3 Min SEO Tip – Url, titles and h1
Now that you have learned how to do keyword research and maybe even tested out a few of your keywords with a PPC campaign, it is time to start evaluating the content of your pages.
This is really the second stage of an SEO plan. The goal of this stage (in addition to providing amazing content) is to structure the architecture of the page in such a way that it is easily readable by Google and follows the Google Webmaster Guidelines. There are no shortage of tips in the SEO world on how to do this well, but as a starting point, I always go with this one parameter for every page:
- Keep your URL, Title and first <h1> tightly themed around a keyword
Simple enough? Lets get at it…
<aside>But first, an aside for those of you that need a refresher on what these three elements are… the url is the web address found in at the top of the browser. eg. the url for this page is: http://id8.ca/seo-tip-urls-titles
The title of a page can be found at the VERY top of the browser. It is often a description of what the page is about. The title also appears as the blue link in the search results on Google. A good title can attract the eye of users and entice them to click through to your page. eg. The <title> for this page is Min SEO Tip – Url, titles and h1 | iD8.ca
An h1 is an element that you add to a page, the h1 is a heading that will tell Google and users what the content that will follow is about. From a search perspective, the first h1 on a page is he only h1 worth focusing on. eg. The first <h1> on this page is first line of text, found just above the graphic above<aside>
Creating your tight theme:
Lets go back to our post on keyword research and pull the top keyword for Pepe’s (Fictitious) Organic Dog Bakery. Today’s keyword of choice is: ‘Homemade dog treats’. Now, it is essential that three core elements on this page (the url, title and first h1) all use slight variations that are tightly wound around this keyword.
An Ideal Example:
http://www.pepesdogbakery/homemade-dog-treats
</url>
<title>
Pepe’s Dog Bakery || Homemade Dog Treats Made Fresh Daily
</title>
<h1>
Pepe’s Dog Treats – Homemade Recipes for your Pooch
</h1>
<content>
At least 300 words of unique content about Pepe’s Dog Treats. How many words could you put on each page? As long as you are writing engaging content about ‘Homemade Dog Treats’ keep going! But when you are done, get a couple people you trust to read over your content. Seek their honest opinion and heed their advice.
</content>
Notice how every core SEO element on this page has the keyword phrase “Homemade Dog Treats” in it? But they are not nessecarily in the same order. Also, the <title> will appear as the blue link on Google’s search result pages when people search for your keyword. So it is important that your title does everything it can to entice the click.
Did you find this useful? Let me know in the comments below!