WordPress has a reputation for being good for SEO, and it deserves it. Out of the box it produces clean, crawlable pages and gives you control over almost every part of your site. But a good foundation is not the same as a well optimised site. Plenty of WordPress sites have basic settings left on defaults, missing page titles or sitemaps that nobody has checked.

This checklist covers the essentials we set up on every WordPress site we build. None of it requires coding, and most of it can be done in an afternoon. We have kept it focused on the fundamentals, which have stayed remarkably consistent over the years even as search engines and AI tools have evolved.

1. Check your site is visible to search engines

It sounds obvious, but it is a surprisingly common problem. Under Settings > Reading, WordPress has an option labelled "Discourage search engines from indexing this site". It is often ticked during development and forgotten at launch. Make sure it is unticked on your live site.

While you are there, confirm your site uses HTTPS. A valid SSL certificate is standard now, and most hosts provide one free.

Permalinks are the URLs of your pages and posts. The default format in older installs used numbers, such as ?p=123, which tell people and search engines nothing.

Under Settings > Permalinks, choose "Post name". This gives you clean URLs like /blocked-drains/ or /how-to-choose-a-plumber/. Then:

  • Keep slugs short and descriptive, using a few words that match the topic.
  • Remove filler words where it reads naturally.
  • Avoid dates in URLs for evergreen content.

If your site is already established, do not change permalinks without setting up 301 redirects from every old URL. Otherwise you will lose links and rankings.

3. Write proper titles and meta descriptions

Your page title is one of the strongest signals about what a page covers, and it is what appears as the clickable headline in search results. A good SEO plugin lets you set a custom title and meta description for every page.

  • Titles: aim for roughly 50 to 60 characters. Put the main topic near the front and include your location if you serve a local area. For example, "Blocked Drain Plumber in Geelong | Smith Plumbing".
  • Meta descriptions: roughly 140 to 155 characters that summarise the page and give people a reason to click. Search engines do not always use them, but a good one helps when they do.
  • Unique for every page: avoid duplicate titles across the site.

Use only one H1 heading per page, usually the page title, and structure the rest of the content with H2 and H3 headings in a logical order.

4. Set up an XML sitemap and Search Console

An XML sitemap lists the pages you want search engines to find. Modern WordPress generates a basic one automatically, and most SEO plugins provide a more refined version. Check that it only includes pages you actually want indexed, not tag archives, attachment pages or test content.

Next, set up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. They are free and show you:

  • Which search terms bring people to your site.
  • Pages that cannot be indexed and why.
  • Mobile usability and page experience issues.
  • Links pointing to your site.

Submit your sitemap in both, then check in monthly. It is the most useful free SEO tool available.

5. Make your site fast

Speed matters for visitors and for search visibility. WordPress sites usually slow down for a few predictable reasons, and most are fixable.

  1. Hosting: very cheap shared hosting is often the bottleneck. Quality hosting makes a noticeable difference.
  2. Images: resize and compress images before uploading, and use modern formats like WebP.
  3. Plugins: remove any you do not use. Each one adds code and potential slowdowns.
  4. Theme: lightweight themes load faster than multipurpose themes packed with features.
  5. Caching: use page caching, either through your host or a reputable plugin.

Run your key pages through Google PageSpeed Insights and focus on the biggest issues first. Keep updates current too, as outdated plugins can be both slow and insecure. If you would rather not manage this yourself, our WordPress hosting and maintenance plans handle it.

6. Focus on genuinely useful content

Technical settings help search engines understand your site, but content is what earns rankings. For most small businesses, that means:

  • A dedicated page for each main service, rather than one page listing everything.
  • Clear answers to the questions customers actually ask, in plain language.
  • Local details where relevant, such as the areas you serve.
  • Descriptive alt text on images, written for people using screen readers.
  • Internal links between related pages, so visitors and search engines can find their way around.

Write for your customers first. Content that clearly answers a question tends to perform well in traditional search and is also more likely to be referenced by AI tools. We explain why in what is AI citability.

7. Tidy up the small things

  • Set a clear site title and tagline under Settings > General.
  • Noindex thin archive pages you do not need in search, such as author archives on a single author site.
  • Fix broken links and set redirects when you delete or move pages.
  • Add basic structured data for your business, which many SEO plugins can help with.
  • Make sure your business name, address and phone number match your Google Business Profile.

Want a second pair of eyes?

This checklist covers the fundamentals, and it is enough to put most small business sites in a much stronger position. If you want to know exactly where your site stands, our SEO and AI visibility audit reviews the technical setup, content and local signals in detail. You can see what is included in the sample report, or contact us with any questions.

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