress/
2. https://www.codeur.com/blog/optimiser-seo-wordpress/
3. https://fr.yoast.com/wordpress-seo/
4. https://kinsta.com/fr/blog/wordpress-seo/
5. https://www.canalwp.com/guide-wordpress/optimisation-seo-wordpress/
6. https://wp-rocket.me/fr/blog/le-guide-ultime-du-seo-wordpress/
7. https://www.hostinger.fr/tutoriels/seo-wordpress/
8. https://www.webmarketing-com.com/2017/06/23/60898-seo-wordpress-10-conseils-pour-referencer-site
9. https://neocamino.com/blog/seo-sur-wordpress/
10. https://www.journaldunet.fr/web-tech/dictionnaire-du-webmastering/1445296-seo-wordpress-comment-optimiser-son-site-wordpress-pour-le-referencement/
