Best practice for SEO
Search engine optimisation (SEO) focuses on getting traffic from free, organic search results in search engines.
When a user searches on the web with a search phrase or keyword, the search engine brings up search engine results pages (SERPs) with websites and pages that align best to users’ key phrases or words. On-page optimisation enables us to improve our SERP rankings by ensuring the content on our site is relevant to audience search queries.
Identifying target keywords
Ideally, keywords should be identified for each digital content piece as part of the content creation planning process. Keyword research has many benefits for SEO, like getting relevant visitors to our website and identifying content gaps online.
When selecting keywords, it is important to consider the keyword difficulty (how competitive it is) as well as search volume. The key is to balance the size of search volume with ease of difficultly so it will still be possible to rank on search pages. Another thing to consider is the intent of the keyword that is being searched – are people looking for information about a query or are they shopping?
Keyword research resources
If you would like to find out more about SEO keyword resarch, take a look at some of the resources listed below:
- Moz’s master keyword research guide
- Moz’s beginners guide
- Moz Keyword explorer
- Google trends
- SEMRush
Another resource freely available is google search – type in your keyword and see what google autofill recommends. The ‘people also ask’ feature on the results page is another good resource for understanding terms often associated with your keyword.
Please note that best practice for using the above tools and resources is to pick one tool to use alongside google. Using too many tools at once can cause confusion.
Overview of main on-page optimisation elements
An HTML element that identifies what the page is about. Also known as page title or tag.
Why it's important
Seen first above URL. Essential for page ranking and is displayed as a blue clickable link in the search results. Often the first thing a user sees before clicking to a website. Search engines pay a lot of attention to page titles, and they’re visible in 3 places: 1) SERPs, 2) web browsers, 3) Social networks.
If the length of the title tag is exceeded, it will be shortened (referred to as ‘truncated’), and if exceeded by a large amount it will start to be ignored by search engines.
What you should do
- Include target primary keyword, positioning primary keyword near the beginning.
- Include secondary and brand keywords if space (must be unique per page).
- Use pipes or sentence separators (dashes).
- Character length: max 60 (Google typically displays the first 50 - 60 characters)
A one to two sentence (max) description of a web page that includes important keywords.
Why it's important
Seen in SERPs underneath URL. Helps users to understand what to expect on pages from search results and acts as a selling point to encourage a user to engage with our site. Including keywords will influence whether someone is going to click on the listing, as search terms are bolded, encouraging the searcher to click through.
What you should do
- Briefly describe web page in natural language.
- Include page’s value proposition, specify who the content is targeting (if targeting specific audience) and concise call to action.
- Include primary keyword and tertiary keywords not included in meta title.
- Character length for desktop: max 156, character length for mobiles: max 115
The first heading used to classify page content.
Why it's important
H1 heading tags are important as they tell both search engines and website visitors what the content of pages will be about. Screen readers can use H1s to help users navigate your content.
What you should do
- Include primary keyword.
- Only one H1 per page.
- Sub-headings should use H2 tag first, then H3 tag and so on, to H6. Google does not recognise bolded text as titles, so using H2 and so on is important.
Why it's important
Helps search engines understand what each page is about. It’s important for SEO because on-page content is what users engage most with.
When writing body copy for the page, write in a way that would make sense when used as a featured snippet on google (while still making sure it makes sense on the web page).
What you should do
- Write for the user first and foremost while keeping in mind keywords.
- Use keywords naturally within a page’s body content without keyword stuffing. This means that content reads well and satisfies what users are looking for.
- Add most important keywords early on in page copy.
Use synonyms or close variations of keywords while keeping the language natural. - Page content should be unique i.e. not duplicated or copied from another page.
Why it's important
Hyperlinks help the page you are linking to. Internal hyperlinks allow search engines to see how content is related and to determine the value of that content
What you should do
- Include embedded hyperlinks within a page where relevant.
- Link to important pages regularly.
- Link to pages using descriptive, easy to understand anchor text.
- When maintaining pages, make sure links aren’t broken.
- When writing link copy, a good tactic is to remove everything else on the page and ensure it still makes sense without the context that the rest of the page provides.
Why it's important
Alt (alternative) text, also known as an alt tag, is the way search engines read and index images. It helps screen reader users understand visual content.
What you should do
- Use alternative text (alt text) for user accessibility and SEO.
- Describe exactly what an image shows, with no need to include 'image of...' within description.
- Unique per image.
For more information please see the Accessibility homepage.
Metadata
Each web page should include unique metadata to help define it, like a fingerprint. Metadata is a collection of information that search engines can use to decide what a page is about. It includes elements like meta titles and meta descriptions.
Clearly defined, unique metadata allows search engines to display pages that are relevant to user queries. It provides contextual information about a web page that reassures users that the page meets their requirements before they click through.
When creating PDFs, APS include metadata, which must be ported over to the PDF properties information on AEM when uploading documents. For more information, see the accessibility on MOS process.