Writing SEO-friendly content is essential to rank well on search engines. In this article, I’ll share nine tips to help you create SEO-friendly content that outranks your competition.
The first step is keyword research. You can do this by creating keywords or using keyword planning tools.
Use Keywords in Your Image Tags
Include relevant keywords in your image tags. These can help search engines understand your content and improve the user experience for visitors with vision impairments.
The image tag is a tiny element that can be added to any HTML document. It translates to all current browsers and allows you to configure how an image appears on your website.
You can use a keyword to describe the image or what it depicts, and you can also use a variation of the primary keyword if your target keyword is not a word that would be appropriate for the image itself.
As with the other SEO friendly content writing tips, you should use keywords in your image tags only when they add value to the page and help users. Avoid filling your alt text with keywords, as this will result in a negative user experience and may be seen as keyword stuffing by Google.
Use Keywords in Your Meta Descriptions
The meta description tag is an advertising copy, drawing readers to your website from the search engine result pages (SERPs). It is essential to SEO because it can affect your site’s click-through rate.
It also lets you include your target keywords intelligently and in a way that will seem normal to users. The more relevant, attractive and exciting your meta description is, the better your chance of getting click-throughs to your site.
You can use various tools to find relevant keywords for your page. These can include keyword research tools.
One thing to remember is that Google will only sometimes show the description you’ve written. Sometimes they will truncate it and grab a few sentences of your copy.
Use Keywords in Your Headings
Using keywords in your headings helps search engines identify the content. They can also help searchers understand the topic and direct them to your website.
Taking the time to research your competition can help you find keywords that they are using and can boost your organic search engine rankings.
When choosing your keywords, you want to ensure they are relevant to the topic. You also want to make sure that they are used sparingly.
If you’re writing long-form content, use a different h1 tag for each article section. It will help search engines understand the piece’s structure and make it easier to read.
Lastly, use your target keyword in the URL of your page. It will help search engines better understand the content and help your website rank higher in the SERPs.
Use Keywords in Your Body Text
When creating content, it’s important to remember that search engines look for keywords throughout the text to determine what the page is about. When appropriately used, keywords help Google identify the content’s content topic and can lead to increased organic search traffic.
When writing your body copy, include your primary keyword and variations of it about once every 100-150 words. Then, evenly distribute the other keywords you’re targeting in the text.
Using your main keyword in the first 200 words of your content is also a good idea, as this is where Google usually gives the most weight to content. Using your primary keyword again near the end of your content can also be beneficial, although it’s less important in a place than in the introduction.
Use Keywords in Your Alt Text
Using keywords in your alt text is one of the most effective ways to outrank your competition. But it’s essential to use them wisely and sparingly.
The key is to describe an image accurately, not just include a keyword that might have some SEO value to your page. Your primary focus should be to write accurate, descriptive alt text that doesn’t stray too far from its original purpose: helping people with disabilities and screen, readers understand what your images show.
Creating original, complete alt text might be complex. It takes practice and the ability to understand the context. But it’s a valuable skill to have when describing an image accurately.
Use Keywords in Your Title Tags
Title tags are a crucial part of your SEO-friendly content strategy. Not only do they appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs), but they also significantly impact your web page’s click-through rate (CTR).
It’s crucial to write your titles to optimize for the keywords you want to target if you want to get top positions. Using your target keyword in the first few characters of your title tag is best to ensure that search engines and people will notice it.
Avoid repeating the same keyword in your title tags, as Google can perceive this as spam. Instead, it would be best to focus on using keywords relevant to your topic with a high search volume.
In addition, you should separate your first and second keywords with a dash (-), a pipe (|), or a colon. It is because a dash or colon tells the reader and search engine that there’s a separation between the words.
