Blogging for the Green Light on Wordpress Using the Yoast SEO Plugin
I am not a Wordpress girl ... but I can still kick the sh*t out of a blog post on their platform! Blogging is my thing ... I've got it down ... so let's discuss blogging on Wordpress and going for the GREEN LIGHT with the Yoast SEO plugin.
Those who use Wordpress for their websites are going to be very familiar with this:
^^ the page you see before you begin a blog post in Wordpress
The first thing I do is look at the information for the blog post and come up with a 'focused subject' that wouldn't be super hard to generate attention for. In other words: choose a topic that has a chance of getting you traction ... like don't choose 'wedding dresses' because that is a waste of time ... choose something that is 'to the side' of your focus so that you might get some Google search play. Once I have chosen this 'focused subject' I type it in the subject line making sure to make the title 'attention grabby' while still using the phrase I am focusing on.
Next, I go down to the permalink box and hit 'edit' and fine tune that part a bit more ... so if I made the title: Beautiful Ways to Use Ribbon Details in your Wedding ... and the focus subject was 'ribbon details in your wedding' ... I would make the permalink just: ribbon-details-in-your-wedding << make sense?
Now, you fill out the actual Yoast SEO boxes that fall below the post 'edit' section ... using the example I've already given it would be filled out like this (click on the image to enlarge):
After that is all squared away I create what will be my 'alt text' for all of the images in the post ... something along the lines of:
Creative ways to use ribbon details in your wedding | Photography by xyz | http://theirwebsite.com | San Antonio Wedding Photographer
Basically I like to hit the subject or focus of the post, name the photographer, list the website of the blog the post is on, and then finally put some sort of city focus with the vendor 'type' that owns the blog/website I am blogging on. When I ran Style Unveiled I would put something like: best wedding blogs, or wedding inspiration, or best wedding ideas << something to entice people on Pinterest to click through to see more when the image was pulled from the site.
Then, I upload images! I always upload 1 image at the very beginning (typically a very strong shot) before any text goes in ... I paste the 'alt text' in when I upload and then under the 'text blurb' (that will be added later) I follow with the rest of the post images. Some people like to put images side by side ... I tend to lean towards just one image after the other ... but as long as you have alt text for each image you will be good to go! Take it one step further and put 'image title attribute' text in each image and Google will be praising you big time :)
After the images are uploaded with their alt text I take a look at what Yoast SEO is telling me ... am I red? am I yellow? am I orange? I just like to check in ... it's like a little game ;)
Now time for text! Always make sure the first sentence of your text blurb has the 'focused subject' in it ... so for my particular example it might go something like: I love the whimsical and romantic look that ribbons offer and wanted to blog about ways to use ribbon details in your wedding! Anything after that sentence should support the focus, but since you've already taken care of the subject focus, you are in the clear with Yoast SEO. If after you add your text you still don't have the 'green light' you need to check that you have enough text in your blurb ... and if you've uploaded LOTS of images you may need to rejigger some of the alt text inside so that you aren't focusing too much on the subject ... there is a fine line between too little and too much of your chosen focus within 1 blog post.
I just blogged for a client today on their Wordpress site and have been given the GREEN LIGHT ... I followed the exact instructions in this post and went from grey to red to yellow to GREEN :) And here is my gold star:
I hope this post was helpful! Comment if you have questions for me!
XO~ Heather