Web Page Optimization - Part 3

We continue this Web Page Optimization series by looking at optimizing the Headings and web page body content.

Heading Tags

Text within the heading tags H1-H6 are given extra weighing by search engines. Therefore it is important to use this tags and not simply use a larger font size. The headline tags function just like headlines in newspapers and they draw the  reader and the search engines.

The Opening Headline

The opening headline should sum up the contents of the web page. It should be designed to attract both the reader and the search engines and consist of your keywords/keyword phrases. It is often the same as your web page title or very similar to it.

The H2 tag is commonly used because most people find the H1 tag too large. I tend only to use the H1 tag for short headlines. The Headline tag should ideally be less than 40 characters (64 max). Short punchy headlines are generally better.

The opening headline tag is followed by some body text which should contain your keywords/keyword phrases. Your keyword should be in the opening sentence and once more in the first 500 characters (roughly 6 lines) or opening paragraph.

Other headline Tags H3-H6

These tags are used for emphasis and again should contain your keywords or some variation of it. These are ideally used for secondary keywords. Again the body text following the headline should contain your keyword at least once.

The general structure is:

headline H1or H2-- contains keyword/keyword phrase
   Body text       ----contains keyword/keyword phrase at least max twice
headline H3-H6 -- contains keyword/keyword phrase
   Body text       ----contains keyword/keyword phrase at least max twice
headline H3-H6 -- contains keyword/keyword phrase
   Body text       ----contains keyword/keyword phrase at least max twice

Keyword Prominence and Placement

Just like people search engines place more emphasis on the opening words of a sentence than those in the middle. So where possible try to open the sentence with your keywords.

When you view your page as a whole the keywords should be mainly concentrated at the beginning and at the end with a few in the middle.

Keyword density

Keyword density relates to how often you repeat your keywords throughout the page. It is generally regarded that 5 to 10 keywords per 100 words is acceptable. I try to go for the 5 with a maximum of 15 repeats in a page.

If you repeat it too often then the search engines might think you are spamming and your page is downgraded or even banned. So start low and you can always tweak it upwards later.

Don't get too caught up in keyword density and analysis. Generally the positioning is more important than the frequency.

Search Engines and Visitors

People have check books!- Search engines don't! Write first to please the visitor and not the search engines. If you are in any doubt as regards to the placement or frequency of your keywords then the test is simple: Does it make sense for my reader ? If it doesn't then change it!

Web Page Optimisation - Part 4- Optimizing Alt images and links

 
Important note: I have inserted extra characters in the keywords used as examples in this article to prevent the search engines ranking this page for the example keywords.

Related articles and resources:

•  Web Page Optimization- Introduction
•  Part 1 Optimizing title and heading tags
•  Part 2- optimizing the meta description and keyword tags.
•  Part 4- Optimizing Alt images and links