WordPress SEO Success

Jacob Aull has been in the Internet marketing business since such a label existed. Drawing from his BFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1994, Jake began doing web design and branding in the late 1990s as a partner in his own creative agency. While transitioning deeper into online marketing strategies, research, and search engine optimization, Jake achieved an M.S. in Marketing from Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business in 2009. There he customized his degree program and executed an independent capstone thesis project on social media marketing. In late 2010, GSU RCB asked him to write and teach its first course on Social Media Marketing, which he continues today, bringing in real-world companies and projects for students. He was an editor for Pearson-Prentice Hall's first Social Media Marketing textbook, and was the author for its accompanying instructor's manual. He has been published with articles and interviews in sources such as the Atlanta Business Chronicle, OZ Magazine, renown bloggers, GSU's The Biz Magazine, and Atlanta Business Radio X. He was a cofounder and chair for the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association Social Media SIG, speaking and bringing in prominent experts for Atlanta business community seminars. He has spoken in many associations and venues on social media marketing and search engine optimization. He is president of SCAD Alumni in Atlanta and is principal of Zen Fires Digital Marketing, providing SEO and digital marketing services to a variety of eCommerce and other clients.

Introduction 1

Why a Book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SEO and the World Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2



1 What Is SEO and Do I Really Need It? 3

A Day in Your Life... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A (Brief) History of SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

What's the Long Tail-and Just How Long Is It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Fifteen "WordPress SEO Success" Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

What Makes WordPress WordPress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Content Strategies and Keyword Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

What Drives the Search Results You Receive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Attributes of Search Engine Results Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Backstory on Backlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

SEO Ethics and the Hats We Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21



2 The Search Engines, WordPress, and SEO Tools 23

What's the Word on WordPress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Is WordPress Better (or Easier) for SEO? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

SEO Approaches for Starting Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Integrating SEO During Test-Site Build . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Installing Temporary WordPress Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Choosing Plug-ins for Customized WordPress Websites and Blogs . . . . .. . 38

Essential SEO Technologies, Tools, and Plug-ins for WordPress Sites .. . . 40

SEO Comprehensive Management Plug-ins for WordPress . 42



3 A Strategic SEO Upfront Content Approach 45

Step 1. Conduct Digital Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

What Should You Check These Sites For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Tools to Use for Your Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

What Should a Good Competitive Audit Look Like? . . . . . 53

Step 2: Write Your Strategy Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Compromises in Digital Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Step 3: Identify and Research Your Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Step 4: Plan Network Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Step 5: Sitemapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Identifying the Different Roles of Web and Blogsites . . . . . . . . . 69

SEO Value and Authority-Based Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Step 6: Assessing Content and Keyword Relationships . . . . . . . 75

What To Do and What Not To Do for Web Content . . . . 75

Associating Best Keywords to Web Pages or Blog Posts . . 76

Step 7: Writing the SEO Page Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

The SEO Page Form Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77



4 WordPress On-Page Architecture and Basic SEO Execution 81

WordPress.com, WordPress.org-Which Way Do I Go? . . . . 81

WordPress On-Page Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

SEO and Low Value Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

WordPress On-Page Architecture Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Social Sharing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Social Follow Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

RSS Feeds of Social Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Out-of-the-Box Blog Social Commenting by Users . . . . . . . 88

Architecting Widgets On-Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Links and Anchors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Technical Aspects of WordPress.com and SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

SEO Basic Blog Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Submitting the Sitemap File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

SEO Ranking Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Search Engine Bot Barriers and Other No-Nos . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Multiblog Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

WordPress Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

WordPress.com Content Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Big-Picture Progression of SEO Goals and Achievements . .107

Give Me More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108



5 Real-World Blogging 109

More on Blog and Page Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Structuring Blog Post URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Why Blog? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

The How: Planning to Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

When and How Often? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Shared Content Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Opportunities to Occupy More of the SERP with Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Blog Post/Content Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Videos Por Favor! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Podcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Social Community Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Pages Versus Posts for SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Pulling from the Kitchen Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Google Accounts List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

About Vertical Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Blog, Blog, Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128



6 Hands-On SEO Execution (Website and Blog Builds Versus Post-Integration) 129

SEO Checklist for Full Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Make Your Site Speedy! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Before Installs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Expanded List of Search Engine Bot Barriers and Other No-Nos . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .133

Hands-On Execution for Specific Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

All-In-One SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Yoast WordPress SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

SEO Ultimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Linking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158

For Your 404s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

The Final Plug on SEO Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162



7 Analytics for WordPress 163

Number 1 = You Win? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

The Terms of Your Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Immediate Upfront Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Types of Results to Look For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169

Social Content and Variety on the SERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Psychographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171

Keywords and Rank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

Caught Up in Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Identifying Referrals and Backlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Just Ping Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Which Tools Do You Need for Best Analytics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Jetpack and WordPress.com Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Google Webmaster Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Managing Multiple Website Accounts Within Google Analytics . . . . . . . . . .186

Additional Analytics Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Shortened URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Mobile Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Server-Side Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Final Thoughts on Expanded Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189



8 Social Media Connectivity 191

Long-Term Social Media Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192

How Do Specific, Major Social Channels Impact SEO? . . . . .195

The Power of Social Reputation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Plug-ins, Widgets, and More Plug-ins! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Outside Social Site Usage with WordPress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

Wheel-and-Spoke Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

The Social Media Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

Pros and Cons of Social Media in SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210

Get It Goin' On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210



9 Going Mobile and Local 213

Where's the Web? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213

Display Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

The WordPress Mobile App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216

Mobile Sites or Mobile Apps? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217

Responsive Design and Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219

Mobile Site SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221

Mobile Site Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

A Checklist for Mobile Website QA Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . .224

Mobile Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224

QR Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226

Vertical Local Results in the SERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228

Local Business SEO with Apps and Directories . . . . . . . . . .230

Daily Deals Sites and Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

Bringing It All Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236



10 PPC and Advertising 239

The Power of Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240

Advantages and Objectives for Online Advertising . . . . . . . . . .240

Here's the Alphabet Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Online Advertising Models and Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Research for Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

PPC Meets SEO Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

Strategic Research and Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248

Competitive SWOTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248

SMART Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Social Media Advertising Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

Inputs to Plan and Identify for Your Online Ad Campaign . . . . . . . .250

The Digital Target Persona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Monitoring and Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Where Metrics Meet Marketing Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

Going Deeper with Advertising Measurement . . . . . . . . . . .257

Steps of Execution for Your Online Advertising Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . .258

Landing Page Hub Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .258

Testing 1-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259

How Can I Have Advertising on my WordPress Site? . . . . . . .261

Plug-ins to Manage Placed Ads on Your WordPress Site . . . . . . . . .262

It's a Wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263



11 Bringing It All Together-Testing, SEO, PPC, Social and Mobile, and Analytics 265

The Digital Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

Media Beyond Search?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266

Errors and Additional Integrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267

Getting Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268

Don't Forget Your Funnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269

Overall Search Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272

More on Search Marketing Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276

Reputation Management-Planning for Reviews . . . . . . . .276

Drip Marketing and Marketing Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . .277

Round Pegs, Square Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

Customer Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

The Viral "Plan"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

The Strategy of Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279

Backlink Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280

Testy, Testy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280

Potential Control Test Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Comparing Big Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

How Does Your Best Audience Use Search? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

Search Marketing on the Next Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

The Real Power of Multiple Media on the SERP . . . . . . . . .283

Content Marketing Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286

Content Forms for Digital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286

Online Audience Optimization (OAO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

The Changing Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

Oh Yeah, What About WordPress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288

The Total Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288

It's All About Priorities and Focus, Right? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289



12 What's Next? The Future of SEO and WordPress 291

SEO Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291

Be My Fortune Teller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Semantic Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294

The Ongoing Role of Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296

Video Content and SEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300

Content and Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301

More on Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302

Going Google . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .306

Augment Your Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311

The Mobile Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311

The Future of WordPress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313

Finally... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317



A WordPress Plug-ins 319



B Support and Education: Forums, Accreditations, Associations, Seminars, and Tech Resources 323



Glossary 327



Index 333