WordPress plugins make Search Engine Optimization (SEO) quick, easy and effective. The trick is knowing which ones to use and how they interact.  There are so many plugins for WordPress out there, that its almost like you landed a whale on your deserted island’s beach and you need to figure out how to divide it up before you starve to death.

WordPress has become the standard for SEO, and SEO is critically important to anyone with a website or blog who want to drive free, organic traffic to their website.

This is Part 1 of a four part tutorial on WordPress and basic onsite SEO techniques.  Note the term “onsite.”  There are two broad definitions that delineate SEO techniques.  They are “onsite” and “offsite.”  Offsite SEO techniques include things like developing mini-network, article marketing, press release marketing, forum marketing, etc.    Onsite SEO includes those techniques that can be and should be practiced within the framework of the website itself.

This tutorial deals with two settings within WordPress that are easily found in the left sidebar of the WordPress dashboard.  Just click on “Settings” and you will find them; Privacy and Permalinks.  Here is what you should do and why: