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By: Christy Cañete
Published: August 26, 2024

Boost Your WordPress SEO with AI [Quick Tips for Beginners]

SEO doesn't have to be a struggle anymore. AI is here to make your WordPress website shine in search results. In this article, we’ll discuss how AI-driven tools can help you find great keywords, create engaging content, and climb those rankings with less effort!
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Running a WordPress website is tough enough. But when it comes to SEO, things can get really tricky. 

We've all been there. Spending hours researching keywords, adjusting content, and trying to crack the code of search engine algorithms. It's exhausting. And with so many websites out there vying for attention, traditional SEO methods often feel like an uphill battle.

AI is about to change that. Now, we have AI tools to make SEO a little less painful. AI can help you automate tasks, cut through the noise, and boost your search rankings without the headaches and heartaches.

In this article, we're going to explore how AI can be your ally for WordPress SEO. We'll look at ways to:

  • Find killer keywords without the endless spreadsheets
  • Write content that search engines (and real people) will love
  • Fix technical SEO issues automatically
  • Keep tabs on your SEO progress without losing sleep

By the time we're done, you'll have some practical tips to help your WordPress website climb those search results. 

Let's jump in and see what AI can do for your website!

Understanding SEO Basics

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique used to increase visibility in search results. It's how you get more people to find your WordPress site without paying for ads. The goal of SEO is to ensure your content reaches the right audience when they search for topics related to what you offer.

The Three Pillars of SEO

SEO is made of three pillars - On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, and Technical SEO. 

Understanding each is important to developing a robust SEO strategy for your website. Together, these pillars help you stay competitive in search engine rankings.

Let's look at these three main areas:

1) On-Page SEO: What’s on Your Website

On-page SEO focuses on your content and how you present it. Key elements include:

  • Keyword Optimization. Use relevant keywords naturally throughout your content.
  • Meta Tags. Write catchy titles and descriptions for search results.
  • Content Quality: Write content that people want to read and share.
  • Internal Links: Connect your pages to help visitors explore more and spread link equity.

2) Off-Page SEO: Your Website’s Reputation

Off-page SEO covers activities that occur outside your website but impact your rankings. Key elements are:

  • Backlinks. Get other respected websites to link to yours. These signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and authoritative.
  • Social Media Presence. Share your content and engage with your audience.
  • Online Reputation. Keep an eye on what people say about you online.

3) Technical SEO: The Nuts and Bolts

Technical SEO refers to optimizing the backend structure of your website. The goal is to improve its performance and accessibility for search engine crawlers. Its main components are:

  • Site Speed. Make sure your website’s speed is optimized for both desktop and mobile users.
  • Mobile-Friendly. Your website should look great on phones and tablets, as search engines now prioritize mobile-first indexing.
  • XML Sitemaps. Help search engines find your pages efficiently.
  • Structured Data. Give search engines extra info about your content to improve how it appears in search results.

Advantages of AI Tools Over Traditional Tools

Keyword research is the backbone of an effective SEO strategy. It's our way to understand what people are searching for and how to connect with them. Now, with AI, this essential task has become faster, more accurate, and insightful. 

We've seen a great change in how we approach keyword research, thanks to AI-driven tools. While we used to rely on traditional tools with static databases, we now take advantage of machine learning and natural language processing to analyze vast datasets. This includes real-time search trends, user intent, and competitor strategies. 

With AI, we can now understand complex search patterns. It’s easier to find keywords that perfectly fit our audience and niche.

AI tools also help us predict keyword profitability. They can check search volume and competition. They can analyze online behavior and emerging trends. SEO specialists can use this information to find keywords that are not only relevant now but are likely to grow in importance.

And what about long-tail keywords? We’ve always known they’re important for SEO. But with traditional SEO tools, they can be tricky to find. AI has changed that for us. It's now much easier to uncover those specific, niche keywords that can drive targeted traffic and boost engagement.

We cannot stress enough how AI has changed SEO. Tasks that once took hours of keyword research and complex planning are now more manageable. AI has allowed us to quickly identify and capitalize on opportunities that drive better results.

How to Identify High-Potential Keywords

AI tools can help you find valuable keywords easily and quickly. Here are a few tips on how to do it:

1) Start with seed keywords. We begin by entering basic terms related to our niche into our preferred "Keyword Research" tool (in this case, GrowthBar). For a fitness site, we might start with "home workout." The tool then gives us a list of related keywords, along with their search volume and difficulty.

GrowthBar keyword search

2) Check search volume and competition. Next, we look at each keyword's metrics. We're after keywords with lots of searches but less competition. This sweet spot gives us the best chance to rank well. AI should be able to help us spot these golden opportunities quickly.

SEO keyword analysis

3) Consider trends and seasonality. Trends and seasonal keywords will help you stay relevant to your audience. We can use AI to analyze how keyword popularity changes over time. This helps us spot seasonal keywords or rising trends that can boost our traffic year-round.

Google trends keyword search

4) Analyze competitor keywords. AI also allows us to see keywords our competitors are ranking for and where there might be opportunities to overtake them. In your tool’s “Competitor Analysis” section, simply enter the competitor's URL. The tool will then display their ranking keywords. Compare these keywords with your list to identify gaps and opportunities. 

With these steps, you should be able to build a solid keyword strategy.

How to Write SEO-Friendly Content with AI

Good SEO content helps generate traffic. Fortunately, you don’t have to churn hours and hours generating ideas and improving your writing for search engines. AI is extremely good at these tasks. Many AI tools can be integrated directly into your WordPress Gutenberg editor.

Let’s explore how to create SEO content with AI. We’ll be using GrowthBar for our purposes.

Generating Content Ideas Using AI

AI tools are great for finding content ideas that your audience will like. They look at search trends, keyword relevance, and your existing content to suggest topics that fill gaps and draw traffic. 

For example, if you run a WordPress blog about healthy recipes, you can use GrowthBar's "Content Ideas" feature. Just enter a broad keyword like "best low-carb recipes."

GrowthBar generate content feature

The AI will analyze this and suggest timely, relevant ideas such as "10 Quick Keto Breakfast Ideas" or "Tasty Gluten-Free Snacks." Now you have a solid starting point for your next blog post.

Writing Content with SEO in Mind

Creating engaging content that's also good for SEO can be tricky. AI makes this easier for you. They can help find important keywords, guide your writing, and make sure your content follows SEO best practices.

Let's say you're writing about the "Benefits of Morning Exercise." GrowthBar's content optimization tools can help you as you write. You get real-time feedback, such as how to use keywords naturally and improve readability. It might tell you to use "benefits" more often or to shorten some sentences. With these tips, you can write content that appeals to both readers and search engines.

GrowthBar content optimization

Optimizing Content with AI

Time to optimize your content for the best SEO results.

You can start off with meta descriptions and title tags. Make sure to add internal links to make your content more search-engine-friendly.

You can use GrowthBar's optimization features for this step. Just enter your blog post or its URL into the "Content Optimization" tool. Then, it will start analyzing your content and give useful tips. 

GrowthBar keyword suggestion

For example, it might suggest changing your title tag to including a high-impact keyword. Or the optimal word count for your content. These small changes should help improve your content's visibility in search results.

Improving Readability and Keyword Placement

Making your content readable keeps your audience engaged. Instead of just cramming in keywords, focus on creating text that flows naturally while incorporating relevant terms. Strike the right balance between readability and keyword usage.

AI tools can help you achieve this. They can offer suggestions on sentence structure, keyword placement, and content flow.

GrowthBar's content analysis feature can help you refine your blog post. The AI can evaluate and provide tips for both readability and keyword usage. It might recommend breaking up long paragraphs into shorter, more digestible chunks. Or, adjusting keyword placement to sound more natural.

GrowthBar readability feature

So, if you're writing about "morning exercise," GrowthBar could suggest placing this keyword in headings or throughout the text in a way that feels organic. It might also point out areas where simpler language or shorter sentences could improve clarity.

Remember, the goal is to write for humans first, with SEO as a close second. When you prioritize clear, engaging content, you're more likely to satisfy both your readers and search engine algorithms.

Monitor and Analyze SEO Performance with AI

We all want our WordPress websites to rank well. But as anyone who’s spent enough time working in SEO will tell you, it’s a tough nut to crack. That is why tracking key metrics is extremely important. 

Key metrics can tell a lot about our website’s authority and popularity. It’s also our way to know if our efforts are paying off.

Thankfully, with AI, we're not alone. There are AI tools today that can help automate tedious tasks. They even provide quick insights we can actually use.

Let’s check out how AI can help make your rankings higher.

Automate Website Optimization

Technical SEO is the backbone of a well-optimized website. 

AI-driven tools can now handle many of these tasks automatically. Screpy, for example, is an AI-powered platform that scans your website’s structure. It can help find issues like broken links or duplicate content. 

It then gives you practical advice on how to fix these problems.

Screpy dashboard

Instead of just listing these, it gives you practical advice on how to fix these specific problems. For example, Screpy might suggest updating your URLs or setting up redirects.

Improve Website Speed and Performance

AI tools are great at evaluating your website's overall performance. 

NitroPack, for example, uses AI to compress images, streamline code, and set up caching. These improvements help your pages load faster and keep visitors from leaving too quickly.

NitroPack homepage

NitroPack can also adjust your website on the fly based on current traffic. If someone's accessing your website on a smartphone with a slow connection, it will automatically optimize images and videos to ensure everything loads quickly.

Another tool worth mentioning here is Cloudflare. It uses AI to improve content delivery via a global Content Delivery Network (CDN). Your website should load quickly no matter where your visitors are. 

Cloudflare's AI also adjusts content delivery in real time. It can route traffic through the fastest available servers, which reduces latency and enhances the mobile browsing experience.

Track SEO Metrics

Monitoring SEO metrics helps you improve your strategies. 

Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs now use AI to provide detailed insights into keyword performance, backlinks, and competitor analysis. They can predict trends, suggest keywords, and alert you whenever your rankings change.

SEMrush dashboard

For example, SEMrush’s AI might notify you if your rankings drop for a specific keyword. It will then analyze your competitors and suggest ways to improve, like updating your content or building more backlinks.

Adjust Strategies in Real-Time

One of the biggest advantages of AI-driven tools is how they let us adjust our SEO strategies based on real-time data. 

Take Surfer SEO, for example. It integrates with WordPress and analyzes your content as you write. It can suggest improvements in keyword usage, content length, and structure. 

Surfer SEO plugin

Surfer SEO might also recommend restructuring your headings to improve the post's SEO score. Great thing is, you can make these changes right in the editor. This approach makes SEO feel more like a natural part of your writing process. It's convenient, efficient, and effective.

WordPress SEO with AI - FAQs

What is the best AI SEO tool for WordPress?

It depends on your needs. Popular choices include Surfer SEO, GrowthBar, and RankMath. Each offers unique features to boost your site's ranking. Try a few and see what works best for you.

Can SEO be done by AI?

Absolutely! AI can do tasks like keyword research and content optimization. However, you don’t need to fire your SEO team just yet. Human creativity and strategy are still important.

Is AI content bad for SEO in 2025?

AI-generated content isn't inherently bad for SEO, as long as it is high-quality and relevant. Search engines care about value, not how content is created.

Can SEO be replaced by AI?

AI can automate and enhance many SEO tasks. But it can't fully replace the need for human expertise in strategy, creativity, and adapting to trends.

Using AI for WordPress SEO - Next Steps

We've just explored how AI can greatly improve your SEO efforts. From keyword research to optimizing content and tracking performance, surely there’s an AI tool that can help with every step of the process.

As you move forward, consider integrating some of these AI-powered strategies into your SEO workflow:

  • Experiment with AI-driven keyword research to uncover new opportunities
  • Use AI writing assistants to refine your content for both users and search engines
  • Implement AI tools for technical SEO to address site issues efficiently
  • Use AI analytics to gain deeper insights into your SEO performance

Remember, AI can only provide powerful assistance. But it's most effective when combined with your unique perspective and understanding of your audience. So, use it to augment your strategy, not replace your creative input.

We encourage you to start small, perhaps focusing on one area of your SEO efforts initially. Monitor your results closely and adjust your approach as needed. 

SEO is an ongoing process. Incorporating AI can definitely help you adapt more quickly to changes in search algorithms and user behavior.

We're excited to see how AI will continue to shape the future of WordPress SEO!

By: Christy Cañete
Technical Writer

AgentWP Mascott
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