Majority of Internet marketers and professional bloggers prefer to use WordPress as their CMS and blogging platform because it’s so easy to use and optimize for search engines. Even if you’re not using a premium theme like Thesis, you can easily do SEO for your pages and posts using plug-ins like the All-in-One SEO Pack.

All-in-One SEO is a FREE WordPress plugin developed by Michael Torbert of Semper Fi Web Design. It’s been downloaded close to 10 million times, or exactly 9,969,209  as of this writing,  and has a four star rating. Those who are new to blogging prefer to use it because it’s like any plug and play device — just install the plug-in, activate, and make sure it’s enabled and it will work smoothly. Even if you forget that you installed it, the AIOSEO will automatically optimize your titles for search engines and generate meta tags. However, you do need to update it from time to time. This usually takes a click or two and your done. Easy, right?

Reminder: Enable the plug-in!

I shouldn’t have to write this, really, but I’ve encountered a few bloggers who, after activating All in One SEO Pack, didn’t even bother to look at the settings.  So make sure that you check the enable box. Even if that’s all you ever get to do.

Take it to the next level

As long as your using All-in-One SEO Pack, why not take advantage of the advanced SEO features. It will take you a few minutes to do the following:

1.  Add home title

Make sure that your home title does not exceed 70 characters. Beyond that and your your title will be truncated in search results and it will not look pretty. Use keywords but don’t spam. Mention the keyword once, preferably in the beginning of the title. Use “-” or “|” as a separator.

2. Add home description.

Keep you description within 150 characters or 140 characters for easy retweets. Use keywords but don’t spam. Write a description that gives a gist of what your web site/ blog is about. This is the best way to capture your target audience.

3. Add home keywords.

Because Google does not factor in meta tags anymore in their algorithm, many ignore this area. Well, if you’re only optimizing for Google, that’s perfectly fine. But Bing and Yahoo do consider meta tags so it’s best practice to add a several keywords. Keep your keyword count to 10 or less.

4.  Remove “| %blog_title%” from Post Title Format and Page Title Format.

Just like the home title, your page and post titles should be under 70 characters. If you include the blog title, it’s bound to exceed more than that.  It’s best to remove the blog title and give yourself room to write more catchy post titles… under 70 characters, that is.

5. Add your Google Analytics ID.

If you’re not yet signed up for Google Analytics, then this is the best time to do it. Your Google Analytics ID looks like this: UA-XXXXXXX-X.

6. Do not index your archives.

Check the box next to “Use noindex for Archives” and “Use noindex for Tag Archives.” By doing this, Google will not show your archives on search results. I’m suggesting you do this because I’d rather my readers land on the article itself than my archives section.

Fraser of Keyword Strategy has an alternative explanation of why you should do this and you can check it out: Use Noindex for Your Tag and Category Pages in WordPress

7. Check “Autogenerate Descriptions.” (OPTIONAL)

If you’re a lazy blogger, then I suggest you check this option. But if you’d like to write your own excerpts or abstracts, then leave it unchecked.

For best results…

Fill in the All in One SEO section that you’ll find at the end of the editing page whenever you write/edit a blog post or page in WordPress. It takes a few minutes to copy and paste your title, write a sentence to summarize or describe the post, and add two to four keywords.