Where SEO Settings Live in the Block Editor

The Gutenberg block editor reorganised the WordPress writing experience, and SEO controls moved with it. Instead of a single metabox below the content area, settings are now spread across the document sidebar, the settings panel of individual blocks, and the panel or sidebar added by your SEO plugin. That distribution confuses publishers who learned the classic editor, and the practical consequence is that important fields — canonical URLs, social previews, indexing directives — never get filled in. Knowing exactly where each control sits turns SEO editing from a hunt into a two-minute routine you can complete before every publish.

How We at AAMAX.CO Optimise WordPress Sites

AAMAX.CO is a full-service digital marketing company providing web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization to clients worldwide, and WordPress is one of the platforms we work with most. We configure SEO plugins properly at the site level so editors are not fighting bad defaults, build block patterns and templates that produce clean semantic markup, set up correct schema and Open Graph output, and train content teams on a simple pre-publish checklist. We also tackle the performance issues that plague plugin-heavy WordPress installs, because speed affects both rankings and conversions. If your WordPress site is technically messy or your editors are unsure what to fill in, hire AAMAX.CO and we will make the platform work for your SEO rather than against it.

Editing the SEO Title and Meta Description

Your SEO plugin adds an interface accessible from the block editor — usually a panel in the document sidebar or an icon in the top toolbar that opens a dedicated sidebar. Inside it you will find the SEO title and meta description fields with a search result preview. Edit the SEO title rather than relying on the post title, because the two serve different purposes: the post title is for readers on your site, the SEO title is for searchers scanning results. Front-load the primary keyword, keep it within the display limit so it is not truncated, and make it genuinely clickable. Write a unique description that states the benefit of clicking; leaving it blank lets search engines generate one, which is often less compelling than what you would write.

Setting the URL Slug Correctly

The slug is edited in the document sidebar under the summary or permalink section, and it is also reachable by clicking the post title area in some versions. Keep slugs short, lowercase, hyphenated, and descriptive, containing the primary keyword without stop words or dates. Set the slug before publishing, because changing it after a post has been indexed and linked breaks URLs and requires a redirect. If you must change a published slug, create a redirect from the old URL immediately using your SEO plugin's redirect manager or a dedicated plugin. Consistent, clean URL patterns also make your site easier to audit and easier for readers to trust in search results.

Featured Images, Alt Text, and Media Optimisation

Set the featured image in the document sidebar; it is used by your theme and typically by social sharing. Alt text is edited per image in the block settings panel when an image block is selected — describe what the image shows for accessibility rather than stuffing keywords. Compress images before upload, choose modern formats where supported, and let WordPress serve responsive sizes. Avoid uploading enormous files and relying on CSS to scale them, since that harms largest contentful paint. Add captions when they aid comprehension, and use descriptive filenames before uploading, because the filename becomes part of the media URL and cannot be changed easily afterwards.

Structuring Content With Heading Blocks

Heading structure is an SEO fundamental controlled entirely by blocks. Reserve the top-level heading for the page title, which most themes output automatically, and use second-level headings for main sections with third-level headings nested beneath them. Change a heading's level in the block toolbar or block settings. Never choose a heading level for visual size alone — style it with typography controls instead — because a broken hierarchy confuses assistive technology and weakens the semantic map search engines build of your page. Use the document outline view in the editor to review the structure at a glance and confirm your headings read as a coherent summary of the article.

Advanced Settings: Canonicals, Indexing, and Schema

Open the advanced section of your SEO plugin's sidebar to reach the settings that matter for technical hygiene. Here you can set a canonical URL when content intentionally duplicates another page, control whether the post is indexed and whether links are followed, and adjust breadcrumb titles. Many plugins also expose a schema section where you set the page type — article, FAQ, how-to, product — which influences eligibility for enhanced results. Additionally, review the social sharing tab to set custom titles, descriptions, and images for Open Graph and card previews, because default extraction often picks the wrong image or truncates awkwardly. These fields take seconds and are frequently the difference between a shared link that performs and one that does not.

Internal Links, Reusable Patterns, and a Publishing Checklist

Add internal links directly in paragraph blocks using the link tool, choosing descriptive anchor text and searching existing posts from the link popover. Aim for several contextual internal links per article, pointing both to your pillar pages and to related supporting posts. To keep quality consistent, build reusable blocks or patterns for recurring elements such as author bios, FAQ sections, and calls to action so structure and markup stay uniform across the team. Finally, adopt a pre-publish checklist: SEO title, meta description, slug, featured image with alt text, correct heading hierarchy, internal links, schema type, social preview, and index settings. Consistency here compounds, and it pairs naturally with a wider digital marketing workflow so every post is promoted as well as optimised.

Conclusion

Editing SEO information in Gutenberg is straightforward once you know that controls are split between the document sidebar, individual block settings, and your SEO plugin's panel. Set the SEO title, description, and slug deliberately, optimise media and heading structure through blocks, and use the advanced settings for canonicals, indexing, and schema. Turn it into a repeatable checklist and every post you publish will leave the editor properly optimised — and reach out to our team when you want the whole WordPress setup handled professionally.