Headings

 

Headings are signposts that help readers get an idea of what information they can expect to read about in the text that follows. Appropriately tagging your headings helps create a logical structure and hierarchy to your content that is important for accessibility.

 

While there’s a bit of debate around the role heading tags play in ranking, the clearer the content is on your page, the easier it is for Google – and users – to understand your content.

 

• There are six HTML heading tags you can use: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6.
   

• It’s better to use heading tags in sequential, hierarchical order to break down information from most to least important. H1 being the most important, to H6 being the least.
   

• Only use one H1 tag per webpage. This should be consistent with your title tag.
   

• Use keywords or common search phrases to help capture a reader’s interest.

 

Body text

 

Incorporating keywords into your content is important, because Google will use that information to determine whether or not the information you have on your page is relevant to a particular search query or phrase. If your page is crawled and identified as showing the best results for a search query or phrase, it will be surfaced on SERP.

 

Here’s a few ways you can research keywords to include:

 

Keyword Planner: provides keyword ideas, approximate search volumes and create campaign plans.

 

Answer The Public: is a web tool that visualises search queries and suggested autocomplete searches from a seed word.

 

Keyword Surfer: is a Chrome extension that shows you the monthly search volume for any query or phrase you type into Google.

 

Once you’ve found relevant keywords and phrases that support your website content, you need to incorporate them organically and meaningfully within your text.

 

• Avoid keyword stuffing. Repeating the same word over and over again to try and manipulate your site’s ranking ability is a big no-no. Of course, you want to mention the relevant thing people came to your website for at least four or five times, but you have to do it with integrity in a way that’s interesting and natural to read.

 

• Focus on expression, grammar and simplicity. Readers appreciate well-written content that is easy to follow, free of spelling and grammar issues and clear of any jargon. Plus, with more and more people using voice-activated searches, you want to write like a human speaks; conversational but to the point.
   

• Keep content timely and relevant. Seasons change, trends come and go and new websites and media are being created every day. Keep your finger on the pulse of changes relevant to your industry and refresh your content accordingly.

 

 

Links

 

Adding links provides value to readers by directing them to where they can find other supporting information that’s topically relevant. There are generally two types, external (or outbound) and internal.
 

External links: are links that direct users to other reputable websites. They help strengthen the credibility and authority of your website.
 

• SEO experts believe that external links are an important source of ranking power because the search engines consider them to be third-party endorsements.
   

• Trustworthy sites link to other trustworthy sites – which helps increase traffic in both directions.
   

Internal links: are links that direct users to other pages within your own website. They effectively encourage visitors to go deeper into your website and hang around longer.
 

• A high volume of internal links directing users to a particular page on your site can send a signal to Google that lets them know that page is important.
   

• Creating a strong internal link structure also helps users navigate through your website easily and helps Google crawl your content faster.

 

Here’s how to write good link text:
 

• be descriptive and meaningful – avoid things like “click here” or “read article” and make it more specific, like “visit SEOnerds.com” or “read about SEO optimisation”
   

• format your links so they’re easy to see and it’s obvious that they can be clicked (e.g. bold and underlined)
   

• keep text unique – don’t use the same link text to link to two different webpages.