WordPress SEO Basics: How to Get Found on Google
What Google itself says matters for search, what WordPress already does for you, and the settings and habits that help people find your site.
By Steve, Founder and editor, website developer
Updated
· Last reviewed · 2 min read
In short
- Google's SEO Starter Guide says the most important thing is helpful, reliable, people-first content.
- WordPress has built-in XML sitemaps (since version 5.5) at /wp-sitemap.xml.
- Google Search doesn't use the meta keywords tag, so there's no need to fill one in.
- Changes take time to show in Google: some take hours, others several months.
What matters most for SEO?
Google's own SEO Starter Guide puts content first: pages that are helpful, reliable and written for people rather than search engines. For a small business or blog, that means answering the questions your customers actually ask, clearly and accurately, with your own experience. Technical settings help Google understand your site, but they can't make up for thin content.
Which WordPress settings affect SEO?
- Search engine visibility: in Settings › Reading, make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" is unticked.
- Permalinks: in Settings › Permalinks, choose "Post name". Google recommends including words in the URL that are useful to people.
- Sitemaps: WordPress has produced a sitemap at
/wp-sitemap.xmlsince version 5.5 (switched off while search engines are discouraged). Submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. - HTTPS: make sure your site loads on
https://.
How should you write titles and descriptions?
Google describes a good title as unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describing the page. A good meta description is short, unique to the page and includes its most relevant points. WordPress uses your page title automatically; an SEO plugin lets you write a separate search title and meta description when you need one. Don't bother with meta keywords: Google Search doesn't use them.
How do images and links help?
- Alt text: add a short description to every meaningful image in the block editor's image settings. Google describes alt text as explaining the relationship between the image and your content, and it helps visitors who use screen readers.
- Internal links: link related pages to each other with descriptive link text. Links connect people and search engines to other parts of your site.
- Speed: slow pages frustrate visitors. See how to speed up WordPress.
Do you need an SEO plugin?
Not to start with. WordPress already produces sitemaps, readable addresses and page titles. An SEO plugin becomes useful when you want to write custom search titles and descriptions, add social sharing images or manage redirects. Choose one well-maintained plugin rather than several.
How long does SEO take?
Google's guide says some changes take effect in a few hours and others can take several months. Publish useful pages regularly, link them together, and check progress in Google Search Console rather than day to day.
Where to go next
Make sure your theme helps: every theme from our builder uses proper heading structure and works well on phones. Then read settings to change after installing WordPress.
Questions and answers
Does WordPress need an SEO plugin?
Not to start with. WordPress already makes XML sitemaps (since version 5.5), readable addresses and page titles. An SEO plugin helps when you want custom search titles, descriptions and social images. SEO basics.
Sources and further reading
Didn't find your answer?
Ask us anything about WordPress or the theme builder. We answer the most useful questions here, so others can benefit too.
