In order to rank highly in the search engines proper on-page Search Engine Optimisation is vital and if you are using WordPress you can use a WordPress SEO Plugin to make this easy. Below I look at what you need to do to prepare your WordPress to get high rankings and to keep it that way. I am assuming that you have decided on the subject of your site and found the keywords you want to optimise for.

Step 1 – Domain Name

The ideal strategy would be to buy an existing aged domain with a good Google page rank and existing backlinks. Assuming that this is not possible and you are registering a new domain name it should include your primary keyword at the beginning (i.e. domainnamenow.com is better than mydomainname.com). If you are targeting an international audience it should be .com or .net or .org.

Step 2 – Hosting

You need a decent hosting service so that your site availability and loading speed are good. Google is now taking loading speed into account.

Step 3 – Site Structure

Set WordPress Permalinks so that the postname appears in the URL. Make sure you have the standard legal pages, and About Us and Contact Us, with links from every page and post (ideally in the footer). Add some external links to authoritative sites in your niche so they appear on every page and post (and make them no-follow).

Step 4 – Pages and Posts

Install a WordPress SEO plugin to help control your on page SEO. The best known is "All In One SEO Pack". Write a good description for the site which will entice visitors to click when they see this in the search results.

For all pages and posts decide on the keyword to target and include this in the URL and Title. Also include the keyword in the first and last sentences and throughout the content. Add an image to every page and post and put the keyword as the ATL text. Make sure that every page and post includes at least one internal link.

Install the SEOPressor WordPress SEO Plugin and use it to check the SEO of each page and post. Follow its recommendations to ensure that each page and post is properly optimised.

Step 5 – On-Going

Keep adding content as the search engines like to see regular updates. Use the SEOPressor WordPress SEO Plugin to check all new content and also existing content after any updates.