WordPress SEO: Technical Checklist for Higher Google Rankings

Start with Yoast or Rank Math

Install an SEO plugin as the foundation. Yoast SEO and Rank Math both handle XML sitemaps, meta tags, Open Graph data, and structured data automatically. Rank Math tends to offer more features for free; Yoast has a longer track record.

Schema Markup

Schema markup helps Google understand your content type and can earn rich results in search. Add Article schema for blog posts, Product schema for WooCommerce, LocalBusiness schema for physical locations, and FAQ schema for question-answer content.

Core Web Vitals

Google uses LCP, FID/INP, and CLS as ranking signals. Improve LCP by optimising your hero image and server response time. Improve CLS by specifying image dimensions and avoiding late-loading content that shifts the layout. Reduce TBT with code splitting.

XML Sitemap and Robots.txt

Submit your XML sitemap to Google Search Console. Ensure robots.txt does not accidentally block CSS and JavaScript files that Googlebot needs to render your pages. Use canonical tags to handle duplicate content from pagination, tag archives, and URL parameters.