e-Marketing and Internet Marketing Services

How can I optimize my on-page content?

What parts of my webpage should I optimize for search engines?

Here are some of the most fundamental elements of on-page content, and different ways you can optimize them for the search engines as a part of your SEO campaign.

1) Page Titles

Known as the H1 (Heading 1) of your page, this text carries tremendous emphasis, both aesthetically (H1s are often the largest, boldest text on the page) and informatively (the keywords in H1s are what help tell the search engine what that page is all about). Be sure to incorporate topical keywords and key phrases in these headings for every page of your website; if possible, craft the H1 tags so that they reflect a search query browsers might enter to find your page. Keep things simple, and relevant.

Bad H1: Improve your site!

Good H1: Improve your site rank in search engines with organic SEO!

Remember: once a browser finds this SEO page, it will be easy for them to use context clues to deduce the meaning of the page. But they'll have a hard time finding this page if it's not properly indexed by search engines-and search engines won't understand the underlying relevance of simply: "Improve your site!"

2) Body Content

A great place to explain the significance of a particular webpage is in the body content. One of the most obvious ways you can optimize your body content is by integrating relevant keywords and keyphrases without keyword stuffing (a big no-no!). Keywords thread in a meaningful way throughout the main content on your page hammer home the objective of that page, helping the search engines recognize its category and relevance.

3) Anchor Text

The anchor text is the actual text you choose to make the clickable link on your webpage. Search engines give anchor text significant weight in their algorithms and page rankings. Choose your text wisely, as it helps search engines and browsers alike get a better understanding of where the link leads to.

Bad anchor text: We offer search engine optimization services. To learn more, click here.

Good anchor text: Learn more about our search engine optimization services.

4) Title Attributes

Add a relevant title attribute to every piece of anchor text on your page. A title attribute is the brief description that appears when you hover over a hyperlink - as with anchor text, title attributes give the browser a better understanding of where they're headed when they click on that link.

Remember: Title attributes are NOT title tags! Title tags are Meta data - they're the text that's displayed at the top of a browser window and explains what page you are on.

5) Alt Attributes

Essentially, title attributes for all non-text elements, including images, Flash, videos and audio files. In addition to boosting organic SEO, implementing alt attributes compliments the handicap regulations encouraged by Section 508.

Section 508 complaint websites facilitate people with physical impairments; for example, someone who can't hear the sound on a video on your website can still understand its relevance when they read the accompanying alt attribute description. Someone operating on a web browser that prohibits images can still get the gist of what an image on your site conveys by reading the corresponding alt attribute.

These tags don't directly contribute to organic SEO or page rank, but why miss an easy opportunity to clarify your content and enlighten your site visitor?

6) Meta Tags

Meta Tags are an element of HTML coding on a website that are used by search engines to index a website. Most Meta tags are included within the 'header' code of a website; the most important tags are the title, description and keyword tags.

Rules used by different search engines govern how these tags are used, how many characters they should contain, and how they should be formatted. Here's some general ideas on how to setup the Meta tags of your website.

Meta tag titles are the headings of each page; they're displayed on the top left portion of the browser window. This caption will be used by the search engines and displayed for viewers of your website. The title should be relevant to your business and should include some main keywords relating to your industry. Remember! Keep the title under 80 characters in length, or it will get snipped off in the SERPs.

Meta tag keywords should feature words similar to the search terms you think your target audience uses to find a site like yours. The keywords are used by search engine crawlers to index your pages in the SERPs. Remember! Don't list too many keywords, and don't repeat keywords-- many search engine crawlers consider this spam, and will decrease your page ranking. Be sure to keep the number of words to 20 or under, and make sure you only list each keyword once.

Meta tag description is a short explanation of that page. Search engine crawlers will take the description and will attach it to your listing in the search engines. It is important to carefully write 200 character max sentences and phrases, targeting the most important words contained on the web page. When you are writing the Meta tag descriptions, try to eliminate as many filler words as you can to make room for your keywords.