What is SEO: 184 SEO tips to optimize yourself

It is one of the most important terms you will come across when you have your own website as an entrepreneur: SEO. Good SEO is almost indispensable for a website (ideally performed by an SEO specialist). Not only does it make you more findable, but it also gets you better results. SEO, what is it? And how do you leverage this to rank higher in Google? You can read about that here!

What is SEO?

SEO is an English abbreviation that stands for Search Engine Optimization. In Dutch, people often talk about SEO optimization. When you use SEO you are working on a way to make your website more findable for your target audience.

Therefore, before employing (or outsourcing) SEO, it is important to have a good understanding of who your target audience is. It is also important to know what keywords they type in on a search engine like Google.

With SEO, you can capitalize on this. You can apply the knowledge about your target audience in writing content for your website. Think not only about blogs, but also about all the other text on your page. The texts must first and foremost match the keywords your target audience uses, but in addition, they must be used in such a way that they are attractive to Google.

It’s important to strike a good balance between good and recruiting copy that gets your target audience excited. Use strong text as well as images and videos to support the text.

SEO consists of three facets. These are content, technology and link building. Every aspect of SEO contributes to optimizing the online findability of your website.

SEO tips for content

I broke down the content component into several components. The keyword appears in…, content (general), content quality, duplicate content, rich media and on-page SEO.

Spending time on relevant and quality content positively affects your website’s SEO. You can reap short-term and long-term benefits from that as a company. By posting good content that connects with your target audience and improving the website, you will get more visitors.

In addition, it is also important to make the site itself attractive so that visitors eventually become customers by purchasing a product or service.

The keyword appears in …

1. The keyword must recur on the page. Not only in the normal content, but also in other aspects of the landing page. The keyword appears in …

2. The page title. A keyword in the page title contributes directly to your position in Google.

3. The meta description. A keyword in the meta description does not directly contribute to your position in Google. This can result in a higher CTR, though.

4. The alt attribute. A keyword in the alt attribute is used by visually impaired people to determine the subject of an image. Google uses an alt attribute the same way.

5. The title of the image. The title of an image is used by Google to determine the subject of an image.

6. The first 100 words. The first words are important for the visitor and Google to determine the topic of a page.

7. The last 100 words. The last words are important for the visitor and Google to determine the topic of a page.

8. The content. The (textual) content of the page should contain the keyword to make it as easy as possible for Google to make the connection. In theory, it can only be done with synonyms, but this makes it a lot harder.

9. The domain name. It is still a common practice among SEO specialists to make the keyword appear in a domain name, provided it is feasible and it is a new website.

10. The subdomain. When you create a subdomain, a best practice is to also put the keyword in here that you want to be found for (this works similar to putting the keyword in a subfolder).

11. The < h1 >. Of all the headers (and content) on a page, the <h1> usually carries the most weight. Use this by incorporating the keyword.

12. The < h2 >. The <h2> weighs most heavily after the <h1>. In short, incorporate the keyword here.

13. The <lower> headers. For the lower headers, use the keyword in these headers when possible and relevant to the visitor.

14. The table of contents. A page’s table of contents should contain the keyword (several times). This also shows the visitor what the page is about.

Content (general)

Below are general recommendations for when you get started with your own SEO content.

15. LSI keywords are used. These are the keywords that Google shows when you type something into Google. Using LSI keywords can provide Google with a broader understanding of the subject of the page.

16. Synonyms are used in the page title. The page title can also contribute to a broader understanding of the topic of the page.

17. Synonyms are used in the meta description. The meta description can also contribute to a broader understanding of the topic of the page. Important for both the page title and meta description: make sure they are similar to the content on the page.

18. Synonyms are used in headers. Using synonyms in headers gives a full picture of the intent as well as the topic of a page.

19. The content goes deep into the topic at hand. Stand-alone, short articles on a topic do not do as well in practice as comprehensive, quality pages.

20. Content contains a minimum of 500 words (can be longer than this). Content length is still very important for SEO. Be sure to add depth to the topic you are writing about.

21. Page headers are built semantically. This allows Google to easily determine the full topic of the page.

22. Page headings are scannable. This is for an improved user experience on the website and indirectly affects SEO.

23. The headings are written concisely, powerfully and to the point. Also use the keyword in the headings to reinforce its relevance.

24. Proper keyword density is taken into account. Proper keyword density prevents spam and contributes to improved rankings.

25. The intent of the keyword in Google is taken into account. Because of the BERT update, Google can track searcher intent more accurately. Use this by considering the underlying intent.

26. How often has the content been updated and are all these updates mapped to the bottom of the page? Mapping the history of a page helps Google understand the freshness of the content.

Quality of content

Below are SEO tips around writing quality content. Since the BERT update, Google has gotten better and better at determining the quality of content. So pay close attention to this.

27. There are no grammatical errors in the content. Google is getting better at finding out grammatical errors and uses this in determining content quality.

28. There are no spelling errors in the content. Google can easily see this and is only getting better at it.

29. The content is up to date and recently written. Content freshness, especially within certain topics and niches, plays a big role. Consider news items.

30. The content alternates between long and short sentences. This helps improve content readability and user experience.

31. The tone of voice throughout the website is consistent. Google is getting better at determining the consistency of content across a Web site.

32. The content is relevant to the visitor and the keywords for which the content comes up(time to conversion).

33. Content supports the customer journey(AIDA). Support the entire customer journey with page content straight to conversion.

34. The information density and use of jargon is tailored to the target audience. This increases the user experience and therefore user metrics, such as time on a page.

Duplicate content

Duplicate content has a negative impact on its ultimate findability. The SEO tips below will help you get started with this.

35. The content is unique and does not appear anywhere else on the website (internal duplicate content). This creates internal competition within landing pages.

36. The content is unique and does not appear on other websites (external duplicate content). This creates duplicate content from Google and can result in lower rankings.
37. In what ways is the content distinctive from competitors and other content on the Web? Are you really delivering value to the visitor with the content you write? And are you proud of your work when you read it back?
38. Is the content taken from other websites and slightly rewritten? This is not a good best practice for drafting quality SEO content.

Rich media

Rich media, in Dutch enriched media, delivers a more complete user experience to a website visitor

39. The page contains a relevant image. An image helps with better understanding of textual content, in a shorter time.

40. The page contains a relevant video. The video explains what the page (or part of the page) is about.
41. The page contains a relevant listing of information, such as a table. The table can present a lot of information to the visitor in an organized way.

SEO Tips for On-page SEO

On-page SEO is the dividing line between technical SEO and SEO content. Good on-page SEO contributes to an increased position in Google as well as a better user experience on the website.

Page title

42. The page title begins with the keyword. Many SEO specialists agree that a page title, with the keyword as the first word, does better in practice.

43. The page title is no longer than 60 characters. When the page title is too long, Google truncates it.

44. The page title is an extension of the content on the page and the searcher’s intent in Google. This ensures that the searcher actually finds the answer on your page.

45. The page title is attractively written and optimized for a high CTR. A higher CTR simply means more visitors.

46. The page title is unique to this page and does not appear elsewhere on the website. This can cause keyword cannibalization.

Meta description

47. The meta description begins with the keyword. The keyword in the meta description does not directly contribute to higher rankings, but it is bolded in the SERP.

48. The meta description is no longer than 160 characters. Otherwise, it will be truncated.

49. The meta description is attractively written and optimized for a high CTR. A higher CTR simply means more visitors.

50. The meta description is an extension of the content on the page and the searcher’s intent in Google. If the meta description differs significantly from the content on the website, Google will fill it in itself. In addition, this ensures that the searcher actually finds the answer on your page.

51. The meta description is unique to this page and does not appear elsewhere on the website. This can result in keyword cannibalization (lower probability than page title).

Slug

52. The slug contains the main keyword for which the page wants to come up in Google. This provides recognition to the viewfinder.
    
53. The slug was kept as short as possible. This contributes to how “clean” the full snippet looks in Google.
    

54. The slug is recruiting and relevant to the searcher in Google. Partly because of recognition among searchers, it is possible that the CTR is higher.

URL

55. The URL of the page contains the main keyword (or its synonym). This directly contributes to an elevated position.

56. The URL is no longer than 115 characters. This is done both for usability and online findability in Google.

57. The URL contains no parameters or symbols (as with the Google Analytics URL builder). This can detract from how quickly the user (and Google) determines the topic of a page.

58. The URL is a brief summary of what is happening on the page. This provides recognition to the searcher, both in Google and on the website.

59. The URL symbolizes the same intent as the written content on the page. This can be done by not leaving too many middle words out of the URL to make it shorter (an extra middle word to make the intent clear is important).

60. The URL is user-friendly and clearly shows what the page is about.

Images

61. The image is no larger than necessary (measured on the largest desktop display). This can contribute negatively to website speed.

62. The image contains an alt attribute containing the keyword. The alt attribute must match the content of the image.

63. The image displays the same topic as this keyword. Google can tell (very) well what an image is about. It makes no sense to use keyword stuffing here.

64. The image contains a relevant title for the subject of the image, incorporating the keyword. That is, the image should be relevant to the topic of the page.

65. The image’s alt attribute and title are relevant to the closest header and piece of textual content on the page.

66. The image contains a modern image format (t.b.v. website speed). This adds to the compression of the image.

67. The illustration is either educational or amusing. Is the image neither? Then it is often not a good image for the page.

68. The image matches the intent of the page. The underlying intent of the page is important in determining the subject of the image.

69. The image is unique to the website and does not appear anywhere else on the same website. This creates internal duplicate content.

70. The image is unique and does not appear on other websites (not a stock photo, for example). This creates external duplicate content (and often does not add value to the visitor).

71. The image is up to date and recently added. Content freshness applies not only to textual content on the website; it also applies to images.
72. The image contains a description that clearly explains what is happening in the image. This is not about the alt attribute or the title of the page.

SEO tips on … thetable of contents of an article

73. The table of contents contains the keyword multiple times and/or its synonyms. This provides increased scannability and usability.

74. The table of contents clearly shows the content of the page and its intent.

75. The table of contents reflects the semantics of the headers. This plays a role in how Google looks at the structure of the page.

76. The table of contents is kept short and does not push the content below it too far down the page. The farther down content is, the harder it is for the visitor to find.

Videos

77. The video is loaded in a fast manner without affecting the website speed too much.

78. The video includes an overlay as an image. This shows what is going on in the video.
    
79. The overlay contains a title containing the keyword. This helps Google determine the subject of the overlay.

80. The overlay contains an alt attribute containing the keyword. This helps Google determine the subject of the overlay.

81. The overlay is relevant to the content of the video as well as the keyword in the title and alt attribute.

82. The video contains social signals on the platform on which it is hosted (YouTube or Vimeo, for example).

83. In the video, the keyword is pronounced. Google can find out what is said in a video. So this helps determine the topic of the video.

84. In the video, the keyword is shown as text. Google also uses this in determining the topic of the video.

85. The description of the video contains the keyword.

86. The title of the video contains the keyword.

87. The video is up to date and recently added. This provides increased content freshness.

88. The video contains high resolution (even when played on the website).

89. The creator of the video is displayed in the description. This adds to the authorial profile of the article writer.

Author

90. The author of the content is displayed below the article or page. This provides increased authority of the origin of the article.

91. The content author obtains many relevant social signals. This shows that the author has considerable authority within the field.

92. The author page receives backlinks. This also helps demonstrate an author’s authority.

93. The author has been cited in relevant journals. This causes Google to alloce the author’s profile within the market in which the author operates.

94. The author creates videos or is in some way a thought leader within the niche. This can be done through a combination of the above points.

Biography of the author (below the article)

95. The biography shows the author’s authority within the subject. Describe what the author specializes in.

96. The bio contains the main keyword for which the website wants to rank higher.

97. The bio below the article includes a link to the page about the author (this can be an about us page if you are a freelancer).

98. The biography below the article shows a photo of the author. With this you show that this is actually the author, also make this social proof.

SEO tips about . ..the author page

99. The author page contains outbound links to clear author accreditations. Add multiple accreditations to demonstrate that the author knows a lot about a topic.

100. The author page includes an outbound link to a LinkedIn profile (and other social media channels that are relevant).

101. The author page contains an image of the author. Again, this shows that the author is “real.”

102. The author’s image includes a relevant title. This helps Google determine the author’s specialties.

103. The author’s image contains a relevant alt attribute. This helps Google determine the author’s specialties.

104. The author page contains a minimum of 400 words of relevant content. This allows you to indicate multiple topics and experiences of the author.

105. The author page contains links to other articles written by the author, with a brief a preview of these articles. This allows you to show that the author has written multiple articles on the website. It is also not a problem if there are multiple authors on a website.

106. The author page receives links from other websites that have high authority.

107. The links pointing to the author page are under quality guest articles on the corresponding pages.

108. Links come from websites that are relevant and with high DR and/or come from author profiles on highly regarded websites within the profession.

109. The author page should be indexed. If Google cannot access this, then the above points were carried out for nothing.

(Internal) links to and from the page

110. There are internal links on the page to relevant other pages within the website. This shows that more information around the topic can be found on the website.

111. The internal links on the page do not point to pages that directly compete with them. This is the shortest route to keyword cannibalization.

112. Internal links use anchor text related to the page they point to.

113. There are outbound links to pages with high authority. This helps to further inform the visitor (and also show Google that this is really your intention).

114. The page is part of a content cluster.

115. The page receives many internal links from other relevant pages within the website. Simply put, the more links, the stronger the page is in Google.

116. The page receives internal links with relevant anchor text from other pages within the website. The anchor texts partly determine the topic of the page for Google.

117. The internal links pointing to the page are text links and are part of paragraphs.

118. The page is in the main menu. This provides a link from each page (where the menu is).

119. The page is in the footer. This provides a link from each page (where the footer is).

120. The page does not receive incorrect internal links with incorrect anchor texts. This can quickly result in keyword cannibalization or a misunderstanding of website structure.

121. Internal links from the page to other pages within the website are relevant to the topic of the page in question

122. The internal anchor text profile is diverse and contains relevant synonyms for which the page can come up in Google

SEO tips for technical SEO

The second aspect that is extremely important for your website’s SEO is technology. It’s not just about texts and other content. Technical SEO is the way the back end of the website is optimized to improve the SEO of the website (as per Google’s guidelines).

Website loading speed also contributes to good findability and thus search engine optimization. A website that loads slowly will kill you: many visitors will drop out and you will lose visitors and possibly customers.

Website speed

Website speed is one of the larger components within technical SEO. This not only contributes to improved organic findability (this has been confirmed by Google), it also contributes to increased conversion.

123. The website contains a low CLS. A high CLS causes the website layout to shift while loading.

124. The website has a fast TTFB. This is the first response from the server. A good TTFB is under 200 ms.

125. The website has a fast TTI. This ensures that the entire loading process is faster and the website can be used faster.

126. The website has a fast LCP. The largest contentful paint is the largest part of the website that is loaded.

127. The website has a fast FCP. The first contentful paint contributes to the quick loading of the first part of the website.

128. The images on the page contain compression and are encoded efficiently.

129. Images are lightweight (maximum 500 kb). Smaller images have a positive impact on overall website speed.

130. Images contain a lazyload attribute and are not loaded until later.

131. The website’s banner does not contain a lazyload attribute. This can be counterproductive in improving website speed.

132. Images are delivered and staged in a modern format.

133. The server is in the geographical location where most visitors come from. This provides an accelerated TTFB.

134. An international website includes a CDN. This ensures that a server is not slower to respond because of its physical distance from the website user.

135. No unnecessary CSS is loaded on the page. This causes a delayed website (and is a waste because it is not necessary).

136. No unused JS is loaded on the page. This causes a delayed website (and is a waste because it is not necessary).

137. The website speed is optimized on GTMetrix‘s platform.

138. Website speed is optimized on the Google Pagespeed Insights platform.

139. The website speed is optimized on Pingdom Tools‘ platform.

140. The website speed is optimized for both mobile and desktop. Don’t forget to also check the mobile version while optimizing website speed.

SEO tips forsitemaps

A website’s sitemaps are one of the main ways Google discovers new and existing pages. Google also uses this to determine the overall structure of a Web site.

XML sitemap

141. The XML sitemap is created for Google, not the visitor. The SEO tips below are regarding the XML sitemap.

142. The website contains XML sitemap(s). This accelerates discovery of new pages and re-indexing of existing pages.

143. The XML sitemap contains only 2xx pages. Make sure that all pages in the XML sitemap actually work.

144. The XML sitemap contains the most important pages for SEO. This can save on crawl budget.

145. The XML sitemap is notified via the Robots.txt, this contributes to the discovery of the XML sitemap.

146. The XML sitemap is submitted through the Google Search Console, this contributes to Google’s discovery of the sitemap.

147. the XML sitemap is dynamic. This causes the sitemap to move with changes on the website.

148. The XML sitemap contains a proper and . This is mostly still relevant to the other search engines, not so much to Google.
149. There is a separate XML sitemap for images. I recommend this especially for websites that use images a lot to generate traffic through Google.

HTML sitemap

The HTML sitemap is made for the visitor (and secretly a little for Google). It is a great way to link to all the important pages of a website from one page.

150. The website contains an HTML sitemap.

151. The HTML sitemap contains only 2xx pages. This provides increased usability of the sitemap.

152. The HTML sitemap contains the most important pages for SEO. This can ensure that you also show Google that these pages have priority.

153. The HTML sitemap is dynamic. This allows the sitemap to move with changes on the website.

Status codes & indexing

These SEO tips contribute to the user experience on the website and how quickly Google can index new pages.

154. The website does not contain 4xx pages. 4xx pages contribute to reduced usability and can have a negative impact on SEO.

155. The website does not contain 5xx pages. 5xx pages contribute to decreased usability and can have a negative impact on SEO.

156. The website does not contain too many 3xx pages(301 or 302 redirects). Few redirects provide savings in crawl budget.

157. The website does not contain internal links to pages that do not have 2xx status code. This contributes to a diminished user experience.

158. Important pages for SEO include an index, follow tag in the <head>. This shows that the page contains no noindex and can probably be indexed.

159. Important pages for SEO are not displayed in the Robots.txt.

160. Pages that should not be indexed as well as crawled are listed in the Robots.txt. This is done to save crawl budget.

161. Pages that should not be indexed but should be crawled contain a <noindex> tag.

Internal competition

Internal competition can reduce the position of certain keywords. These SEO tips counteract this.

162. Pages important for SEO are not written about the same topics, this creates internal competition.

163. Pages that are (too) similar can be given a canonical. This prevents keyword cannibalization.

164. Paginated pages can be set up with a canonical. This also shows Google the structure of these parts of the website.

SEO tips about . .. themobile version

The mobile version is (at a minimum) just as important as the desktop version. Below you can find some tips regarding SEO for your mobile version.

165. The mobile version does not contain clickable elements that are too close together. This makes for a diminished experience on mobile.

166. The mobile version is presented in the same way as the desktop version.

167. The mobile version does not contain 4xx pages. This has a negative effect on the user experience.

168. The mobile version is uncluttered and presents content clearly to Google.

169. The mobile version is not fully loaded in JS, so Google cannot access it (Google often cannot crawl JS links).

170. The main menu is accessible and can be easily folded. This is called a hamburger menu.

SEO tips for link building

Link building is a hugely important component of SEO and ensures its authority. Below are SEO tips that may be important in this regard. Within SEO, there is on page optimization and off page optimization. On page optimization was discussed earlier in this article. Namely, this includes content and the technical side of SEO. Off page optimization, or link building, greatly affects Google’s algorithm.

Basically, link building is the placement of so-called backlinks to a Web site. Link building can be divided into two aspects. That’s backlinks and internal link structure. I briefly explain what these two concepts mean.

SEO tips on …evaluating referring websites

The referring websites we deploy have an impact on our link building. Below you can find my tips for this.

171. The referring websites that link to the page are relevant to our topic.

172. The websites that link to the page have a high DR. This may be indicative of more authority of the website.

173. Linking websites are trusted by Google. You can possibly express this in Trust Flow.

174. Linking websites have been around for more than a year.

175. Linking websites obtain relevant organic visitors.

SEO tips on … the anchor texts used

The anchor texts partly determine the subject matter of the website. Google uses this to determine if the link is relevant to the subject of the website. Below are my tips for this.

176. The anchor texts used (sometimes) match the keyword for which we want to come up with the page

177. The anchor texts are varied and diverse. By doing so, you reduce the chances of link building efforts being labeled as spam.

178. Some of the anchor texts are branded or contain the website’s name.

SEO tips on . The receiving pages

Receiving pages refers to the pages that receive the links from our link building campaign.

179. The pages received on the website are diverse and interspersed.

180. The home page receives about 50-60% of the links pointing to the website

181. The pages that the website comes up with in Google receive relevant links with relevant anchor texts

SEO tips on . What does the user do on the page

182. There is little pogosticking on the website. SEO specialists speculate on how this is deployed by Google to determine results in Google.

183. The bounce rate is low. This lowers the phenomenon of pogosticking (item 182).

184. Time on the page is high. This is an indication that you gave website visitors the right experience.

Read more about SEO tips and how to optimize it

• The benefits of SEO outsourcing
• My roadmap for SEO optimization
• What does an SEO specialist do and how do you hire one?
• Creating an SEO strategy or SEO roadmap
• Improve SEO
• Getting higher in Google with a website

Put these SEO tips to work for your own website

Employ these 184 SEO tips to optimize your website’s organic findability. Try to weigh for yourself what you are looking for. The results of a professional agency or get started with SEO yourself? Now that you know what SEO is, you can try to implement it yourself. Good luck!