SEO Basics
Seo Basics looks at how to optimize your website pages in 5 simple steps.
In order to be and remain successful online, it is important to have your website meet certain conditions. These conditions are included in Google's algorithm. Over the years, it has become increasingly clear what values are important for Google to qualify for a top position in Google. In this post I make clear how you can organize your website according to the values of Google, so that you are higher in Google. I do this on the basis of 5 simple steps.
Seo Basics 1: Focus on one keyword
To optimize your web page it is important to know on which keywords you want to be found. It is therefore not wise to focus your page on multiple keywords. The trend of "one-page websites" is therefore also a scrap for SEO. With these pages, the search engine does not know which keywords are related to your pages.
By placing the focus on one or two keywords, search engines see exactly what your page is about. As more and more people are busy with internet marketing, it is wise to focus on long tail keywords. These are keywords in a specific variant and they usually consist of 3 or more single keywords. The search volume is normally less on long tail keywords, but the chance of a conversion (completed contact form or purchase in web shop) is larger because long tail keywords are much less competitive in search engines.
Seo Basics 2: Titles and metas
If the focus keyword is established, it is also known what the relevant website page is about. Each website contains a 'page title'. This title should give the search engine a clear picture of what the page is about. This 'page title' is also directly given as a title in the search results and must not contain more than 60 characters. However, it is also easy for the users of a search engine to read a more extensive description of your page. This more extensive description is called the 'meta description'.
Nowadays the value of this meta description is considerably minimized. However, this description can be of great significance to increase the conversion. This way you can "lure" your visitors from the search engine to your website.
Seo Basics 3: Intermediate heads
With the focus on one or two keywords and a good page title and description, the foundation for your web page is laid. It is now important to determine which content should
be communicated on the page. This is easy to do by using intermediate heads.
Google reads website pages as people read newspapers. For example, a newspaper is made up of a head and various intermediate heads. A good website page should also be made up in this way. The head of a web page is called the <h1>. All intermediate heads are indicated with a <h2>. In this way, a search engine can easily find out what the pages are about. Just as in newspapers, the focus word should also have a prominent place in the head
and the intermediate heads.
Seo Basics 4: Relevant information
In Seo "Content is King", or "It's all about content!". These are exactly the important criteria that search engines value. A lot of text needs to be present on an optimized page. It is also important that the focus keyword also comes up with regularity, this to make clear what the page is about. During this fourth step it is important to write the page in the first instance for the reader of the page. If these pages are written for the search engines, this results in high visitor numbers and high positioning, but visitors will leave the page immediately. This makes it advisable to first write the page for the reader of the website.
Seo Basics 5: Internal links
What are internal links?
What are internal links? This is about the way in which your pages link to each other. These links can be found in the navigation menu, in the footer, but also in the body text of your pages. Internal links are important for search engine optimization. This makes it easy to find all pages of your website for Google's spider (crawler). Google gets a good idea of the structure of your website and quickly sees which pages of your website are most important.
Why are internal links important?
As mentioned earlier, it is important for your website and for the search engine that Google can clearly see how the structure of your website works. This is also good for indexing the pages.
Another important advantage of internal links is the user-friendliness that you create and stimulate with them. For your visitors it is obviously nice if they can easily navigate from one page to another on your website. Make sure that the internal links are relevant, so that your visitors also end up in the right place. This not only provides convenience, it can also be a way to keep visitors longer on your website.
Internal links for visitors: how do you incorporate them into the text?
It is not difficult to incorporate the internal links in your text in a pleasant way. Just make sure that you are original and that the sentences remain legible to your visitor. If you place a link under a certain word, the word must correspond as much as possible to the text on the page you link to. As a result, Google will see what that page will be about. Example: if you want to include a link in your text to the contact page, make sure the link is under the word 'contact' or a similar term, and not under 'take' or another meaningless word in the sentence. Keep it as relevant as possible.
Furthermore: write the sentence in the first instance as if you do not put a link in it. Many people are inclined to say 'click here' and then put the link under the word
'here'. This is not the ideal option. Firstly, it is more fun for the visitor if you use an original, relevant sentence for this. Second, with the word 'here', Google cannot
see what the page will be about. In these cases, therefore: the more relevant, the better.