WordPress SEO Guide to Rank Higher in Singapore

WordPress is the most widely used platform for creating websites, and it is an excellent choice for creating search engine-optimised websites that will appear in Google searches in Singapore.

However, WordPress alone by itself lacks several SEO features, so it is crucial to set up the website correctly to rank well in Google.

In this comprehensive guide on WordPress SEO, we will go over all the critical strategies for improving a website’s position in search results.

1. Make Sure the Site Is Visible to Search Engines

Making sure that search engines can see the website is the first step in WordPress SEO. No matter how well-optimised the site is, Google will only rank it if it is indexed.

It is typical to block search engines from indexing a website during development because it is still in progress. Do remember to disable the function as soon as it is ready.

In the WordPress dashboard, click on Settings → Reading and make sure the box labelled “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is not ticked.

Once the box is unchecked, it allows Google and other search engines to index the website.

2. Choose An SEO-Friendly WordPress Permalink Structure

WordPress permalink structure controls the fundamental structure of a site’s URLs. Consider these two URLs as an illustration:

• com/09/2022/cool-blog-post
• com/cool-blog-post

The first URL includes the month and year the blog was written, and the second URL contains the blog post’s “post name” or “slug,” which is its unique identifier.

The month and year in the first URL will be automatically generated using the permalink structure that has been selected.

The best choice for most WordPress blogs is to use the post name alone unless publishing time-sensitive content, such as a news blog that posts the most recent news, then it should include dates in the URL slugs.

Including the date in the URL slug can sometimes be restrictive. For example, suppose the URL slug for the post is dated 2020, and it is being updated in 2022. Even though the material is updated, this could lead readers and search engines to believe the piece might need to be revised.

Go to Settings → Permalinks in the WordPress dashboard to configure the site’s permalinks.

3. Use Consistent Site URL (WWW vs non-WWW)

Along with choosing a permalink structure, decide whether or not to include WWW in the URL. For Example, www.arcc.asia or arcc.asia.

There is no right or wrong option in this case. For instance, every piece of material on WPKube includes the URL www.wpkube.com and will be forwarded to www.wpkube.com if to type wpkube.com into the browser’s address bar.

Select the preferred setting for the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) by going to Settings → General and checking the boxes next to them:

There is no longer a need to configure a redirect at the server level because WordPress will automatically lead people to the desired structure.

4. Install a WordPress SEO Plugin

Installing a top-notch SEO plugin is necessary to add significant SEO functionality to a website.

Although there are many excellent SEO plugins, Yoast SEO is the suggested one to the majority of beginners for the following reasons:

• It’s well-liked.
• It is simple to use.
• It has a long history of dependability.
• For most websites, the free version is adequate.

In light of that, the following are some other possibilities to consider:

• Rank Math
• The Framework for SEO
• One Stop SEO
• SEOPress

Read here to compare the most well-liked choices: Yoast SEO vs Rank Math.

Using the Yoast SEO setup wizard after installing and activating the plugin is recommended to set up some crucial SEO foundations for the website.

5. Install an SSL Certificate and Use HTTPS

HTTPS makes a website safer and more privacy-friendly by encrypting the data between the site’s server and users’ browsers.

In the browser’s address bar, look for the green padlock to see if a site is HTTPS:

While using HTTPS on the website has many benefits, Google has been using HTTPS as a positive ranking factor since 2014.

As a result, it increases the security of a website and its effect on search engine ranking.

Installing an SSL certificate on a server is required to have HTTPS on a website. These days, most web providers provide this service without any additional charge.

Having an SSL certificate, use a plugin like Really Simple SSL to activate HTTPS on the website. Another option is to do it manually, which will require a little more time and effort.

6. Verify The Site With Google Search Console and Submit a sitemap

With the free Google Search Console tool, see actual performance statistics to manage the website’s performance.

We highly recommend registering a WordPress site with Google Search Console and validating it there. Let us share the steps below:

1. Visit the Google Search Console page.
2. Add it, carefully selecting the correct URL for the WordPress site (WWW vs non-WWW and HTTP vs HTTPS).
3. Utilise one of the techniques provided to verify the website with Google Search Console. Google Analytics can also be used to confirm. Some of the other techniques are covered in our Google Search Console tutorial. A verification tool is also included in Yoast SEO; to access it, go to Yoast SEO General Webmaster Tools.

Once done, there will have access to several tools after the site has been authenticated.

It would be best to publish the WordPress sitemap to Google, as doing this will make it easier for Google to find and index all of the material.

Below are the steps:

1. Go to Google Search Console’s Sitemaps section.
2. Look for the Add a new sitemap box (it should be at the top of the page).
3. Enter the sitemap URL for the website. Yoursite.com/wp-sitemap.xml hosts the standard WordPress sitemap. However, the Yoast SEO plugin will substitute its sitemap, which can be found at yoursite.com/sitemap index.xml, for the default one.
4. Hit “Submit.”

After publishing, it should appear in the list of submitted sitemaps.

7. Optimise The Site’s Performance (Especially Core Web Vitals)

Fast website loading improves the user experience for visitors and raises a site’s search engine ranking, especially in light of Google’s 2021 Page Experience upgrade.

It would be best to focus on the website’s Core Web Vitals metrics for SEO:

• The largest expressive paint (LCP)
• initial input lag (FID)
• Combined layout change (CLS)

Using the Core Web Vitals option in Google Search Console, monitor the performance of the site:

Alternatively, test the website’s speed using WebPageTest or Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.

So how can the Core Web Vitals measurements be optimised?

The two most essential things to speed up WordPress are as follows.

• Use a good WordPress host. We recommend choosing from top WordPress hosting companies.
• Install a plugin that includes caching and extensive performance improvement. WP Rocket is a paid plugin that makes it simple to optimise for Core Web Vitals. There are also free options at WordPress.org.

8. Add an About Page and Other E-A-T Signals

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google wants to know the type of website content, particularly in YMYL (Your Money or Your Life), for example, finance, law, and medicine.

However, adding EAT is good enough if it’s outside YMYL niches.

Here are a few pieces of advice:

• Make a thorough about us page detailing the qualifications and experience areas. This WPKube About page can serve as inspiration.
• List the creators of each piece of material publicly, along with a brief biography in the author box (along with social media profiles if relevant).
• Cite reliable sources.
• Include a variety of perspectives in writing (e.g. pros and cons in product reviews).

9. Optimise The Site Structure

The final tip is the most complicated. However, it’s crucial to optimise a site’s structure, which is made up of a few key components, to maximise how Google understands and ranks the site:

• Links and menus for navigating
• Tags and categories
• pages of archives

Navigation Menus and Links

Typically, the header and footer of a website will contain navigation menus (and potentially the sidebar). Ideally, it would help to use these menus and links to direct users to the most important and valuable information.

For instance, connect to the most important blogs or tutorial posts on WPKube.

Including every link is not required; remember to highlight the most valuable and relevant content.

Categories and Tags

Organise the blog entries and other content using categories and tags, which can aid in the navigation and comprehension of the material by both users and search engines.

Each blog post should have at least one category assigned to it, although adding tags is entirely optional.

Read the comprehensive WordPress categories and tags guide to learn how to use them effectively.

Archive Pages

The blog articles that match specific requirements are listed on archive pages. For instance:

• All blog posts are listed in the central blog archive, sorted by the date they were most recently written.
• All blog entries from a particular category are listed in the category archive.
• All of the author’s blog postings are listed in the author archive.

Depending on how it’s being used, archive pages can help with search engine optimisation.

The archive sites can rank in Google if it is being optimised with added original material. However, as archive pages are also seen as duplicate material on many websites, it is generally best to only index them for some websites.

Feel free to contact us to learn more about Search engine optimisation solutions for small businesses.