WordPress has revolutionized not only the scene of worldwide blogging since it was founded in the summer of 2003 but the entire content management world as well, with more and more small businesses and websites around the world, opting for its clean, efficient and intuitive system.

But one of the greatest features of a WP based site, which is not always used in the best way by many users, is the ability to also magnify the website’s appeal and traffic by adding SEO optimized posts, using smart and simple keywords choices, and a right post structure.

How to Add a New SEO Optimized Post

To start working on your SEO Optimized content, In the WordPress system sidebar, press “Posts” and then “Add New,” the same instructions can also be applied to a page, of course. In the new post form, you will first be asked to enter a title.

Before starting work, click the “Toolbar Toggle” button on the far right side of the text editor toolbar, where you can find the Bold, Italic and other text features, to expose all available editing options, including paragraph styles, text color, adding links, quotations and more.

First, you will need to choose your basic keywords for the post, in this example, for an NYC locksmith’s website, they will be “Locked out in Queens.” Copy your pre-made post text and paste it into the main text box in the post editor page.

Use the same keywords again as the first words in the main title field, and add more information, in our case: “Locked Out Queens NY Locksmith Service,” adding the state, a description of the service, and a call to action from the potential customer. To this, we can add the “bottom line” important information of means of contact, which is, of course, the business’s direct phone number.

How to Use Paragraphs Styles

In WP, the post’s main title will usually automatically be displayed using the largest possible headline style, H1. For the rest of the post’s body, we will want to use paragraphs styles in a smart way, to make our important details more readily available to our audience of possible readers.

For the first headline within the post, use the H2 style option from the paragraph drop down menu, and add the contact number information again, as many people seeking this service might very well be most interested in calling and ordering the service immediately.

We will use the base keywords again, as naturally as possible, within the text. Again, only use them in a sensible way and the right context within your content, and add contact info and call for action phrases, focusing in this key about price and speed, for instance.  You can also use such common phrases from the top results summary in the Google results page, to better aim the post towards SEO needs.

In Case you get a large block of text styled as a headline, undo the action, then add a break by pressing the Enter key after your headline, then style it as H2, and delete the unnecessary lines added as spacing. If you copy parts of text into the editor in, you may need to remove the automatic styling and size, so it matches the rest of the content style.

Highlight the Business Name and Location

After making sure we had used all keywords in a natural way in the first paragraph, we will want to incorporate the business name, exactly as it appears on Google maps. In this case “Fresh Meadows Best locksmith” to which we can add the city and state again.

Use the business name you added to the test to add a link to its Google map address, which you can get by clicking the “SHARE” option under the business name in the Google Maps sidebar. In the editor highlight the full business name, and then click the link creation button in the toolbar’s bottom row.

Since we’re linking to an external website here, we will want to check the “Open link in a new tab” option, in the “Insert/Edit link” popup window, to keep the current site open as well.

For the nest headlines, use the H3 headline style, add the location (“in Queens NY”) to each of the next headlines, and also use the basic keywords in the text itself as much as possible, as long as it fits naturally in the post, and repeat the contact info, to allow the reader to fulfill the calls for action when he chooses to.

Setting up the Yoast SEO options

For the final call for action, use the H4 style, and scroll on down to the Yoast SEO settings for the post. Paste the main keywords “Locked Out Queens” into the “Focus keywords” field; the Yoast plugin will also offer an analysis of your post, and offer possible points of improvements.

Use this analysis to fix all issues, such as adding the keywords to the URL, etc. until the analysis bullets are all green, indication the post is indeed optimized for SEO and will help our page get the best possible search page ranking. Fill all the Yoast fields using the content from the post title and body, adding the contact info, and Meta description, which will repeat the main information and keywords once more.

Once you have the “green light” from Yoast, – https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ – add images and alt-text to your post, using the same keywords for the alt-text, which also increases its possible ranking on Google results page. Use images corresponding to the article’s subject of course, and you may also add YouTube video content from the business’s website, if they have once, by clicking “Add Media” and inserting the YouTube URL. This can also be done by using the embed code option in the YouTube video share page, and pasting it into the post in the desired location, while in HTML mode.

At the post’s bottom, add the business Google Map embed code while in HTML mode. You can get the code by clicking the “SHARE” option under the business name in the Google Maps sidebar, and choose the embed option and copy the code. After you are finishing adding media, using only licensed images and videos of course.

Tags and Snippet Previews

Make sure to repeat the keywords in the tags part of the post and also use relevant logos and banners to enrich the post’s appearance, as well as making sure to fill the alt-text for Google rankings. Add more internal and external links and set up the summary of the post for search results.

The snippet preview option will allow you an important glimpse into how your page will be shown in Google’s results, based on how you edited it. Use the rich snippet option and configure it, selecting the preview image, service type etc., and add a short description, different than those you’ve used so far in the page and SEO parts.

Advanced SEO Tools & Tips & Hacks

To increase your Google ranking and be easily found by your customers, you may also use some of the more advanced SEO tips and hacks available to WP users, some of which we went over in this extensive guide:

• The first few words of the header should match the exact search phrase you want to improve your post ranking for on Google
• Make sure the post is fully optimized, using the SEO analysis and also the readably analysis, and fixing the post accordingly
• Make sure the website carrying the post is marked as a secure website by Google
• The website needs to be AMP ready and operating from a fast server
• Make sure your posts contains at least 800 words, and try not to exceed 2000 words
• Use professional services and writers and create your content, and make sure it’s been edited and grammar-checked
• Use high quality authorized images from image stock sites or free sources such as pixabay or stencil – https://pixabay.com/ – https://getstencil.com/
• Don’t forget to repeat the alt-text keywords for each image
• If possible use original video content taken from the service’s website
• Use bullets, numbers, banners, etc., to make the page graphically appealing
• Don’t use overly heavy and large images; thumbnail size will suffice for most images. Use an editing tool to resize the image and save it in a file not larger than 100K
• Use a rich snippet plugin such as to enrich and control the way your page will look in search results and enable visitor ratings – https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-schemaorg-rich-snippets/
• Use an embedded Google Map to finish the post and direct the reader to all contact information
• For faster indexing of your post by Google’s engine, use the search console option to add your new URL to the search results as soon as possible – https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url