In this article, I want to explain the fundamental SEO practices that every website should apply to achieve strong results in Google Search. I’ll also share tips on how to implement these measures in WordPress.

SEO differentiates between technical measures and content-focused improvements.

Technical SEO Measures

Sitemap

A sitemap file lists all pages on the website. Search engines read this file and use it as a map for the bot that indexes the site. The sitemap typically has the filename sitemap.xml and is stored in the website’s root directory. Since version 5.5, WordPress automatically generates a sitemap file.

Robots.txt

The file robots.txt is a text file that defines which pages search engine bots are allowed to index. This file is stored in the website’s root directory. You can also specify which pages should be excluded from indexing. Here’s an example of a standard robots.txt file:

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://foxwebcraft.com/sitemap.xml

WordPress doesn’t create a robots.txt file by default, but it serves an auto-generated response that fulfills the same purpose. If you want to create your own robots.txt, place it in the website’s root directory. The Yoast SEO plugin can also generate this file.

Page Structure

Most websites don’t pay enough attention to a proper page structure. For search engines, heading hierarchy is an important clue about the content and the priority of text sections. A solid structure includes one H1 and any number of H2, H3, and H4 headings. Make sure the order is correct—an H2 should follow an H1 (not an H4).

Images

Another important area that’s often neglected is website imagery. Keep these SEO tips in mind:

• File names: The file name should describe the image, e.g. watch-casio-CS-1000.webp.
• Alt text: Gives search engines a hint about what’s in the image, e.g. silver Casio watch on wrist.
• Image format: Convert images to WebP. WebP offers better compression than JPG and PNG.
• To convert .jpg or .png directly to .webp in WordPress, use the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin.
• Logos: SVG is a good option for logos.
• Image size: Strike the right balance between image quality and file size. Large files slow down load times; smaller files speed up loading, improve user experience, and reduce bounce rates.
• Use the XnConvert tool to convert images to different formats and sizes. XnConvert
• WordPress automatically optimizes image sizes for different devices. Upload images with sufficient dimensions—at least 1920px wide is recommended. Smaller images may not appear in Google Image Search.

Meta Tags

Meta tags control what information appears in Google search results and help Google understand the page. The most important meta tags are:

For Google and other search engines

• title: The page title shown as the headline in Google search.
• description: The meta description shown in Google search. It should include the page’s key keywords and a short summary of the content.
• image: The image that appears in Google search results.

For social media via Open Graph

• ogTitle: Displayed as the headline. It can match the title.
• ogDescription: The page description. It can match the description.
• ogImage: The image shown when shared on social media. It can match the image.
• ogType: The page type, e.g. website or article.
• ogSiteName: The website name, e.g. FoxWebcraft.

Specific to X in addition to Open Graph

• twitter:card: The card format, e.g. summary_large_image.

In WordPress you can use the Yoast SEO plugin to edit meta tags.

Page Speed

Page speed is a key factor in SEO optimization. Tips:

• Optimize images (see above).
• Avoid installing unnecessary plugins.
• Pick a page builder that doesn’t bloat the site. Builders like Elementor and WPBakery can slow things down by adding excessive HTML elements and CSS/JS files. Bricks Builder, Breakdance, and Oxygen are better for page speed. Ideally, skip a page builder entirely and build the site with ACF and Tailwind CSS.
• Provide fonts in TTF format.
• Avoid loading unnecessary CSS and JS libraries.
• Use a plugin such as W3 Total Cache to minify CSS and JS.

Responsive Design

Ensure the page content is easy to read on every device.

Content Optimization

We’ve covered the technical measures; now let’s look at content improvements. Effective SEO is built on high-quality, user-focused content. Tips:

• Keyword research: Identify relevant search terms with appropriate search volume and competition. Tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest can help.
• Optimized headings: Use H1 for the main title with the primary keyword, and structure subtopics with H2, H3, etc.
• High-quality content: Create informative, unique content with sufficient depth (typically 1,000+ words for comprehensive topics).
• User-friendly structure: Use short paragraphs, bullet lists, subheadings, and highlights to improve readability.
• Natural keyword placement: Integrate keywords organically in the text, title, meta description, URL, and image alt text. Avoid keyword stuffing.
• Internal linking: Link related content across the website.
• Multimedia elements: Enrich text with images, videos, or infographics to enhance user experience and dwell time.
• Freshness: Update important content regularly to maintain relevance.
• E-A-T principle: Demonstrate expertise, authority, and trustworthiness with well-researched content and sources.
• Respect user intent: Understand whether users want information, to make a purchase, or to find a solution.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console ensures Google indexes all your pages. It also highlights discoverability issues so you can fix them.

Google Search Console

Google Analytics

Google Analytics lets you analyze website traffic.

Google Analytics

Testing

I use Seobility to test SEO measures. You can run five free requests per day, which is usually enough to validate optimizations and identify improvements.

Seobility

Conclusion

If you implement all the measures listed here, there’s nothing stopping you from achieving great Google Search results. It can take time for the changes to impact rankings, but they always lead to a better user experience—and that alone justifies the effort required for SEO.