On Page SEO Checklist - Part Three

In this article, we will discuss the steps to optimize your website's content for search engines. The steps include using keyword variations, numbered lists, and bullet points, keeping your copy fresh, incorporating unique and high-quality images, optimizing image size and format, using descriptive file names, and adding descriptive and accurate ALT tag descriptions. The blog also highlights the importance of investing in video content for increased user engagement and longer website visit duration.

Step 31: Have You Used Keyword Variations, LSI Keywords, Or Synonyms In Your Headings??

When it comes to optimizing your website's content for search engines, it's important to keep in mind that your H1 tag can match your title tag. However, for your other headings, it's best to include variations of your primary keyword, as well as relevant LSI terms and synonyms. To identify these keyword variations, Answer the Public is a great resource to leverage.?

Step 32: Is Your Copy Using Bullet Points And Numbered Lists?

Frequently using bullet points and numbered lists is recommended to break up your content and facilitate readers' comprehension. These formatting tools make it easier for readers to commit to digesting your content.

Step 33:?Is Your Copy “Fresh”?

To ensure that your content remains up-to-date and accurate, it's recommended that you review your copy biannually or annually. This is especially important for pleasing Google, as search engine evaluator guidelines emphasize the importance of accurate and current content.

In fact, optimizing existing assets can yield a better return on investment than creating new ones, a point that is reiterated throughout these guidelines. With that in mind, let's move on to the next phase of our optimization process: image optimization.

Step 34: Does Your Page Have As Many Or More Images As Your Competitors?

Incorporating distinctive visuals into your web page can enhance its appeal and boost user engagement. It is recommended that you strive to include an equal or greater number of exclusive images compared to your competitors.

Step 35: Are Your Images Unique To Your Website?

Creating images is similar to writing because not all are made equal. It's crucial to aim for distinctive images and graphics on your website. This may necessitate engaging a professional graphic designer or photographer, but the cost is worthwhile because it will enhance the quality and attractiveness of your page. Additionally, it will bolster your brand's image and reputation by demonstrating that you're willing to go the extra mile.

Step 36: Are Your Images High-Quality?

The initial step is acquiring distinct images, followed by ensuring their quality. It is recommended to enlist a professional photographer or graphic designer for this task. While it may be tempting to reduce costs, businesses must not compromise on the quality of their visuals as it can negatively impact their brand's reputation and perception, leading to additional expenses in the future.

Step 37: Are You Using The Right Image Format?

Choosing between PNG, JPEG, or GIF formats for your images may not have a significant impact on your website's SEO performance. However, it can influence your page loading speed, which is an important factor for user experience and can indirectly impact your SEO rankings.

Among the three formats, PNG typically offers the highest quality, but this comes at the cost of longer loading times. If loading speed is a concern, you may want to consider using JPEG or GIF instead, as they tend to load faster.

That being said, if you're not sure which format to use, defaulting to PNG and JPEG is a safe bet, as they are the most widely used and supported image formats on the web. Ultimately, the most important thing is to optimize your images for web use by compressing their file sizes and ensuring they are properly formatted for your website's design and layout.

Step 38: Are Your Image Sized Appropriately?

For optimal page loading speed, it's important to size your images appropriately and upload them in their final size as they will appear on the page. By doing this, you can prevent the need for image downsizing, which can slow down the loading time of your page.

Step 39: Are Your Images Compressed?

It's crucial to use high-quality images in your content, but it's equally important to ensure that they load quickly. Images can significantly slow down your website, and the best way to tackle this issue is by compressing your images. Optimize Zillow is a fantastic tool that allows you to compress your images while retaining their quality. With this tool, you can easily compare the original and compressed images side by side, ensuring that your content's image quality remains uncompromised while also optimizing its loading speed.

Step 40: Do Your Images Have Descriptive File Names?

According to Google's guidelines, it's recommended to use descriptive file names for your images to improve your image search performance. Essentially, this means that you should save your images with a file name that accurately reflects the contents of the image. For instance, if you're uploading a photo of a male Great Pyrenees that is 12 weeks old, then your file name should be something like "12-week-male-Great-Pyrenees."

It's important to note, however, that you should avoid keyword-stuffing your file names. While using relevant keywords can certainly improve your search rankings, overusing them can be seen as spammy and may ultimately harm your website's reputation. So, be sure to keep your file names descriptive but also natural and not overly stuffed with keywords.

Step 41: Do All Of Your Images Have Descriptive And Accurate ALT Tag Descriptions?

Alt tags are utilized by Google spiders to comprehend the context of an image. It's crucial to use descriptive alt tags for all images on your webpage. Moving forward, the next step is phase six - video optimization.

Step 42: Is Does Your Page Have Video Content?

Video has emerged as a top choice for consuming online content and is a powerful tool for engaging with your audience, resulting in increased user engagement and longer website visit duration, which sends a positive signal to search engines. Therefore, I strongly encourage investing in video content to maximize your online presence.

Step 43: Are The Videos Relevant To The Page/Primary Keyword?

Just as with your images and written copy, your video content must also be highly relevant to the content on the page.

Step 44: Are The Videos Unique To Your Brand?

While it's possible to embed any video from YouTube onto your website, relying on this method for the long term may not be the most effective strategy.

To establish a strong brand image and expand your online presence, it's highly recommended that you create your own unique videos. By doing so, you can improve the perception of your brand while simultaneously enhancing your visibility. Additionally, it's important to note that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, making it an ideal platform to grow your brand's online presence.

Step 45: Are The Videos High Quality And Valuable?

Creating high-quality and valuable video content is highly effective for various purposes. Your primary objective should be to produce the best video content possible. However, there is a hurdle you must overcome. You need to be engaging and articulate when facing the camera, which requires significant effort and patience. You can either dedicate time to improve your camera presence or enlist a team member to represent your brand in the video. Although creating videos is beyond the scope of this article, I strongly suggest scripting your content as a crucial step.

Step 46: Is The Video Content Responsive?

To ensure an optimal viewing experience, it is crucial that your video can be easily accessed on all devices, including YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms. While these platforms are designed to be responsive, custom-built websites may encounter issues in displaying videos. It is recommended to test your video's responsiveness using a dedicated tool. If your video does not meet the responsiveness standards, it is essential to optimize your design.

To facilitate this process, you can use the same tool to make the necessary adjustments and ensure that your videos are responsive across all devices.

Step 47: Are The Videos Hosted On The Right Platform?

The choice of where to host your videos is a crucial consideration, with implications for both your SEO and business goals. When it comes to SEO, YouTube reigns supreme as the largest video search engine.

By hosting your videos on YouTube and embedding them on pages that target specific keywords, you can achieve a dual effect. This means that your videos have the potential to rank both on Google and YouTube, resulting in maximum visibility. However, if building a YouTube channel is not part of your business strategy, then you can host your videos on any platform and still reap the benefits.

Step 48: Are The Videos Optimized??

To optimize your video for SEO, it's important that its title is aligned with the target keyword of your webpage. For instance, if your page is about anchor text, your video should also have a title that includes that keyword. With that in mind, let's now proceed to the seventh phase, which focuses on links.

Step 49: Does Your Page Have Internal Links?

Incorporating internal links into your website can prove to be an effective strategy in establishing your website's credibility, enhancing its accessibility to search engine crawlers, and increasing the chances of your website's vital pages ranking higher.

Step 50: Are Your Internal Links Using Descriptive Anchor Texts?

When it comes to internal links, it's important to use anchor text that includes relevant keywords. Personally, I like to analyze my competitors' internal link anchor profiles using Screaming Frog SEO Spider.

Step 51: Are Your Internal Links Optimized Based On The First Link Priority?

One key factor to consider is the priority of the first link on a page, as Google's algorithm may only take into account the initial link and associated anchor text. This is why I generally avoid placing pages that I want to rank in the navigation, as it may not provide the desired impact on search rankings.

Step 52: Does The Page Have Breadcrumbs?

If you own a large e-commerce website, utilizing breadcrumbs can prove to be extremely beneficial. However, it is important to remember that the first link in your breadcrumb trail should be given the highest priority. This is especially important if you're aiming to improve the search engine rankings of your category pages.

Step 53: Are Your Internal Links Useful?

Including internal links with the sole intention of improving your website's ranking may not be the best strategy.

It's important to keep in mind that the main objective of your webpage should be to satisfy the user's needs. Therefore, every internal link should have a clear purpose and add value to the user's browsing experience. As long as the linked pages are pertinent and beneficial to the reader, your internal linking approach should prove to be effective.

Step 54: Are All Of Your Internal Links Using Preferred URLs??

When you move to a new domain, modify URLs, or add SSL certificates, the URLs can be altered, resulting in a redirect chain. These chains create a buffer that link equity must pass?

through, potentially slowing down your page's speed. If there are too many redirects, it is recommended that you examine your internal links to ensure that they utilize your preferred URLs.

Step 55: Does Your Page Have External Links?

By linking to credible and relevant resources, you can establish trust in your page.

Step 56: Are All Affiliate, Sponsored, Or Paid Links Using A “NoFollow” Tag?

According to Google's webmaster guidelines, the use of the no follow tag is required for all paid links. This tag serves the purpose of blocking the flow of page rank through the link.

Step 57: Are All Of Your External Links Set To Open In A New Window?

The objective is to retain users on your website for an extended period of time, which is why it's recommended that all external links are set to open in a new window. Although seemingly insignificant, this is a prevalent issue that I frequently come across during audits.