A Starter’s Guide to Optimize Web Content for Search Engines and Users

Content optimization is a critical process; producing more content is not only enough but making it visible to your targeted audience should be the goal of  a every content marketer.  If your targeted audience won’t be able to find it then what is the point of producing compelling content?  In order to get found on the search engines & to achieve optimum outcome there are certain content optimization practices that needed to be take care of when publishing your content online.

It is equally important for search engines and users to understand your content and business which can be done through content optimization process. It increases the chances of your content to become more visible in the eyes of the search engines than ever before as through content optimization you are passing on essential information to search engines about your content & what is your business is all about. Search engines use this information in search results to display content for relevant search queries which certainly makes content optimization a crucial part of your content marketing process.

Optimizing Website Content for Search Engines & Users:

Website content should not sound specifically optimized for search engines but it’s also must be written for the readers to easily understand and consume information.

Example of “Perfectly” Optimized page:

Source: www.moz.com

In the image above, it’s clearly seen that the page is optimized for the keyword ‘Chocolate Donuts” and the keyword has been placed accordingly to cover all the important On-Page factors.

• Title of the page.
• Meta Description.
• Keyword usage in the body text.
• Keyword placement in the URL.

Optimizing Title & Meta Descriptors:

Meta Titles:

• Always write engaging Titles & try to keep it short. [Max 70 characters]
• Use main keyword in the title of the page that has business relevance & describes your page best.

Meta Descriptions:

• Write a short description with 150-160 characters that describes your topic best keeping your reader as well as search engines in mind.

Important things to consider:

• Include relevant keyword in URL structure, Title, Body & Meta descriptions.
• Using eye-catching headings with a primary keyword placement if suitable.
• Minimum 300 words content at 2% keyword density.
• Key values should be highlighted in the bullet form.
• Maintain a balance of keywords usage with rest of the content.
• Keywords must be used in a most natural way.
• Avoid using long URLs.
• Avoid over stuffing of keywords (Google treats overly optimized content as spam.)
• Adding Alt image text & file name to optimize images.

Conclusion:

Quality content is all what we need online. If you get successful in providing unique value than there are more chances of doing well in the search results. There is a saying that the users always comes first than the search engines. However, there are content optimization techniques and practices that helps to improve visibility of your content. Keyword placement in strategic places assists search engines to get the better idea about the topic of your page. There are several other techniques that can be applied, but these all are less important than what is already stated above.