Your site must have a central subject

Obviously, you can talk about several topics on your site, but you must have one central topic, which will govern everything. A main subject which will be the guideline of your content. If you do not have any ideas, do a little keyword research (with Google Keyword Planner for example). This will also let you see the potential audience of a keyword.

Mention the key phrase when you must

Once your keyword is chosen, do not swing it all over the content of your site without thinking. It is important to place it in strategic places like the domain name (even if it is discussed), the title of the site, the description of the site, the categories, the content. When writing titles, descriptions, articles … always have in mind your key phrase to work around it. To manage elementary SEO elements of the site, use Yoast SEO under WordPress. It makes a good difference and allows you to manage it right as it should clean off all the mess of the metas, titles and company.

It sounds basic but it is a crucial element. Linking pages together can share the juice inside your website and to direct the visitor on “similar” contents. Personally, I use the WordPress plugin and SEO Smart Links, although it’s better to link the contents manually because the plugin can be exceeded

Use SEO-friendly URLs

This may sound stupid, but the structure of a url is important. Do not use urls with numbers to identify your posts or pages, but instead use optimized contextual urls such as “http://www.mysite.com/CATEGORY/ARTICLE-TITLE” Example: http://www.mycarcomparison.com/sportscar/mercedesbmw. Avoid urls of the type “http://www.mysite.com/?p=69”. With WordPress, you can easily configure all this in the permalink settings.

Ensure you have a quick website

The loading time of your site is a crucial element for SEO. There are many elements that make it possible to optimize its speed. Under WordPress, the W3 Total Cache plugin is a must have. Well tuned, it can drastically increase the speed of your site. To test this, use Pingdom Tools or GTMetrix.

Use keywords in the names of your images

Do not do it all the time, but try to name your images properly. Often use a few keywords of the content in which you have integrated your image and some keywords that describe the image. Also add an alternative tag and title and a caption. It allows you to find some of your images in Google Image and catch some traffic. For example, if you have an image with the picture of a black BMW sports car, try to rename the image in “car-sport-bmw-black.jpg” By reading the name of the file; one knows what the image is about.

Yes, you read right! It is even a recommendation that counts! Do not hesitate to include external links in your content. For example if you make a car comparison between BMW and Mercedes, include a link to the description sheet of each car on the manufacturer’s website. In your articles, always put some external link.

Regularly add content to your site

When I say regularly, it’s not necessarily every hour or every day. I happen to post only one article in the week. But you must continuously keep your site active, on the one hand for your visitors, on the other hand for Google. In general, this means to set a minimum of one article per week. But when you have inspiration, try to write an article as often as possible, even if you have already posted one the day before. If you have several ideas on the same day, put them in as a draft and publish them later to not have too many newly published articles at once. To find content ideas, rely heavily on Twitter to see current trends and your lists of RSS feeds to search for targeted content.

Basic but very important: netlinking. Having external sites that point to your site is an important factor in positioning. Of course, it does not do everything, but if you have good sites (not directories that you can find everywhere) that link you, it will send you juice SEO on your site. In general, to have some targeted and easy links make some trustful and reliable directories. At the beginning of a project, make about one directory every 2-3 days to start quiet. While it becomes a challenge to making the perfect choice, it’s not a shame to seek for an expert or a maestro in this field to make it easier for you. As said, have a netlinking strategy that is close to zero. There are much more worked out netlinking strategies. But to start your site, a few well-placed little links will suffice. Obviously, it also depends on the competition on the keyword you have chosen.

Make “human” articles

Write like a human. Do not try (not immediately in any case) to make content automated, it may be disgusting and Google will let you know. As said above, look for a good theme, a good idea, look to the left and to the right at what the others do and write in your niche, with your words and your ideas. Never try to go too fast. Build your project; feed it with ideas and content by laying down articles, tests, tutorials – all which will really interest your visitor. Do not hesitate to be inspired by what others do. But be careful, I’m not telling you to copy / paste like a novice. But get information from here and there and then build your content with your own words Featured photo credit: Luis Llerena via unsplash.com