When it comes to search engine optimisation (Google or Bing, for example), the trend over the years has been towards more and better content, and following these 15 SEO tips is key to achieving good results.
When writing an article or creating a page on your website, a good strategy is to start by choosing a key phrase. The goal is to make the article relevant to that key phrase, so it appears at the top of search engine results.
These SEO tips are meant to optimise your web page for search engines and make the text easier to read. Overusing them can lead to penalties, meaning that forcing text just to follow the tips won’t work.
15 SEO Tips to Optimise Your Web Page
1. Key phrase in the title
The key phrase should appear in the title of your article or page, preferably at the very beginning, as it immediately signals the topic being covered. The title is the first thing people will read, and often the only thing they will read.
If you want your article to appear at the top of search engines, placing the key phrase at the start of the title is the most basic SEO tip you should follow.
2. Key phrase in subheadings
Your article or page should have at least one H2 and H3 heading that reflects the topic defined by your key phrase.
Including the key phrase in subheadings will help the reader better understand the text, and while it may not directly lead to a higher ranking, it is a good SEO writing practice.
Don’t use subheadings just for the sake of it… they should all make sense and help organise the text to make it easier to read.
3. Key phrase in the introduction
The key phrase should appear in the first paragraph of the text, preferably in the first line. The topic should be clear right from the start of the text.
The first paragraph is important because it’s where readers often decide whether or not this is the subject they want to read. Just as we tell readers what the text is about, we also tell search engines, such as Google.
4. Key phrase in the slug
The link to the article or page should be easy to remember, focused on the topic, and easy to read. The URL should be simple and as short as possible, without excessive numbers, and should look natural.
It’s important that the key phrase appears in the URL. A good link makes it easier for visitors and search engines to find out what the page is about.
5. Key phrase in the meta description
Another important SEO tip is to include the key phrase in the page’s meta description. The meta description is a short text that gives search engines and readers a kind of summary of the topic.
Articles with good meta descriptions receive more clicks, and this can signal to search engines like Google that the article should be a good result.
6. SEO title length
Although the SEO title is not visible on the site, it will be shown to people in search engine results, and it can be different from the title displayed on the site.
The SEO title will be the first thing visitors to your site see on search engine results pages. If the title is not good enough, it will also be the only thing they see.
The goal of the SEO title is to make people click, visit the site, and read the article or buy the product. To increase the chances, you need to make sure your title is appealing: not too short, nor too long.
7. Keyword density
Keyword density indicates how many times the keyword should appear on the page according to the amount of text present. The perfect density would be between 0.5% and 3% of the text.
If the keyword is repeated too many times, the text becomes unappealing to read. It is important that readers enjoy reading the content, which will signal to search engines that the page content is good and relevant.
8. Keyword distribution
It is advisable to stay on topic throughout the text, and for this, it is a good idea to have a good distribution of the keyword throughout the article or page.
Search engines, like Google, want to show the best results to people, and when it comes to informative content, the one that stays consistently on topic is what will stand out.
This is to say that search engines will detect how often the same keyword appears throughout the text, and this will indicate that the entire text is about the keyword topic.
9. Meta description length
The meta description is a small piece of text that you can add to your article or page. Sometimes, it is shown in Google and other search engine results.
A good meta description summarises what the page is about and makes people visit your page. I recommend keeping your meta description between 120 and 156 characters.
10. Previously used keyword
Obviously, if we are trying to optimise a given page for a keyword, it does not make sense to optimise another page or article for the same one.
The idea is to be clear to search engines which page or article is talking about a particular subject, and to avoid duplicate content.
11. Keyword length
For languages with support for function words, the ideal length for a keyword is up to 4 function words. If the language does not support function words, it is recommended to use up to six words for the keyword.
The longer the key phrase, the fewer competitors there will be, but the harder it will be to write and optimise content for it.
Using a single high-level keyword can make article optimisation easier, but it will be harder for that article to appear on the first page of search engines due to high competition.
12. Text length
All pages on the site must contain a certain number of words to appear in search engines. Pages with little content are usually considered low-value by readers, and therefore by search engines as well.
One of the most important SEO tips is to create the recommended minimum of 300 words, so that the content starts to appear in search engines. The bigger and more content the article or page has, the greater its chance of greater success.
13. Internal links
Search engines like Google use links to discover new content and understand how important that content is. When an article has many links, it suggests that it is important.
Using links to other articles, as well as from other articles to the new one, is important to guide visitors and search engines to the most important pages.
When creating a new article or page, it is good practice to always include some links to other pages on the site if they are relevant.
14. Outbound links
Of all the SEO tips here, this may be the least relevant, but it is still a good practice. It is important to give credit to those who create good content on the internet, so I recommend at least one link to another site with content relevant to the topic.
This point will not necessarily improve the page's position in search engines, but it will help all of us in the long term, as the most relevant sources will receive more links.
15. Image alt attributes
By adding alternative text to the image, we provide readers and search engines with a textual description of what is in that image. This improves accessibility and the chance of ranking the image in image search.
It is good practice to add the key phrase in the link and image description in the same way we place it in the article. This will help the image appear in image searches for the same key phrase.
SEO Tips: Conclusion and final comments
Following all these SEO tips is no guarantee that the web page will appear at the top of search engine results for the chosen key phrase.
The content itself has to be good and make sense, because ultimately readers will decide with their time and click on the page whether the content is worth reading or not.
The strategy I recommend is to write about the chosen subject naturally, divide the text into several segments with subtitles, and at the end, optimise a bit more, but without forcing anything.
Of course, with experience this process becomes simpler and easier, and that is where a Marketing Agency like Be-Wide Online Solutions is an excellent candidate to manage and create the content for your website and social media!