SEO by platform · Updated
WordPress SEO: a practical checklist
WordPress is SEO-friendly out of the box: pages are rendered on the server, and core WordPress makes an XML sitemap. Most problems come from a few settings, slow themes and plugins, and missing titles and descriptions, which an SEO plugin fixes.
Founder, SEO·AEO·GEO
Builds SEO·AEO·GEO and writes the crawler, schema, and citation research published here.
How WordPress serves pages to crawlers
WordPress renders pages on the server with PHP, so Google and AI crawlers get complete HTML. Page builders and some themes add heavy scripts, which affects speed more than crawlability.
Core settings to check first
- Settings > Reading: make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" is unticked. It's often left on after launch, and it asks search engines not to index the site.
- Settings > Permalinks: choose "Post name" or another readable structure instead of ?p=123. Change it on an established site only with redirects in place.
- Core WordPress (since 5.5) generates an XML sitemap at /wp-sitemap.xml. SEO plugins usually replace it with their own. Submit whichever is active in Search Console.
- Settings > General: use https:// in both address fields once SSL is set up.
Pick one SEO plugin
An SEO plugin adds per-page titles and meta descriptions, a better sitemap, schema and redirect tools. The main options are Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO and SEOPress; all have free versions. Use only one: two SEO plugins output duplicate tags. Prices and features are compared in the best WordPress SEO plugins.
Page-level checklist
- A unique SEO title and meta description for every important page and post.
- One H1 per page. Most themes use the post title as the H1, so don't add another in the content.
- Descriptive image file names and alt text.
- Category and tag archives: index the useful ones, noindex thin ones.
- Internal links between related posts and to your service pages.
Speed
- Choose a lightweight theme, and remove plugins you don't use.
- Use a caching plugin or host-level caching.
- Compress images and serve WebP or AVIF.
- Page builders such as Elementor and Avada add CSS and JavaScript; use their performance settings and check Core Web Vitals in Search Console.
WordPress and AI search
- Check robots.txt allows the AI search crawlers you want: OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search), Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot. See the AI crawler list and the robots.txt generator.
- Check your host's or CDN's bot protection doesn't block them even when robots.txt allows them.
- Make sure the main text is in the HTML the server sends. AI crawlers don't run JavaScript.
- Avoid nosnippet and tiny max-snippet values on pages you want quoted; they also keep pages out of Google's AI Overviews.
Security and SEO plugins sometimes block bots by user agent. If you use one, check it doesn't block Googlebot or the AI search crawlers.
Check it on your own site
What the free audit tests for this
- Indexability
- sitemap.xml
- Title tag
- Meta description
- Load time
- robots.txt rules
One URL, about 20 seconds, no login. You get the result of every check and the exact fix for the top three issues.
Audit your website freeFAQ
Is WordPress good for SEO?+
Yes. It renders pages on the server, produces clean URLs and a sitemap, and SEO plugins add per-page control of titles, descriptions and schema.
Which is the best SEO plugin for WordPress?+
Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO and SEOPress all cover the essentials in their free versions. Pick one based on the interface and paid features you need, and don't run two.
Why isn't my WordPress site on Google?+
Check Settings > Reading for "Discourage search engines", then check Search Console's Page indexing report. New sites can also take time to be discovered.
Sources
- Settings Reading Screen — WordPress.org Documentation
- Using Permalinks — WordPress.org Documentation
- New XML Sitemaps Functionality in WordPress 5.5 — Make WordPress Core
- Understand JavaScript SEO basics — Google Search Central