Technical SEO for WordPress: what I actually do
Many WordPress sites are not held back by a missing keyword. They are held back by pages Google cannot reach, duplicate versions competing with each other, slow templates or a setting that quietly tells Google to stay away. This is how I find and fix those problems, what to expect afterwards, and what I will not do.
An SEO project, step by step
- Free review and a fixed quote. You send the website address and the searches you want to be found for. I look at what Google has indexed and send a fixed quote for the audit and fixes.
- Access. You add me as a user in Search Console and Google Analytics, and give me a WordPress login. If Search Console is not set up yet, that comes first.
- Technical audit. Crawling, indexing, Core Web Vitals, schema and internal links, checked in the order below.
- A plain-English report. Every issue with why it matters, ranked by impact, so the fixes that unblock the most pages come first.
- Fixes on your site. I make the changes myself rather than handing you a list, after a backup and on staging where the change is risky.
- On-page work on your key pages, then a follow-up check in Search Console as Google recrawls.
The technical audit
Crawling and indexing
I compare three lists: what a crawler finds by following your links, what your XML sitemap contains, and what Search Console reports as indexed. Pages in the sitemap with no internal links, junk URLs Google keeps finding, and important pages Google has chosen to skip all show up quickly. I also check for accidental noindex settings, the "discourage search engines" box left ticked after launch, thin tag and attachment pages, canonicals, redirect chains and broken links. The WordPress technical SEO audit checklist lists every check.
Core Web Vitals
Search Console's Core Web Vitals report and PageSpeed Insights show which templates are slow for real visitors. Quick wins are fixed as part of the SEO work; if the cause is hosting, a heavy theme or the database, that becomes a speed optimization job.
Schema markup
Structured data for your business, services, products, articles and breadcrumbs, checked with Google's testing tools. To be honest about it: schema helps Google understand a page, but it does not guarantee rich results, and FAQ rich results have been limited to a small group of sites since 2023. Schema markup explained covers what is still worth adding.
Internal links
Pages with no links pointing to them, key pages buried several clicks deep, and blog posts that never link to the service they relate to. Internal links are one of the few ranking signals entirely in your control. On India Automation Hub, every subcategory, from PLC and SCADA to OT security, has its own archive, and each post card carries its category tag, so readers and crawlers can move between related articles.
On-page work
- One page per search. I map each target search to one page, so two pages do not compete for the same phrase.
- Titles and descriptions written to fit in results without being cut off, leading with the words searchers use.
- Headings, alt text and URLs, with any changed URL redirected so existing visibility is kept.
- Content gaps. I do not write your blog, but I tell you which pages or answers are missing and what each should cover.
The on-page SEO checklist is the list I work through for each page.
Local SEO with Google Business Profile
For businesses serving a city or region, the Business Profile often brings more enquiries than the website itself. I help you set it up or improve it: the right primary category, services, service areas or address, hours, photos, and a link to the most relevant page rather than always the homepage. The profile stays in your business Google account, and Google may ask you to complete verification yourself. On the website side, your name, address and phone match the profile exactly and LocalBusiness schema confirms them. Service pages and FAQs should use the words local customers search with: Sahni Power Solutions, for example, names Bangalore localities such as Whitefield and Peenya alongside its Pan India service. Reviews come from real customers you ask, never bought or written for you. The Google Business Profile checklist covers each setting.
Search Console setup and monitoring
Search Console is set up as a domain property in your Google account, with the sitemap submitted and Google Analytics 4 linked; see setting up GA4 and Search Console. After the fixes I watch the Pages report as Google recrawls, request indexing for key pages, and check for manual actions and security issues. Not every "not indexed" status is a problem, and page indexing errors explained shows which ones matter.
One-time SEO project or ongoing help?
| SEO plugin on its own | One-time audit and fixes | Ongoing monthly help | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Titles, sitemaps and basic schema, if configured well | Crawling, indexing, schema, internal links, on-page work and local setup | Monitoring Search Console, fixing new issues and optimising new pages |
| What it cannot do | Decide which page targets which search, or fix structural problems | Keep up with changes you make later | Replace content and links you earn yourself |
| Good for | Small sites with clean foundations | Sites that are live but not being found, or after a redesign | Sites that add pages often, and stores |
| What you pay | Nothing, or a premium licence | A fixed quote after a free review | A fixed monthly quote |
Honest timelines, and no guarantees
The audit and fixes for a typical business site take a few working days; a large store or a site with years of problems takes longer. Google's response is slower. Technical fixes take effect as Google recrawls your site, usually over a few weeks. Specific long-tail searches often take a few months, and competitive searches six months or more, especially on a new domain with few links. These are patterns, not promises; how long SEO takes explains why. Nobody can honestly guarantee first-page rankings, and anyone who does is a red flag.
What is included, and what is not
Included: the audit, the technical and on-page fixes, schema, Search Console and GA4 setup, and Business Profile help. Not included:
- Buying links, link packages, private blog networks or link swaps. I never do these; they risk penalties. Ethical link building shows what works instead.
- Fake reviews, or copy-paste pages for every locality.
- Writing blog articles every month, and running Google Ads.
- Rebuilding the site. If the structure is the problem, a redesign is quoted separately with redirects planned.
Who it is for
Business sites that are live but not getting found, sites whose pages sit in "Discovered" or "Crawled, currently not indexed", sites that lost traffic after a redesign or move, and local businesses that want to show up in Maps. It suits you less if you want guaranteed positions by a date.
How to prepare
- User access to Search Console and GA4, and a WordPress login.
- Your services or products in order of importance, and the areas you serve.
- The searches you think customers use, and two or three competitors.
- Your site's history: redesigns, domain changes and any past SEO or link building.
What you get at the end
- A prioritised audit report, with every fix made on your site listed.
- A map of which page targets which search, and the content worth adding next.
- Search Console and GA4 in your own Google account, with notes on what to watch.
Send me your website address for a free review and a fixed quote.
