Successful search engine optimisation is dependent upon several factors.
First and foremost, keyword research should be carried out.
Being aware of the next factors to consider and ensuring each of them is met will result in what every SEO specialist wants – High rankings in search engines.
Each factor carries its own individual weighting i.e. level of importance. The factors can be split into twocategories:
The categories can be tackled separately; thus on-page factors will be focussed on first.
On-page factors influence your search engine rankings through your actual website content. Examples include the title tag, headings, internal link structure and the content itself.
There’s a lot to talk about so it’ll be a double dose (Lucky you!). Here’s your Part 1…
Factors affecting search rankings
1. Title Tag
Appears in the top of the browser bar and often appears as main title in search results.
Remember: It plays key role in ranking algorithms used in search engines.
Tip: The tag can be 70 characters long before the search engine stops reading it, so try and keep it under this figure where possible.
2. Meta description
Is not a ranking algorithm in search engines. Including this on your pages will not help you achieve high rankings in search engines.
However – if the search engine cannot find any content it thinks is relevant in your site, it will use this as its key text under the title in search results. This could be the difference between someone clicking on your site and not.
So, do not strike this out as an important factor.
3. Headings 1/2/3
These are ranking algorithms for search engines so their content and structure should be heavily considered.
Header 1 should only be used once. It should include all keywords relevant to the page as naturally – it’s rated the highest out of all the headers.
Header 2/3 can be used several times but should highlight key concepts of the page. Remember that the page must also make sense – not just be optimised for search engines.
4. Content
Content is key. You may have heard this before – and that’s because it’s true!
Don’t underestimate the value of the content you actually write to a search engine.
Keywords must be included in your content in order to rank well for them.
The challenge, however, is to get the weighting between keywords and readability. You need enough keywords to rank well in search engines whilst still appealing to the reader and most of all, the page making sense!
Next time…
We will look at the relevance of:
- Site maps
- Keyword density