Help People Find You — and Know What They’re Doing on Your Site
You’ve built the foundation of your website — now let’s make sure people can actually find it, and that you can see what they’re doing once they land there.
This step focuses on two essential pieces:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — to help your site show up in Google
- Analytics — to track who’s visiting, how they found you, and what they’re looking at
Both are simple to set up and don’t require any advanced skills.
Basic SEO: What It Is and Why It Matters
Search engine optimization is about helping search engines understand what your site is about so they can match it with people searching for services or topics like yours.
A good SEO plugin can handle 90% of what you need without you having to understand how algorithms work.
Recommended SEO Plugins:
- Rank Math (lightweight, fast, and great for beginners)
- Yoast SEO (popular and full-featured, but heavier)
Both are free and easy to set up. They let you:
- Edit how your pages show up in Google
- Write meta titles and descriptions
- Get on-page suggestions for keywords
- Handle technical SEO basics like sitemaps
How to Set Up an SEO Plugin
- Go to Plugins > Add New
- Search for “Rank Math” or “Yoast SEO”
- Click Install Now, then Activate
- Follow the built-in setup wizard to configure your site
It takes about 5 minutes, and once it’s done, your site will be better structured for search engines right away.
Site Analytics: Know What’s Working
SEO helps bring people in. Analytics shows you what they do once they’re there.
The most common tool is Google Analytics, which gives you detailed reports on:
- How many visitors you’re getting
- Where they’re coming from (Google, social media, etc.)
- What pages they visit
- How long they stay
- What devices they’re using
You can also use privacy-focused alternatives like Plausible or Fathom Analytics if you don’t want to use Google products.
How to Set Up Google Analytics (Simple Version)
- Go to analytics.google.com and create a free account
- Add a new property for your website
- Choose Web as the platform and enter your site URL
- Copy your Tracking ID (or Measurement ID for GA4)
- In WordPress, install a plugin like GA Google Analytics or Site Kit by Google
- Paste in your tracking ID when prompted
Once set up, your dashboard will start collecting data — usually within 24 hours.
In today’s AI-driven world SEO is becoming less important than it used to be. Google now sends fewer visitors directly to websites, often showing AI-generated answers as the first response to user searches. This shift means you should not rely on SEO as your main traffic strategy.
Focus on building a solid relevant website. Apply basic on-page SEO set up, offsite profiles if needed, and then move on. There’s no need to overdo it. Take a balanced approach and understand the landscape has changed. We’ve entered a “pay to play” era.
Most major platforms now limit organic reach to push businesses toward paid promotion. Beyond the basics, SEO isn’t the growth engine it once was. Be prepared to invest in ads or get creative with your online and offline outreach if you want real traffic–because SEO isn’t going to deliver much traffic–there’s no money in it for the search engines. That’s the unfortunate new reality. Nuff said.
What’s Next?
With search engines understanding your site and traffic data coming in, it’s time to make sure your site stays safe and secure with regular backups and a recovery plan.