Advanced Wordpress SEO - City University of New …...SEO COMPLIANCE e om g e om g e om g e om? ping...

Advanced WordPress SEO

: Actionable Advice for Ensuring Your W

ordPress Content is Found by Nick Herinckx, CEO

of Obility Consulting, @

nickherinckx

Tweet w

ith Mozinar attendees: #m

ozinar Technical problem

s or feedback: Please em

ail team@

seomoz.org

ww

w.obilityconsulting.com

W

ho am I?

ww


Why W

ordpress?

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


W

hy Wordpress?

Great out-of-the-box on-site optim

ization

Credit: SEOMoz.org

ww


W

hy Wordpress?

Easy to find developers

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization P

lugins

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization Light &

fast

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization Free

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization N

ot as robust for complex sites

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization Little support (but great support com

munity)

ww


W

hy Wordpress?


ization G

reat user based means target for hackers

©O

BILITY C

ON

SULTIN

G

HO

US

EK

EE

PIN

G

Assumptions, a note on plugins and m

ore

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Assum

ption #1:

You Are Fam

iliar with W

ordpress

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “plugins”…

…You say “Let m

e tell you my favorite

ones”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “permalink structure”…

…

You say “/%category%

/”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “edit theme P

HP

files”…

…You say “archive.php or head.php?”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


Assum

ption #2:

You understand intermediate to

advanced SEO S

ectio

n: H

ou

seke

ep

ing

ww


If I say “canonical tag”…

…You say “duplicate content”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “UR

L name/value pairs”…

…

You say “no more than 3, and there

better not be sorting parameters”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “meta robots tag”…

…

You say “noindex and nofollow”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “I know you’ve never purchased

links”…

…You say “no” and start laughing

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If Matt C

utts enters the room…

…

You stop laughing

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


If I say “Rand Fishkin”…

…

You say “who’s that?”

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


In short: you understand SEO

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww


Some of our

solutions will utilize

plugins.

*I favor solutions that do not utilize plugins

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

Ima

ge

cred

it: http

://ww

w.te

chta

te.co

m

ww


Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

I don’t always use plugins

But when I do, I prefer Yoast SEO

Credit: Euro RSCG Worldwide

©O

BILITY C

ON

SULTIN

G

DU

PLIC

ATE C

ON

TEN

T IN

WO

RD

PR

ES

S

Pagination, Archives &

Inserting Unique C

ontent

ww


W

here does this problem stem

from?

Tag Pages S

ectio

n: D

up

licate

Co

nte

nt

ww


W


from?

Tag Pages S

ectio

n: D

up

licate

Co

nte

nt C

ategory Pages

ww


W


from?

Tag Pages S

ectio

n: D

up

licate

Co

nte

nt C

ategory Pages

Date A

rchive P

ages

ww


W


from?

Tag Pages S

ectio

n: D

up

licate

Co

nte

nt C

ategory Pages

Date A

rchive P

ages A

uthor Pages

ww


W


from?

Tag Pages S

ectio

n: D

up

licate

Co

nte

nt C

ategory Pages

Date A

rchive P

ages A

uthor Pages

Pagination P

ages

ww


Exam

ple: Tag pages

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


Exam

ple: Date pages

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

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Exam

ple: Pagination

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

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W

hat are Specific SEO Issues?

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


W


Full post text on hom

epage, tag pages, category pages, etc.

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t No value-added

content for searchers

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W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t Pagination pages

include duplicate content

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t Heavy site-w

ide sidebar links to these

pages

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Many them

es don’t allow

for custom M

ETA tags on

these pages

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about the full post being displayed on all archive pages?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about the full post being displayed on all archive pages?

AN

SWER

: replace “the_content” in the P

HP

files with “the_excerpt”

ww


-Located inside your P

HP

files

-Show

s full blog post content

What to do about full post text

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

The_Content

-Located inside your P

HP

files

-Show

s only first 55 characters of post.

The_Excerpt

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W

hat to do about full post text

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

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-A

rchive.php

-Index.php

-O

ther custom them

e PH

P files that control

archive type pages

Where to look for “the_content”

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about the non- uniqueness?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about the non- uniqueness?

AN

SWER

: Noindex and exclude from

XM

L sitemap

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W

hat to do about their non-uniqueness

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Date Archives N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Date Archives N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Pagination N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Date Archives N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Pagination N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Author (default page) N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

ww


W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Date Archives N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Pagination N

o Yes

Exclude Allow


o Yes

Exclude Allow

Author (custom page)

Yes Yes

Include Allow

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W


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type M

eta Index?

Meta

Follow?

XML Sitem

ap Robots.txt

Page Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Post Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Categories Yes

Yes Include

Allow

Tags N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Date Archives N

o Yes

Exclude Allow

Pagination N

o Yes

Exclude Allow


o Yes

Exclude Allow

Author (custom page)

Yes Yes

Include Allow

*Yo

ast S

EO

plu

gin

allo

ws fo

r this le

vel o

f con

trol

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Can w

e make these pages m

ore useful for users?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Can w

e make these pages m

ore useful for users?

AN

SWER

: Create a new

PH

P page for

each archive page type, and insert copy into the P

HP

files directly

ww


Inserting Text Into A

rchive Page Types

Date archives, categories, tags, author pages, etc.

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Inserting unique content on

author archive page types!

ww



rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Inserting unique content on

category archive page types!

ww


How

do we do this inside W

ordpress?

Se

ction

: Ho

use

kee

pin

g

ww



rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

We w

ill have to create new PHP files!

*but it’s an easy copy/paste job

ww



rchive Page Types

Understanding W

ordpress PH

P Hierarchy

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type Default

Override for all

category pages O

verride for individual categories

Example PHP file

name

Categories archive.php

category.php category-{categoryslug}.php

category-m

arketing.php

ww



rchive Page Types

Understanding W

ordpress PH

P Hierarchy

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type Default

Override for all

category pages O


Example PHP file

name



category-m

arketing.php

Tags archive.php

tag.php tag-{tagslug}.php

tag-events.php

ww



rchive Page Types

Understanding W

ordpress PH

P Hierarchy

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Page Type Default

Override for all

category pages O


Example PHP file

name



category-m

arketing.php

Tags archive.php

tag.php tag-{tagslug}.php

tag-events.php

Author archive.php

author.php author-{authornam

e}.php author-nick.php

ww


Steps for creating a custom page w

ith SEO

optimized text for a tag called

“marketing” S

ectio

n: H

ou

seke

ep

ing

ww



rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Step 1: Go to your PHP files

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rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Step 2: On server, create “tag-m

arketing.php” file inside them

e PHP file directory

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rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Step 3: Copy code from

existing “archive.php” file and pate in new

“tag-m

arketing.php” file.

ww



rchive Page Types


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Step 4: Locate w

here the body text for the page begins

Step 5: Insert custom

tag text above where

posts are displayed

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

THEN

WE G

ET TH

IS!!!

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about pagination?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What can w

e do about pagination?

AN

SWER

: Yoast SEO inserts rel=“next”

and rel=“prev” in the head of paginated pages

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What about canonicalization?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What about canonicalization?

AN

SWER

: Yoast SEO includes these on

all Wordpress pages

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

Wordpress itself only show

s canonical link elem

ents on single pages. Yoast SE

O places the canonical tag on

all page types.

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What if I use a plugin that utilizes U

RL

parameters?

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What if I use a plugin that utilizes U

RL

parameters?

AN

SWER

: Utilize your robots.txt or

Google W

ebmaster Tools

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t •C

reate an actual robots.txt file and place it in server root to override the virtual W

ordpress one

•U

se robots.txt to disallow

problematic site section

O

r…

•

Block problem

atic param

eters from w

ithin G

oogle Webm

aster Tools

ww


In Sum

mary

Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

9Make sure them

e uses “the_excerpt” in archive PHP files instead of “the_content”

9If you w

ant to keep archive page types, create a separate PHP file for each an insert on-page copy

9N

oindex archive page types if not unique

9Exclude archive page types from

XML Sitem

ap

9Im

plement canonical tag on all pages using Yoast SEO

9Im

plement pagination tags using Yoast SEO

9U

se robots.txt file to exclude dynamic pages created by plugins, or use

Webm

aster Tools to tell Google to ignore problematic nam

e/value pairs

ww


Q

uick Authorship Exam

ple

Se

ction

: Au

tho

rship

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What w

e need

1: A G

oogle+ Profile

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What w

e need

2. Link to publications in the “contributor to” section from

within your G

oogle+ profile

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

What w

e need

3. Add rel=“author” tag to blog post page in a

link to your Google+ profile

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R

el=Author Tag Im

plementation

Se

ction

: Au

tho

rship

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

How

to Get G

oogle+ Links on Author

Posts

ww


Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

How

to Get G


Posts

Option 1: Edit single.php file (or the one that

displays your blog posts) to output the author bio on the page. Then authors can include a G

oogle+ link on their own.

ww


Im

plementing A

uthorship

Se

ction

: Au

tho

rship

ww


P

lacing Author B

io on Blog P

osts

Se

ction

: Au

tho

rship

<div class="author"> <?php if (function_exists('get_avatar')) { echo get_avatar(get_the_author_m

eta('user_email'), '70');

} else {?> <im

g src="<?php echo get_tem

plate_directory_uri();?>/images/author.jpg" alt="" class="im

gleft authorpic" /> <?php } ?> <h5>About <?php the_author();?></h5> <?php the_author_m

eta('description'); ?> </div>

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Se

ction

: Du

plica

te C

on

ten

t

How

to Get G


Posts

Option 2: M

anually add to posts an author byline w

ith Google+ profile links

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Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

For very large blogs, permalink

structure is one of the most com

mon

mistakes I see w

ith Wordpress

installations.

ww


P

ermalinks for B

log Posts

Which one is best?

/%

postname%

/ %post_id%

/ /%

category% / %

postname%

/ /%

post_id% / %

postname%

/ /%

year% / %

category% / %

postname%

/

Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

ww


P

ermalinks for B

log Posts

Most P

eople Select:

/%postnam

e% / %

post_id%/

/%category%

/ %postnam

e%/

/%post_id%

/ %postnam

e%/

/%year%

/ %category%

/ %postnam

e%/

Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

ww


Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

But that’s not ideal for very large blogs!

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P

ermalinks for B

log Posts

“For performance reasons, it is not a good idea to start your

permalink structure w

ith the category, tag, author, or postnam

e fields. The reason is that these are text fields, and using them

at the beginning of your permalink

structure takes more tim

e for WordPress to distinguish

your Post UR

Ls from Page U

RLs (w

hich always use the text

“page slug” as the UR

L), and to compensate, W

ordPress stores a lot of extra inform

ation in its database (so much

that sites with lots of Pages have experienced difficulties).

So, it is best to start your permalink structure w

ith a num

eric field, such as the year or post ID.”

Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

What W

ordpress Says

ww


Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

Why does it cause slow

down?

ww


Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

Consider the U

RL /m

ycat/mypost/

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P

ermalinks for B

log Posts

You Should Select:

/%postnam

e% / %

post_id%/

/%category%

/ %postnam

e%/

/%post_id%

/ %postnam

e%/

/%year%

/ %category%

/ %postnam

e%/

Se

ction

: Ad

van

ced

On

-Site

ww


M

aintaining Com

pliance Ongoing

Se

ction

: SE

O C

om

plia

nce

ww


W

hat did we talk about?

Housekeeping

Addressing D

uplicate Content in W

ordpress

Implem

enting Authorship

Advanced O

n-Site Considerations

Maintaining SEO

Com

pliance

Q&A Tim

e!

@nickherinckx

ww


[email protected]

http://seomoz.org/w

ebinars

Advanced Wordpress SEO - City University of New …...SEO COMPLIANCE e om g e om g e om g e om? ping...

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Transcript of Advanced Wordpress SEO - City University of New …...SEO COMPLIANCE e om g e om g e om g e om? ping...