Nowadays, stuffing keywords and installing various plugins is not enough to get your WordPress website to the top SERP rankings. Today, search engines are advanced, smart, and demanding, and at the same time, competition is fierce, so you need to do more than a simple standard setup to gain that competitive edge and position in the first place in search results.
This is where Fully Customizable SEO (FCSO WordPress) shines.
FCSO means to take full control of your WordPress website and control each of its elements, so it is fine-tuned and perfectly optimized for search engines. In this guide, we showcase how you can use FCSO to your advantage and get more organic traffic and hopefully, better conversion rates.
What is FCSO WordPress and Why Does it Matter
FCSO WordPress stands for Fully Customizable Search Engine Optimization in the context of a WordPress website. Unlike basic SEO approaches that rely on basic WordPress plugins, FCSO means you manage all relevant SEO factors manually and establish full control over your website’s positioning in search results.
FCSO is important because search engines such as Google incorporate complex algorithms that take tons of factors under consideration, such as user search intent, mobile-first indexing, context, and the overall performance of a website. These advanced algorithms reward websites that are well-structured, function flawlessly, present content that is relevant, and fully reflect user intent. The opposite is also true – a low-quality website with bad structure, bad design, and overall dissatisfactory user experience, and low-quality content will be placed on lower SERP positions if ranked at all.
Because of how important FCSO WordPress becomes, we showcase the 5 core areas that you should take into consideration when you work on your website.
1. On-Page FCSO: Start With the Basics
Before getting technical, start with the basics. The first thing you should optimize is your individual WordPress pages, so they are clear, relevant, easily found, and easily crawled. To incorporate FCSO WordPress in this context, you should:
Add and optimize meta titles and descriptions. Both of these are important in terms of FCSO, as they give a clear notion of what the web page is all about. Add meta titles and descriptions for each of your website pages, and don’t forget to include relevant keywords, along with a tight and precise description of the page content. Furthermore, meta titles and descriptions help website users get an idea of what your page is all about, and if you manage to come up with the right descriptions, more visitors will come to your pages.
Incorporate a hierarchical headings (H1, H2, H3) structure. In terms of FCSO WordPress, headings are important, and so is their distribution on your page. Always go from a larger to a smaller heading and always start a page with an H1 tag, followed by an H2 tag. This will help search engines get a notion of structure and order, which are often positively perceived by Google and other search engines.
Optimize URL structure. It is not only important to add links that lead to relevant content across your web pages. It is also important to incorporate a logical URL structure, so search engines get a notion of where the link leads to before spiders crawl it. This means that you should avoid structures such as this: https://www.your-domain-name.com/809423/28902/product-3/ and replace it with something that gives more information about your website’s structure and content, for example, https://www.your-domain-name.com/guitars/acoustic-guitars/brand-x/model-xyz/, as this makes your website look more professional and reliable. Also, always make sure that your links are relevant and the link itself leads to where it says it will, as this will drastically increase the trust in your website.
2. Technical FCSO: Make Your WordPress Website Fast to Load and Easy to Crawl
Technical SEO means improving your website’s mechanics so it performs well at any given time. Keep in mind that search engines reward fast-loading websites and pages that do not display error messages. Something more, you get bonus points for making your website’s structure easy to follow and your pages mobile-friendly, so more devices can open it without any issues. All this means the following:
Always try to improve your website speed. Fast website loading speed means satisfied search engines and happy visitors. For this reason, always clear your cache regularly, optimize your images, and optimize your website code, so it doesn’t include strings and snippets that are making it slow.
Make your website mobile-friendly. Nowadays, more and more people use their phones and tablets to browse the web, and if your website is not optimized to work well on such devices, chances are that you will be punished by search engines. This is why, along with other endeavors, make sure that your website looks and performs well on any given Internet device, and not only laptops.
Incorporate a logical site structure. Search engines love tidy and well-structured websites, and so do users. So, to improve your chances of a better ranking, make a structure that is simple to understand and simple to follow. Also, use clear categorization so you ensure bots and users know exactly where to search for a given piece of content on your pages.
3. Content Remains King
Along with being well-structured, well-performing, and tidy, your website should display only relevant, to-the-point, and fresh content. This is important for every contemporary website, as users’ main reason to browse a given page remains its content. To get ahead of the curve and in the FCSO WordPress context, follow these suggestions for your website:
Target long-tail keywords. When conducting keyword research, focus on the long-tail ones, as they have a greater chance for growth compared to generic short-tail terms. In an example, it is better to create content around the keyword “How to improve your page speed on your WordPress website” instead of focusing on something more abstract, such as “website speed”.
Focus on pleasing people and not on pleasing algorithms. Always use a natural tone and a clear voice when working on your website content, regardless of whether it is promotional ads, product and service descriptions, or a blog article. Always keep in mind that website visitors cherish authenticity and would greatly appreciate it should you deliver it to them. The opposite is also true – focusing too heavily on shaping your content so it is FCSO compatible can drive both visitors and crawling bots away.
Optimize for location when needed. If you have a local business, include terminology, keywords, and hints so that you can be found at a specific place at a specific time. Such an approach will help both users and bots get a better understanding of both your website and your business, so it becomes easier for them to interact with you.
4. Off-Page FCSO
Now that your website is technically optimized and your content is relevant in terms of FCSO, it is time to focus on building trustworthiness and authority in the eyes of search engines. This can greatly boost the relevancy of your WordPress website and help you rank in higher SERP positions. To get the most out of Off-Page FCSO WordPress optimisation, consider the following suggestions.
Build backlinks. Although it is easier said than done, focusing on receiving links from other websites can be a greatly rewarded initiative. In the eyes of search engines, the Internet is a place of interconnected websites that should always exchange information with one another, and in this context, links between sites are greatly valued by Google and other search engines. To get the most out of your backlink strategy, focus on quality, rather than quantity, and also aim at receiving links from websites that operate in your niche. Also, prioritize links that are naturally placed in the content of the website, rather than links that are spammy.
Establish collaborations and partnerships. Healthy business partnerships can greatly enhance your FCSO score. Offer to write guest posts that lead to your website, establish connections with industry leaders and influencers, and always search for ways to return the favor, so that search engines look on your website as a credible source of information.
Use social signals to your advantage. Social signals (likes, shares, and comments on social media) are not a ranking factor, but can contribute to better FCSO, because these signals inform search engines that your content is relevant, and since users interact with it, it is worth ranking it higher in search results. So, in short, expand your social media presence and consider working on social media marketing campaigns for enhanced FCSO WordPress impact.
5. Constantly Monitor Your Website Performance
Search engines constantly get updated with new algorithms, and competitors are constantly calibrating their FCSO strategies to remain relevant in the contemporary world of the Internet. Should you wish to retain your high positions as well, then constantly monitoring your website and its performance becomes a mandatory activity.
FCSO is a process that constantly requires actions to be effective. This means that you should constantly monitor your website’s performance, adapt your approaches and recalibrate them (when needed), and constantly refine your approaches towards placing higher in search results.
Always monitor website performance. For this, you should incorporate various web analytics tools, so you can check site visitors, how pages are performing, and how your keyword strategy is doing at any single moment. You should be aware of what is going on and how your approaches are aligning with your end goals. Such tools allow you to take quick reactions, notice insights, and have a general idea of what is going on with your website in terms of optimization.
Make regular website audits. Constantly check your website for error messages, slow pages, corrupt files, broken links, and similar issues. Just like FCSO, website maintenance is a process and when done properly, can grant tons of benefits.
Adapt your strategies and approaches to algorithm changes. Google updates are a common sight. Changes range from small patches to general changes that change the entire approach towards the concept of indexing and ranking websites on the web. To be relevant in today’s world, you should constantly be informed about changes that companies undertake in order to make their search engines better. Should you fail to do so, you risk falling behind, as even though you can put tons of effort, search engines can find your results irrelevant and dissatisfactory.
Conclusion – FCSO Can Greatly Help Your WordPress Website
Today, search engines reward websites that are fast, work flawlessly, and have relevant content. With FCSO, you have the chance to remain competitive in this field and take your site to the top rankings of every search engine.