WordPress SEO is search engine optimization specifically applied to WordPress sites, which power roughly 43% of all websites globally. Since WordPress is a CMS rather than custom code, optimization involves both standard SEO practices and WordPress-specific configurations that affect how search engines crawl and rank your content. The core difference from general SEO is that WordPress gives you specific levers to pull. You need to optimize permalink structures (Settings > Permalinks), typically using post name format for clean URLs. You configure XML sitemaps through plugins like Yoast or RankMath. You manage metadata through plugin interfaces rather than editing HTML directly. Theme choice matters significantly because poorly coded themes can bloat page weight, slow load times, and create indexing issues. Key WordPress SEO elements include: - Installing an SEO plugin (Yoast, RankMath, SEOPress) to control titles, meta descriptions, schema markup, and canonical tags - Choosing a fast, clean-coded theme that doesn't inject unnecessary JavaScript or CSS - Optimizing images before upload and using lazy loading - Setting proper category and tag structures without over-taxonomizing - Managing redirects through plugins when URLs change - Configuring caching and a CDN for Core Web Vitals performance At Ottawa SEO Inc., we run WordPress for most client sites in our portfolio because it balances flexibility with SEO control. The plugin ecosystem means we can implement technical SEO without touching code for every change. However, WordPress sites often suffer from plugin bloat where 15+ plugins slow everything down, or clients install page builders that generate messy HTML. The main tradeoff is convenience versus control. WordPress makes SEO accessible to non-developers but can create technical debt if you're not selective about themes and plugins. For e-commerce specifically, WooCommerce on WordPress requires careful optimization since product pages, filters, and checkout flows add complexity. Fast hosting matters more on WordPress than people realize because shared hosting often throttles database queries, which kills performance regardless of your optimization efforts.