Single Page Optimization
- December 04, 2018
- Bradley Taylor
There is not point in having a very optimized page that is within a website which is itself not optimized. Google would not see this page as the “single great apple in a basket of rotten apples”, rather, they would just see it as a basket of rotten apples. With that said, I am going to discuss the proper optimization of a single page.
Industry practices in this matter change all the time as Google itself changes. It is important to stay updated on all the algorithm changes at Google by reading their various blogs.
Code
For starters, let’s dig into the code:
- Make sure the code is clean and there are no errors that show up in the browser report.
- Check that there are no broken links.
- Make sure the meta tags are accurate and unique.
- Keep the page title is under 60 characters and truly reflects the content within the page.
- Add “alt” descriptions for the links.
Content
The content is the most important aspect of any page. Here is a list of important content optimizations:
- 450+ words. The more the better in most cases.
- Totally unique content. No copy and paste.
- At least one “lateral link”, ie., a link to another page on the same website. (suggest no more than two)
- At least one “authority link”, ie., a link to a large well established website. The content at that site should relate to your content.
- Images: Images are good for the reader and good for the search engines. You can place really great keywords in the “alt” tags of the image.
Linking
- Make sure the new content is linked to the structure of the site. With automated Content Management Systems (like WordPress), this is usually done automatically. Examples are: site map, blog roll, main or footer navigation.
- Make sure to attempt to link to your article from other, similar websites. Go to other blogs and fill in the comment area and link to your article.
Social Media
We have found pages that do really well for us sometimes have embedded social media. This can be an embedded tweet or even a YouTube clip. This is just one more facet of content you can use to enrich the overall value of your new web page.
Here is an example of embedding:
Don’t forget to share your new page on the social media outlets.
Well that’s all for now. If I think of something I forgot I will update this page later on.