// blog / wordpress seo setup
Setting WordPress up, for search
Settings, plugins, schema, crawls and checklists for WordPress sites, new or old. Every post is a job I do myself, written in the order I do it, and it's always the answer first.
What these posts cover
WordPress hands you plenty of settings that affect search and very little guidance on which ones matter. An SEO plugin, schema, breadcrumbs, tags and categories, alt text: each one's simple on its own, and each one can quietly create hundreds of thin or duplicate URLs if it's left on the default.
This category is the setup and review work I do on WordPress sites, new or old. It covers picking between the two big SEO plugins, adding schema that matches what's actually on the page, crawling a site to see it the way a search engine does, planning the search side of a site before it launches, and the checklist I work through before I'll call a site technically sound. There's also a post on explaining all of it to the person who pays for it, because a fix nobody understands doesn't get approved.
If you'd rather have it checked for you, start with a technical SEO audit of the WordPress site. It's scoped and priced in writing on Upwork before any work starts.
If you haven't picked one yet, start with which WordPress SEO plugin to use, because every other setting here lives inside it.
All twelve posts, newest first
Each one opens with the short answer, so you'll know in a few lines whether it's the one you need.
How I run an internal link audit on WordPress
An internal link audit maps every link between your own pages, then shows which pages collect too many, which get too few and which get none at all. I run mine from a Screaming Frog crawl plus Search Console data, and I read the whole map before I change a single link.
September 29, 2026Read the post →How I choose an SEO plugin for a WordPress site
The best SEO plugin for WordPress is the one that prints correct titles, canonicals, sitemaps and schema for your kind of site and is still being maintained. For most sites that's Rank Math or Yoast SEO, both free to start. SEOPress, All in One SEO, The SEO Framework and Slim SEO suit narrower needs.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I add schema to WordPress so it validates and matches the page
To add schema to WordPress, I write it as JSON-LD, either through the SEO plugin's schema settings or as one small block printed on wp_head, and join the pieces with @id so they describe one business. Every type has to match what's visible on the page, and I never mark up reviews the page doesn't show.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I choose between Rank Math and Yoast on a client's WordPress site
Rank Math vs Yoast isn't a ranking decision, because neither plugin ranks a site on its own. What differs is the output each one prints: schema, sitemaps, redirects and indexing defaults. I keep whichever the site already runs unless its output is wrong, and when I switch, I import, compare a sample of pages, then remove the old one.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I crawl a WordPress site with Screaming Frog before I change anything
To use Screaming Frog on a WordPress site, I crawl it first without JavaScript rendering, then compare that crawl with the XML sitemaps and Search Console, because pages that turn up in only one list are where the problems hide. Then I filter for errors, noindexed sitemap URLs, duplicate titles and unlinked pages.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I decide what to do with categories vs tags in WordPress
Categories vs tags in WordPress comes down to structure: categories are the site's main sections and tags are optional labels, so I treat them differently. Every category should be a hub worth landing on. A tag with one or two posts is a thin archive, so I trim or noindex it, and redirect any tag URL that already earns clicks.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I explain technical SEO to a business owner in plain English
Technical SEO is the work that lets search engines find, crawl, render and index a site's pages and understand what they're about, before content and links can do their job. I explain it to owners as plumbing: when it's right nobody notices, and when it's wrong, good pages don't show up in Google at all.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I fix a favicon not showing in Google Search, or the wrong site name
A favicon not showing in Google Search, or showing the wrong one, gets fixed on the homepage, because that's the page Google reads the icon from. The site name works the same way, and Google weighs WebSite structured data on the homepage most. I fix both there, then ask Google to recrawl it.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I plan the SEO for a new website before it launches
SEO for a new website is mostly decided before launch: which search each page answers, the URL structure, titles and headings that name the service and the place, and nothing blocking indexing. On launch day I verify Search Console and submit the sitemap, then spend the first 90 days on click rate, new pages and first links.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I run a technical SEO checklist on a WordPress site
My technical SEO checklist for WordPress starts with the settings that can switch search off, then checks crawling, indexing, redirects, mobile rendering, duplicates, Core Web Vitals, structured data and AI crawler access. It doubles as a WordPress SEO checklist for the layer under your content, and I rank every fix by the clicks it puts at risk.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I set up breadcrumbs in WordPress for SEO and for visitors
Breadcrumbs help SEO in two ways: they show visitors where a page sits and give Google a clean path of links up the site, and BreadcrumbList markup describes that path. I add them through the SEO plugin or the theme, make the trail follow the real hierarchy, and check the visible trail matches the markup.
September 28, 2026Read the post →How I write alt text that helps image search and screen readers
I write alt text by describing what the image shows in the context of the page, in one short plain sentence, and I name a product or place only when it's really in the picture. Decorative images get an empty alt attribute. On a store, every product image gets its own, because image search can bring buyers.
September 28, 2026Read the post →When you'd rather not do it yourself
The posts show the method. If you'd rather one person did the whole job, here's the service it belongs to, and it's scoped in writing on Upwork before anything starts.
Not sure what's set wrong? An audit tells you in writing.
Book a call on Upwork
Want this done on your own site?
Book a call on Upwork, send the URL and read-only Search Console access, and you'll get a written scope for the search side before any work starts. There's one person on the whole job, and it's all done remotely.
Book a call on Upwork