WordPress SEO Basics: Set Up Your Site So Google Can Find It

Good SEO starts long before you write your first blog post. If the technical foundation is wrong, great content still struggles to rank. Here’s the checklist I go through on every WordPress site I build.

1. Make sure Google is allowed in

Under Settings → Reading, check that “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unticked. It’s often switched on during development and forgotten at launch — I’ve seen it block entire sites for months.

2. Use clean permalinks

Go to Settings → Permalinks and choose Post name. Your URLs will look like /services/teeth-whitening/ instead of /?p=123. Decide this before launch; changing URLs later means setting up redirects.

3. Install one SEO plugin

Yoast SEO and Rank Math both do the job well. Pick one (never both) and use it to:

• Write a unique SEO title (about 50–60 characters) and meta description (about 150–160 characters) for every important page.
• Generate an XML sitemap automatically.
• Add basic schema markup so Google understands your business type, address and opening hours.

4. Connect Google Search Console

Search Console is free and shows exactly how Google sees your site. After verifying ownership:

1. Submit your sitemap (usually /sitemap_index.xml with Yoast or Rank Math).
2. Check the Pages report for anything that isn’t being indexed.
3. Come back monthly to see which searches bring people to your site.

5. Structure every page with headings

Each page should have one H1 — usually the page title — followed by H2s and H3s that break the content into sections. This helps both readers and search engines understand what the page is about. Don’t pick headings for their size; pick them for their structure, and style them with CSS.

6. Write alt text for images

Alt text describes an image for screen readers and for Google Images. Keep it short and descriptive: “Dentist explaining a treatment plan to a patient” — not “image1.jpg” or a list of keywords.

7. Link your pages together

Internal links help Google discover pages and understand which ones matter most. Link from your homepage and service pages to your most important content, and from blog posts to the related service.

8. Get the local basics right

If you serve customers in a specific area, create and verify a Google Business Profile, and make sure your business name, address and phone number are written exactly the same way on your site and your profile.

9. Don’t forget speed and mobile

Google ranks the mobile version of your site. A fast, mobile-friendly site is part of SEO — see my guide on speeding up WordPress.

What comes after the setup

Once the foundation is in place, rankings come from useful content that answers real questions your customers ask, published consistently. That’s where the long-term growth is.

Want me to check your site’s SEO setup? Send me the link and I’ll point out the quick wins.