The WP SEO Show – Demystifying SEO for WordPress Websites

In this episode, Jeff and Pete discuss the concept of "Paid Discovery" in SEO projects. They delve into why it's crucial for agencies to charge for the discovery phase of an SEO project, how it benefits both the agency and the client, and best practices for implementing this approach.

• Getting paid to figure out if you'll work with a client and cover the time needed to determine if it's a good fit
• Puts skin in the game for the client to show they are serious

• Allows agency to demonstrate expertise without giving away full strategy
• Helps ensure client is equipped for the SEO work required
• Provides opportunity to align on commercial goals and objectives
• Screens out clients not suitable to work with

• Be clear it's not a sales pitch, though the goal is to agree on a proposal
• Focus on trust building and showing your capabilities as an expert
• Include a "low risk offer" like a coupon to incentivize signing on for ongoing work

• Take the time upfront to understand infrastructure and capacity limitations clients may have
• Be willing to walk away from bad fits even when it's uncomfortable
• Have your own audit process or leverage tools like Scout Reports to qualify leads

In this episode, Pete and Jeff dive into how you can better utilize some built-in but overlooked WordPress features to improve SEO on your site.

• Post types are the highest level for categorizing different content across your site, like pages and posts.
• Avoid going overboard and creating a lot of custom post types. Keep it simple.

• Use categories (which are a default taxonomy) to group related content within post types. This allows better content targeting.
• For example, an ecommerce site could have categories for different product types under the default WooCommerce products post type.

• The archive template controls the display of taxonomy and date-based archive pages.
• You can add unique, relevant content to archive templates to make these pages more useful, like FAQs, videos, etc related to the category topic.
• This helps demonstrate your authority for those category-related keywords.

• Ideally, post types, taxonomies and site structure get planned early on along with actual content and keywords being targeted.
• Don't let developers make these organizational decisions solo without client input. Logic doesn't always translate for real visitors.

• Author archive pages usually only make sense on content-heavy sites like newspapers where the actual author is important.
• For small business sites, you likely want to disable these from being indexed to avoiding duplicate content issues.

• The goal with post types, taxonomies and archive templates is ultimately to better leverage your existing on-site content for improved SEO targeting - not complex tricks.
• Take what WordPress offers out-of-the-box and customize it to your advantage.

In this episode, Pete and Jeff muse about the trials and tribulations of WordPress Core Updates and how the latest release – WordPress 6.4 – went, as it wasn't as smooth as others have been. 

They cover: 

• What core updates are and why they're important
• Best practices when performing WordPress updates
• What to do to ensure nothing goes wrong

We come into contact with a LOT of websites – we audit them, we optimise them and we work hard to get them ranking in the SERPs. 

In this episode, Pete and Jeff take a look through the top 10 most common SEO mistakes they come across in dealing with client websites. 

** SPOILER ALERT – here's the list ** 

1. Unchecking "Disallow the search engines from indexing this site"
2. Not undertaking keyword research
3. Overusing target keywords 
4. Leaving development URLs in place when a site gets pushed live 
5. Not optimising Images properly
6. Ignoring technical SEO features (particularly in the build) – See Ep 8 - The Importance of Technical SEO 
7. Not running your SEO Plugin through it's Optimisation Process 
8. Having a flat URL structure
9. Not reviewing performance once built and populated 
10. Not building internal links to key target pages

In a change from the usual schedule, now we're 10 shows in we thought it was prudent to introduce us and our company, SEOHive, a little more. 

In this episode, we chat through exactly how Pete and Jeff met, how SEOHive was started and what it is that we offer today. 

If you would like to discuss how SEOHive can help you, schedule a 20 minute intro call today! 

AI is the fastest growing phenomenon since the invention of the internet itself, and as with any leap forward in technology there are pro's, con's and unknowns... 

In this episode, Pete and Jeff chat through the benefits and pitfalls of current SEO AI tools, and how they use them. They also touch on some of the moral dilemmas when it comes to using AI and how far you should reasonably let it go in your processes right now. 

Technical SEO isn't the sexy side of SEO, but it is vital to ensure it's correct as it holds the keys to unlock the power in ALL other SEO practices.

In this episode, Pete & Jeff chat through the importance of Technical (on-page) SEO, why it's vital that those building websites understand the basics (with some tips on what you can do), and what your first steps should be on any SEO Program. 

We also mention Website Ipsum – a really handy tool from Kyle Van Deusen and The Admin Bar. 

In this episode, Pete and Jeff talk through how keywords are used in content. This includes: 

• A basic outline of what a keyword is
• Why it important to understand the keywords your customers use to search for your products and services
• A top level SEO strategy that any website can use for free
• How to incorporate keywords into content

In this episode, Pete and Jeff chat around the lifecycle of SEO Algorithm updates and the themes that have come to pass over the last 10 years or so.

The pair also consider what to do when algorithm (or "algo") updates happen, so you can ride them out as well as possible.

In the episode, Pete and Jeff chat through the things you need to think about in your agency as you start delivering monthly recurring revenue services. 

The topics they chat through include: 

• Selling MRR Services – what to watch out for and how to do it
• Servicing MRR clients amongst project work
• The benefits of MRR services for agencies, their owners and their clients
• How MRR helps you to grow your business responsibly

Related Episodes: 

• 003 – How to Price Monthly SEO Services