WordPress SEO: fixing what the defaults get wrong
WordPress powers a large share of the web and creates a predictable set of SEO problems out of the box. We fix them at the template level, so they stay fixed.
What WordPress gets wrong by default
Archive pages generate duplicate content. Author archives, date archives, tag archives and category archives can all serve substantially the same content at different URLs. Most sites need only some of these indexed, and most sites index all of them.
Attachment pages exist. Every uploaded image can have its own indexable page containing an image and nothing else. On a site with a thousand images, that’s a thousand thin pages diluting the index.
Plugin bloat destroys performance. Every plugin adds CSS and JavaScript to every page, including pages that don’t use it. A typical WordPress site loads a substantial amount of code it never needs, and Core Web Vitals suffer accordingly.
Themes carry structural problems. Many popular themes use multiple H1 tags per page, use headings for styling rather than structure, or build key content in a way that renders poorly. These are template-level issues, so they exist on every page simultaneously and fixing them page-by-page is futile.
Page builders produce heavy markup. Elementor, Divi and similar tools generate deeply nested markup with significant overhead, which is a real and frequently underestimated performance cost.
What we do
- Plugin audit — what’s installed, what it costs in performance, what can go, and what’s duplicating another plugin’s function
- Archive and taxonomy configuration — deciding deliberately what gets indexed
- Attachment page handling — redirected or disabled
- Template-level fixes — heading structure, schema, internal linking patterns fixed in the theme, not per page
- Performance — caching, image optimisation and modern formats, critical CSS, script deferral, database cleanup
- Core Web Vitals — measured in field data, not just lab scores
- SEO plugin configuration — Yoast, Rank Math or SEOPress set up properly, which most installations are not
- Security and maintenance hygiene — because a hacked site loses rankings fast and a compromised one can be delisted
- WooCommerce specifics where relevant
Pricing
| From | |
|---|---|
| WordPress SEO audit | $400 |
| WordPress SEO fix package | $600 |
| Speed optimisation | $250 |
| Ongoing WordPress SEO and maintenance | $250/month |
| WooCommerce SEO | $700 |
FAQ
How much do WordPress SEO services cost?
A WordPress SEO audit starts at $400. A full fix package covering plugin cleanup, archive configuration, template fixes and performance work starts at $600. Speed optimisation alone starts at $250, and ongoing WordPress SEO with maintenance from $250 per month.
Is Yoast or Rank Math better for SEO?
Both are capable and the difference between them is far smaller than the difference between a well-configured installation and a default one. Rank Math offers more in its free tier; Yoast is more established and has a more conservative update history. What matters is configuration — most installations we audit have archive settings, schema and indexation options left at defaults that actively work against the site.
Why is my WordPress site slow?
Usually three things together: too many plugins each loading assets on every page, unoptimised images served at full resolution, and a page builder generating heavy markup. Hosting is a factor but is blamed more often than it deserves — we regularly halve load times on the same host through plugin and asset work alone.
Should I disable author and date archives?
For most sites, yes. Single-author blogs gain nothing from an author archive that duplicates the main blog listing, and date archives are rarely useful to anyone. Multi-author publications are the exception. The decision should be deliberate rather than left at default — which is where most sites leave it.
Can you work with my existing theme and page builder?
Yes. We optimise within what you have rather than pushing a rebuild, because a rebuild is usually a bigger project than the problem warrants. If your theme or builder has a structural limitation we genuinely can’t work around, we’ll say so clearly and quantify what it’s costing, so you can decide whether it’s worth changing.
Related
WordPress work overlaps heavily with technical SEO and often reveals on-page SEO issues. For WooCommerce stores, see ecommerce SEO. Speed improvements also lift paid campaign performance — see conversion rate optimisation.
Tell us what you need.
You’ll get a scope, a price and a timeline within one working day — no call required unless you want one.