Have you ever wondered why some blogs ranks really good in search engines while others are barely findable? This depends of many factors such as url rewriting, keyword density, etc. The process of optimizing a website for search engine is called SEO: Search Engine Optimization.
I recently had the chance to get a new plugin for WordPress which aim to improve your blog SEO. This plugin is called WpSeo and I tested it for you.

WordPress, blogs and search engine optimization

[tweet]By default, WordPress is pretty well optimized for search engines. I remember a client who used to had a custom made dynamic site that I turned into WordPress, and the guy was like “wow! I got so much new visits now!”. Thanks to permalinks, regular updates and clean coding, WordPress is definitely a great tool in terms of SEO.

Though, it shouldn’t be a secret to you that many blogs are competiting in the same niche. To be the leader (or at least, one of the best) you have to fight hard against your competitor. This “fight” includes having the best content, but also have the best Search Engine Optimization.

To give you an example, try a Google search with the generic web development keywords CSS buttons. Who’s the first on Google search results? It is my other blog, Cats Who Code.

As you can see, the benefits of a good search engine optimization is enormous: more than 5000 unique visitors for the “CSS button(s)” keyword.
And to achieve similar results, you can either manually optimize your WordPress theme (which require coding knowledge), or use a good SEO plugin.

WpSeo features

WpSeo has everything you need to optimize your blog for search engines. Once installed, you’ll see a new custom panel in your WordPress dashboard.
There, you’ll be able to define how titles, meta keywords and descriptions should appear.

As you can see on the screenshotr below, there’s too many options to name them all. Don’t hesitate to download a copy of the plugin and try it for free.

Why WpSeo?

Ok, you’ll tell me, but why paying for WpSeo while other SEO plugins, such as All In One SEO Pack, are free? I have used All In One SEO in the past, and enjoyed it. It is a great plugin, but WpSeo seemed to be more complete to me me. Also, being a registered customer, you’ll access support by WpSeo’s team of expert. I never used it because I’m a tech person, but there’s no doubt that support can be very useful if you’re not familiar with SEO.

In fact, WpSeo have additional functions that allow you to optimize your posts for Adsense. This is not search engine optimization, but it’s always nice to make some extra dollars!

WpSeo cost only $24.95 which is a definitely a good price. A good SEO will provide more traffic and more sales, so you’ll get your return on investment very quickly.
But the best is still to come: WpSeo can be tested and used for free during 10 days. This way, you can try it and see by yourself how it improve your blog rankings and if you think it is worth the $24.95.

Note that there’s also some great SEO informations on the Digging into WordPress book.