Checking the List: SEO Details - More Optimization That Visitors Will See

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Look at your headers. Did you put any key words in an H2, H3, and/or H4 header? And are you wondering why I didn’t mention an H1 header? Headers of course are a way to let the search engines know that something is an important theme for your page, but again, you need to watch out for over-optimization. Gary did some tests that seemed to indicate that Google sees key words in the H1 header as over-optimization “when combined with other factors.” In his thread, he notes that “Using H2-H4 still sets it apart and provides any benefit the H1 used to, without having to eliminate them altogether.”

After your first usage of the key word in the page’s first full paragraph, you can begin using it in ways that are designed to draw the eye: bold (second paragraph if possible), italic, and in a subscript/superscript. It also makes sense to use key words as part of your URL (a directory name, file name, or domain name). But do not duplicate the key word in the URL, or – you guessed it – you might set off over-optimization warning flags.

Are you using images on this page? Images can really help you add more key words. Make sure you have a key word in the filename of all your images. Boost both your SEO and your page’s accessibility by adding key words to the ALT tags of your images as well. Finally, add key words to the title attribute of your images.

Now let’s look at your links. This is the web after all, and everyone links to everyone else (well, ultimately anyway). So, do you have key words in the anchor text for links that go to another site? How about key words in the anchor text for an internal link from the page? If you publish lots of content, you may find that some of your authors will submit articles that link to other articles that appear on your site. This is a good thing. Next, make sure that you have key words in the title attribute of all the links targeted in and out of the page.

Okay, I mentioned putting key words in an internal link that goes from the page you’re optimizing to another page on the site. Make sure you also have key words in an internal link that goes TO the page from another page on the site (preferably from the home page). I also mentioned putting keywords in outbound links to another site. If it’s possible, try to make sure you also have key words in inbound links TO the page from another site.

No, we’re not done yet. Check your external CSS or JavaScript file; there should be key words in the filename. Also make sure that key words are in an HTML comment tag. Finally, rounding out key words and links, do you have key words in the anchor text of a link to a site that has a PageRank of 8 or better (for example, .gov or .edu sites)?

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Comments On: Checking the List: SEO Details

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