What Does a SEO Developer Do?
Search engine optimisation for WordPress divides into two areas: content strategy (what to write and how to target keywords) and technical SEO (how the site is built, configured, and served to search engines). Codeable developers focus on the technical layer – the implementation work that makes a site indexable, fast, and structured correctly.
Technical SEO on WordPress covers a broad range of work. At the configuration level: setting up an SEO plugin (Yoast, Rank Math, or SEOPress) correctly, generating accurate XML sitemaps, configuring canonical URLs, managing noindex and nofollow settings, and setting up structured data (schema markup). At the code level: implementing breadcrumb schema, FAQ schema, product schema, and custom schema types that go beyond what SEO plugins generate automatically.
Page speed is increasingly part of technical SEO – Core Web Vitals are a Google ranking factor, and a developer who understands both SEO requirements and WordPress performance optimisation can address both in one project. Site migrations – changing domains, restructuring URLs, or moving from one CMS to another – also require careful SEO work to preserve rankings through the transition. Best WordPress Seo Plugins In 2026.
When Do You Need a SEO Specialist?
WordPress SEO development work typically involves:
- SEO plugin setup and configuration – Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or SEOPress configured correctly for the site structure, with proper sitemap, canonical, and meta tag settings.
- Schema markup implementation – adding structured data for articles, products, FAQs, local businesses, events, or custom content types that the SEO plugin does not handle automatically.
- Technical SEO audit and remediation – identifying and fixing crawlability issues, duplicate content, broken canonicals, missing meta tags, and crawl budget problems.
- Site migration SEO – setting up 301 redirects, preserving URL structures, and monitoring rankings through a domain or platform migration.
- Core Web Vitals improvement – addressing LCP, CLS, and INP issues that are affecting search rankings.
- Hreflang implementation for multilingual sites – configuring language and region targeting signals correctly.
What to Look for in a SEO Developer
Technical SEO requires understanding both search engine requirements and WordPress implementation. Look for developers who can articulate what they are doing and why – not just configure a plugin and call it done. A developer who understands why canonical URLs matter, what schema markup achieves, and how crawl budget affects large sites will make better implementation decisions than one who follows a checklist.
For schema markup work, ask to see examples of structured data they have implemented. Schema that validates in Google’s Rich Results Test and actually produces rich results in search is different from schema that is technically valid but too generic to trigger any rich result type.
Be cautious of developers who promise specific ranking improvements – those are determined by many factors outside any developer’s control. What a developer can promise is correct technical implementation and measurable improvements in crawlability, page speed, and structured data coverage.
Common SEO Problems a Developer Can Fix
Common technical SEO problems on WordPress sites: Review Schema Markup WordPress Star Ratings Search.
- Pages not appearing in Google Search Console – the page is noindexed (check the SEO plugin settings for the specific post type or page), blocked in robots.txt, or not included in the XML sitemap. Use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to diagnose the specific issue.
- Duplicate content warnings – pagination pages, tag archives, category archives, and author archives can all create duplicate or near-duplicate content. Configure the SEO plugin to noindex low-value archive pages or consolidate them with canonical tags.
- XML sitemap errors in Search Console – the sitemap URL has changed, the sitemap includes noindexed pages, or a large sitemap is causing timeout errors. Regenerate the sitemap and resubmit in Search Console.
- Schema markup not producing rich results – the schema is present but missing required properties, or the page does not meet Google’s content quality guidelines for that rich result type. Validate with the Rich Results Test and check which required properties are missing.
- Rankings dropped after a site migration – 301 redirects are missing or incorrect, the new site has noindex on, or canonical tags are pointing to the old domain. Audit redirects and crawl the new site immediately after migration.
SEO Maintenance & Ongoing Work
Technical SEO is not a one-time setup – it requires periodic review as the site grows and Google updates its requirements. Schema markup specifications change (new required properties, deprecated types), and SEO plugin updates sometimes reset or change settings that were configured manually.
Search Console should be monitored regularly for new crawl errors, coverage issues, and Core Web Vitals reports. As new pages are added to the site, they should be reviewed to ensure they inherit correct SEO settings rather than default to noindex or missing meta descriptions.
After any significant site change – a new theme, a major plugin update, a URL restructure – a crawl of the site to check for new technical issues is good practice.
How to Post a SEO Project on Codeable
When posting an SEO project on Codeable, distinguish between technical SEO (the implementation work a developer handles) and content strategy or link building (which are outside a developer’s scope). Codeable developers work on the technical implementation layer.
Describe the specific technical problem or goal: “our XML sitemap is returning errors in Search Console,” “we need schema markup for our recipe content type,” or “we are migrating from Squarespace to WordPress and need to preserve our SEO.” Specific briefs get more accurate estimates than “improve our SEO.”
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Find a SEO Developer on Codeable ↗Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between technical SEO and content SEO?
Which SEO plugin should I use - Yoast, Rank Math, or SEOPress?
What is schema markup and do I need it?
How do I preserve SEO rankings during a site migration?
What are Core Web Vitals and why do they matter for SEO?
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