Optimization is good, but proper optimization is better – especially for anyone with a blog design to draw traffic from search engines. Great content pushes the blog in the proper direction, but without a checklist to follow, some items get left in the dust.
International IT consultants rely on checklists to ensure proper optimization, and they should be followed each time a new blog is written. Here is a part of the list:
Target Keyword
Use the target keyword in the post title. One of the more critical SEO items, the keyword should be used in the title tag – particularly for a more extended title. Make the title attractive to the end-user and tie in the keyword.
SEO-Friendly URLs
Content management systems will assign a URL to each post which looks like your URL following an identification number. Avoid the default settings and alter the URL and keywords in the permalink settings.
Related Keywords
It’s vital to use related keywords to help define the post. A website lacking content will be surpassed by a site with larger content that uses keywords which are threaded organically. Consider the topic and take the edge over competitors who don’t understand the need for keywords to fit into the prose.
Keywords and Header Tags
H1 is the headline tag. Use the keyword in the H1 tag and remember, the keyword doesn’t need to be included more than once in the headline. One quality headline which incorporates the keyword is enough. Overdoing it, just like using weird ‘anchor texts’ is unnatural.
Canonical URLs
There is a difference between ‘www’ and ‘non-www’ URLs. The search engines see these as two unique pages instead of the same one, which leads the search engines to believe there is duplicated content.
Link to Related Sites
Adding related keywords to the content, and linking to related outside sites, helps the search engines understand what your page is about. Just a link or two is good enough, and you want to link internally to related pages on your site. Passing the link to other pages helps the search spider find other pages on the site as well.
Optimize Images
One of the first tips ever given out by international IT consultants is the idea to optimize images. Despite expert advice, many site owners still don’t optimize images. It’s easy — rename the image file with the keyword and put an ‘alt’ and ‘title tag’ to work for your images. The title tag should provide an appropriate name for the image, and the alt tag needs to describe the image.
Social Buttons
Social buttons and signals affect rankings. Make sure there are social buttons in your post to encourage site visitors to share.
Optimize
Mobile-friendly sites are being pushed by Google. A site may be penalized if it isn’t found to be mobile-friendly. It’s simple to use the design’s response format. Themes and templates for all platforms can be found online.
The Takeaway
Even international IT consultants Avascent, a boutique consulting firm serving the defense, aerospace and homeland security industries, points out that without good, readable content, SEO is wasted.