1. Where are you from / Who are you?
I’m Benjamin Denis, the founder and CEO of SEOPress, a freemium WordPress SEO plugin. I live in the Bask Country, (most beautiful place on Earth?), near Biarritz, France
2. Why did you create a WordPress plugin?
Money of course! Just kidding. SEOPress is the third WordPress plugin that I have developed, and as often, we developed plugins for our own needs. And one day we end up making it accessible to everyone, because, “hey, it could interest other users ! », let see how things will evolve.
3. Why did you create this plugin specifically? You didn’t like Yoast, even though it seems the plugin to go? And what do you think about this relatively new plugin called Rank Math? I am asking because most of my users now are on it.
I wasn’t satisfy with all the existing SEO plugins on the market: bad user interface and user experience, too many ads, too complicated. This is the main reason I have created SEOPress. About Rank Math, they just copy and paste the code from Yoast, shame on them. This kind of behavior ruins the WordPress community.
4. What are the differences between SEOPress, Yoast and RankMath? (not necessarily about the features, it can be something less technical)
We are the most affordable SEO plugin on the market: $39 per year, unlimited sites, sound crazy right? And we are the only plugin handling on-site and off-site (including rankings and backlinks). Since the beginning of this year, we also provide audit SEO and SEOPress configuration on demand with real people to help you improve your SEO. You have a WordPress site? You need to rank higher, get more trafic? Go to seopress.org, we do everything!
5. How do you see the future for WordPress in general?
WordPress continues to grow in market share every year. Which is a huge advantage for us plugin and theme vendors as it continually increases our customer base and growth opportunities. It’s very stimulating.
6. I will be honest: I often say that we don’t need a SEO plugin to have good SEO, but indeed, we might have to make sure the basics are fine. Can you tell me why I would need a plugin for SEO?
One reason: productivity. Of course, you can handle manually the technical on-site SEO aspects on your site but it will require so much time. Webmasters, merchants, entrepreneurs have every interest in focusing on their content, conversions, products and services rather than code. SEOPress takes care of this.
7. What are the most 4-5 important points when creating a website to keep in mind, to have a good SEO?
Content is King, marketing is Queen and SEOPress is your Jack. That pretty much sums up the process for driving traffic to your site. Think about users from the design stage of the site and the rest will follow. SEO is a sport of endurance, it’s a succession of small improvements that will make you climb in the search results. And to understand what to do, the best way is to train yourself. For that, I recommend that you read our free ebooks!
8. Is SEO actually is equal to please Google? How to get visitors from different channels than Google?
Basically we have to follow Google guidelines. Of course, some people try to hack these rules (black hat SEO) but this is dangerous, and the game is not worth the candle.
It would be wrong to believe that there is only Google to generate traffic and therefore conversions. Depending on your niche, your customers can be on one or more social networks such as Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn … or even YouTube, WordPress.org (in my case), one or more Facebook groups related to your activity, forums (yes it still exists and you should not underestimate them), newsletters (free or paid) created by influencers, guest articles on recognized sites, the press, and partnerships and sponsorship of events in real life! Even if it’s more complicated at the moment. The key is to test, test and test again to refine your acquisition strategy.
9. As a plugin developer, what are the most common issues you face? (regarding support, technical problems, etc.)
The main difficulty is to be compatible with all plugins and themes available on the market (WordPress repository, Envato Marketplace etc.) and prevent any conflicts users can have to reduce frustration
10. What are your favorite plugins?
ACF (like most of us), Gravity Forms and Easy Digital Downloads are my top 3.
11. What advice do you have for someone who is starting the WordPress adventure, as an user?
Join related WordPress Facebook group, and, when it will be possible again, go to WordCamps and meetups. This is the best way to progress quickly, share your passion, your problems, do networking and more.