How to optimise your website's copy for search

SEO isn't all metatags and linkbacks - using your keywords and phrases frequently but sensibly and in the right places on your website help to optimise your website and allow Google, Yahoo and other search engines to recognise which search results you want it included in. Use this guide as an introduction to optimising the copy on your website.

• Keyword density
• Headings
• Using your keywords in links

Keyword density

Use your chosen keywords or phrases frequently in your copy - this will help search engines to work out how relevant your website is to the keywords. A word of caution, though: it's important to avoid  keyword stuffing. Experts say your keyword density, or the amount of copy your keywords take up, should be around 2% - so two of every 100 words should be keywords.

• Using keywords in copy will help search engines determine how relevant your website is
• Try to avoid keyword stuffing
• Your keyword density should be around 2%

Headings and H tags

Search engines place more emphasis on headings - the text which goes between the < H1 >, < H2 > and the < H3 > tags - and this is where you can really go to town without your copy starting to sound odd, so make sure your headings are keyword-heavy. Some experts suggest inserting extra headings into your website so you can include more keywords between header tags. This also has the extra advantage of making your website easier to scan-read.

• Search engines place more emphasis on the text between header tags
• Make your headers as keyword-heavy as you like
• Insert extra headings to use more keywords

Using keywords in links

Linking to other pages within your website will help to boost your rankings, as long as you use the keyword you are targeting on that page as your link text. Search engines like keywords to be near the top of the page, but links near the top of the page can be distracting to your users, so try removing their formatting to prevent readers from clicking on links before they reach the end of the page.

• Use the keyword for your target page as link text
• Search engines like keywords to appear near the top of the page
• Minimise distractions by removing formatting from your links

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