Search engines remain one of the most common tools users utilize to find things online, Google, of course, being the most prominent among them. Therefore, search engine optimization is vital in making your site visible and getting your content on more eyes. You need the traffic to build an audience and an audience to create conversions. That starts with search engine optimization. There are different types of search engine optimization, including off-page and on-page, and the rules vary a little by the search engine.

For the sake of this post, we will focus on practical ways you can create your written content in a way that optimizes your on-page content for Google.

Choosing Your Keyword

The first step in optimizing any content you write is choosing your “keyword” the keyword is the main word in your text, which you want to stick out to search engines. In other words, you want to try and think of a keyword that users searching for what your page has to offer would type into a search engine. You then must attach that keyword to engaging and relevant content to draw people in.

It’s essential that the keyword is related to the content, makes sense, and provides valuable and accurate information. Don’t use “click-bait” and other deceitful tactics, or Google, along with your users, may view you as untrustworthy.

In general, you should try to use “long tail” keywords, or keywords written as common phrases or terms people might input into a search engine, usually consisting of four words or more. Before you choose a keyword, you’ll want to do keyword research. Keyword research involves finding a keyword relevant to the content you want to promote, is a popular search term, and is easy to rank against the competition. You can use Google keyword research tools or automated programs like Web Fire which also tells you how you rank against the competition for your chosen keywords.

Headings, Subheadings, and Plain Text

All of your titles and subtitles should try to include your keyword. Most importantly, it should be included in your main heading and as many subheadings as you can. Your keyword also needs to be incorporated naturally and somewhat frequently (but not too often) throughout the body of your primary texts. It would be best if you used the keyword as much as you can but essentially without seeming like you’re trying to because google may penalize you for “keyword” stuffing you don’t want to overdo it. In the old days, SEO experts used to tell you to put the keyword in every paragraph and every sentence that you could, but this is no longer the case.

Many experts recommend a keyword density of 1% or 2% of your entire text body, but others say there’s no absolute rule of thumb.

Images and Alt Text

All content should contain imagery, it makes a post more engaging, and for many, it just feels more accurate when there’s a picture in front of us to support the text. Relevant images are essential in search engine optimization as well. The “alt text”, for instance, should be considered. An image’s alt text is that let little text caption pops up whenever you hover your mouse over an image.

The alt text of an image plays a role in search engine placement and should include the keyword you want to optimize.

Links for Trust and Click-Through

For the sake of search engine optimization, every post should have links. There’s just something about them that makes a page more appealing visually, but they also boost your search engine ranking. Every post, if possible, should include at least two or three linked references to high authority websites to establish trust.

As you develop more content on your page, you’ll also want to create links to that as well. Try writing your content in a way that may loosely relate to something you’ve produced before, and include a link to it. Whenever possible, try to get at least two or three links on your page to content you’ve created back, as long as it’s loosely similar subject matter to your current post.

Using Optimized Tools

Optimizing content for SEO is anything but easy. The devil is often in the details, and it’s a lot to remember, but you should get the hang of things in time as you learn more and more. Luckily, there is an easier way. You can also create original, optimized content using automated programs like Robot Author to save you time and headaches.