Content Optimization Checklist

Content Optimization Checklist

They key word to remember from this blog post is probably keyword. By now you probably know that keywords and optimization are important to your website or to your blog. But it’s always worth having a refresher on best practices, especially when search engines are continually moving the goalposts.

Keywords, Meta Descriptions and URLs

So here’s our content optimization checklist on what to remember to get the best out of your content:

Keywords:

• Put the same keyword in your meta tags, URL and body content. Aim to keep this below 3%. Much more and it may look like your keyword stuffing, which is penalized by most search engines.
• Aim to put the keyword at least once near the top of the page. The nearer the top the quicker it can be read by the search engine.
• Put it once in the alt description of an image. As an aside always try to always have at least 1 image per page, and make the image related to the content and the keyword.
• Place your keyword properly in the content. I.e. in a context where the word makes sense. If your keyword isn’t surrounded by words that the crawler thinks is natural it may penalize you.
• Don’t reuse a keyword. If you’ve used the word before try to think of a longer tail alternative that generates searches.
• Remember at the end to check again if your keyword is relevant, and also that it is popular enough to be searched for.

Meta Description and Tags:

• It should be between 65 and 70 characters, with the keyword near the front. Note that google is currently testing longer meta descriptions so this may change.
• It needs to summarize the post, but also be engaging and make someone want to click on it.
  Your meta description should contain your keyword. Again, in context. Don’t use the meta description to pack in keywords. Max is around 2 or 3.

URL Design:

• Again, the keyword should be included in the URL. But only use it once.
• Shorter and simpler the better. While people may not always read the URL, they do glance at it. If it looks strange, or very long, it is also less shareable.
• Use static URLs so they are easier to refer to, and link to from elsewhere.
• Use hyphens to separate the words. This is good for SEO and also makes it easier to read, which again is useful for sharing.

So, there’s our whistle-stop tour of page and post optimization. Do you think we missed anything obvious? What do you do to help your content rank better?

Photo credit – Joe The Goat Farmer