WordPress SEO audit: the issues built into WordPress — and how to fix them

Reduce Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) to under 2.5 seconds by serving the hero image in a next-gen format (WebP/AVIF), preloading it, and eliminating render-blocking resources.

1. 1Install WP Rocket or Perfmatters (Plugins → Add New → search) for an all-in-one performance plugin that handles preloading, CSS/JS deferral, and lazy-load exclusions.
2. 2Install Imagify or ShortPixel to auto-convert existing and newly uploaded images to WebP with automatic <picture> tag fallback — no manual image re-export needed.
3. 3In WP Rocket → Media: find 'Exclude from LazyLoad' and add the CSS selector or filename of your hero image (e.g., .hero-image, hero-banner.jpg) so it loads eagerly.
4. 4In WP Rocket → Preload: enable 'Preload Links' and use the 'Prefetch DNS Requests' field to add your CDN domain.
5. 5Manually add a preload tag for maximum control: Appearance → Theme File Editor → header.php → inside <head> add: <link rel='preload' as='image' href='/wp-content/uploads/hero.webp' fetchpriority='high'>.
6. 6Verify with PageSpeed Insights mobile score and WP Rocket's Cache Lifespan settings to ensure the optimized page is served from cache to all visitors.

<?php
/**
 * Preload the LCP hero image.
 * Add to child theme's functions.php
 */
add_action( 'wp_head', 'my_preload_lcp_image', 1 );
function my_preload_lcp_image() {
    // Replace with your actual WebP hero image URL
    $hero_url = get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/images/hero-banner.webp';
    echo '<link rel="preload" as="image" href="' . esc_url( $hero_url ) . '" fetchpriority="high">' . "\n";
}

/**
 * Remove lazy-loading from the first (LCP) image.
 * Works in WordPress 5.9+
 */
add_filter( 'wp_lazy_loading_enabled', function( $default, $tag_name, $context ) {
    // Disable lazy-load for images in the hero/banner context if you control the context name
    return $default;
}, 10, 3 );
// Alternatively, add fetchpriority="high" and loading="eager" directly in your template's hero <img> tag.

Write a unique, page-specific meta description for every page on your store so Google can display a compelling, accurate snippet for each one in search results.

1. 1Install Yoast SEO or Rank Math if not already active (Plugins → Add New → search → Install → Activate).
2. 2For any post or page: open the editor → scroll to the Yoast SEO / Rank Math panel → click 'Edit snippet' (Yoast) or expand 'General' (Rank Math) → type your unique description in the Meta Description field → Update/Publish.
3. 3For bulk editing: Yoast SEO → Tools → Bulk editor → Descriptions tab — edit descriptions for all content in a single table.
4. 4For archive/author pages: Yoast → Settings → Content types → Authors/Archives → Meta description template.
5. 5For paginated archives (/page/2 etc.): Yoast and Rank Math automatically add `rel=canonical` to page 1 by default, preventing duplicate description penalties for pagination.

<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="description" content="Shop women's running shoes at Acme Store — lightweight, cushioned designs for road and trail. Free shipping on orders over $50.">
  <title>Women's Running Shoes | Acme Store</title>
</head>

Give every page a unique, descriptive title tag that accurately reflects that page's specific content.

1. 1Install Yoast SEO or Rank Math if not already active.
2. 2For individual posts/pages: open the editor, scroll to the Yoast SEO / Rank Math panel, click 'Edit snippet', and type a unique SEO title.
3. 3For sitewide templates: Yoast SEO → Search Appearance → Content Types / Taxonomies; set patterns with %%title%% %%sep%% %%sitename%% so every page outputs a distinct title.
4. 4Use Yoast's Bulk Editor (Yoast SEO → Tools → Bulk Editor → Titles) to review and edit all page titles in one place without opening each post.
5. 5If using a theme that outputs its own <title> tag and conflicts with the SEO plugin, ensure the theme declares add_theme_support('title-tag') in functions.php and removes any hardcoded <title> in header.php.

<head>
  <title>Merino Wool Running Socks – Free UK Shipping | BrandName</title>
</head>

Add descriptive alt text to every product and content image so search engines and screen readers can understand what the image shows.

1. 1Media Library: Admin → Media → Library → click any image → fill in the 'Alt Text' field in the right sidebar → Update.
2. 2Gutenberg block editor: Click an Image block in a post or page → in the Block settings sidebar (right panel) → find 'Alt text (alternative text)' → fill it in. Mark as decorative via the toggle if purely ornamental.
3. 3Classic editor: Click an image in the editor → click the pencil (Edit) icon → fill the 'Alternative Text' field in the Image Details dialog → Update.
4. 4For bulk alt text: Install the free 'SEO Optimized Images' or 'Bulk Auto Image Alt Text' plugin → configure auto-fill rules using product/post title or custom templates → run bulk update.

<!-- BEFORE (missing alt — bad) -->
<img src="/images/red-leather-bag.jpg">

<!-- AFTER (descriptive alt — correct) -->
<img src="/images/red-leather-bag.jpg" alt="Red leather crossbody bag with gold buckle clasp">

<!-- Decorative image (intentionally empty alt — correct) -->
<img src="/images/divider-line.png" alt="">