10 SEO Best Practices to Help You Rank Higher

Search motor optimization (SEO) champion practices are tried-and-tested ways to amended your visibility successful hunt engines for illustration Google.

Here are 10 SEO champion practices each marketer should follow:

Include Keywords successful Your Content

Keywords are applicable hunt position that you want your page to look for, and strategically adding them to your contented tin thief you rank higher.

Basically, the page seems much applicable to hunt engines if the keyword seems to hap naturally.

Don’t unit keywords into your contented wherever they don’t belong. This tin make your website look spammy to hunt engines and users. So, it tin harm your SEO.

You tin deliberation up keywords connected your ain and look astatine Google’s hunt suggestions for inspiration. But it’s mostly champion to find keywords done keyword investigation tools.

This is because keyword investigation devices tin thief you: 

• Find keywords you haven’t thought of
• Prioritize keywords based connected their popularity
• Identify keywords you’re apt to rank highly for

You tin hunt for keywords successful Google Keyword Planner.

Or usage Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, which provides immoderate further metrics and features.

For example, the Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %) metric indicates really difficult it’ll beryllium for your website to rank successful Google’s apical 10 results for a fixed keyword.

To guarantee a keyword is applicable to the page you’re creating, cheque the top-ranking results successful Google.

This gives you a beardown denotation of search intent (what the mean searcher wants). And satisfying hunt intent is important to ranking highly.

Write a Unique Title Tag

Write a unsocial title tag (off-page title) for each page to thief hunt engines understand what your pages are astir and rank them accordingly.

You should besides constitute title tags pinch users successful mind because they tin look in:

• Users’ browser tabs
• Link previews connected societal media
• Search motor results pages

Some website editors make it easy to alteration the title tag. If yours doesn’t, see installing a plugin that enables easy editing. 

For example, the Yoast SEO plugin provides an “SEO title” field:

We urge utilizing a title tag that accurately conveys what your contented is about. And keeping your titles nether 60 characters successful length, truthful there’s little chance they’ll beryllium trim disconnected successful Google’s hunt results.

Also, spot your astir important keyword adjacent the commencement of the title—users will beryllium much apt to announcement it.

For example, the title for this page is “10 SEO Best Practices to Help You Rank Higher” and our main keyword is “SEO champion practices.”

Use HTML heading tags to specify the headings connected your pages to make it easier for hunt engines and users to understand the building of your pages.

Typically, you tin use headings by highlighting the matter successful your connection processor aliases website editor and choosing the due style from the list.

Here’s an illustration of really to adhd a heading tag successful WordPress:

Every page should person one heading 1 (<h1>) tag that contains the main heading (i.e., the on-page title). 

Make judge this heading matches aliases astir matches pinch your page’s title tag. Otherwise, you whitethorn origin disorder for users and hunt engines.

You whitethorn besides want to usage subheadings to break your matter into sections.

If you do usage subheadings, use <h2> and <h3> tags connected a hierarchical basis.

Like this:

You tin usage <h4>, <h5>, and <h6> tags to adhd much extent to your sections. But this tin make it harder for readers to travel your structure.

Submit an XML Sitemap to Google

Submitting an XML sitemap to Google tells the hunt motor which of your pages should beryllium indexed (i.e., added to its database of imaginable hunt results). 

Basically, an XML sitemap is simply a record that lists the pages you want to beryllium indexed. And it looks thing for illustration this:

Many website platforms (like WordPress and Wix) make an XML sitemap automatically. If you don’t usage a level that does this, you tin usage a sitemap generator tool.

You whitethorn want to make judge the XML sitemap:

• Contains each pages that should beryllium indexed (i.e., pages you want to beryllium discoverable done hunt engines)
• Doesn’t incorporate pages that shouldn’t beryllium indexed (e.g., staging tract pages aliases bid confirmation pages)

After downloading your XML sitemap file, submit it to Google done Google Search Console.

Add Internal Links Between Pages

Adding internal links betwixt related pages connected your tract is an SEO champion believe because it helps hunt engines and users navigate your tract and understand its structure.

So, look for opportunities to nexus to related pages erstwhile penning your content. And effort to build soul links to caller pages you create.

For example:

• If you’re penning a blog station and you mention a product, see a nexus to the merchandise page
• If you people a caller blog station astir a topic, find existing posts that mention this taxable and adhd a nexus to your caller station successful each one

Internal linking is particularly adjuvant if you usage anchor text (clickable text) that describes what the linked page is about. As agelong arsenic it sounds people to your users.

For example, this very station links to our blog station astir soul links the first clip we mention “internal links.” This helps readers and hunt engines understand the linked page’s taxable matter.

Make judge to usage absolute URLs (e.g., “https://www.semrush.com/blog/internal-links/”) alternatively than comparative URLs (e.g., “/blog/internal-links/) for soul links, arsenic absolute URLs are much SEO-friendly.

Build Backlinks to Your Site

Backlinks are links to your tract from different sites, and immoderate are bully for SEO because they bespeak that different group find your contented useful.

The champion kinds of backlinks travel from reputable and related websites/webpages. So, attraction connected trying to get links from charismatic sites successful your niche aliases a intimately related niche. 

Here’s a speedy summary of immoderate link building tactics you tin usage to get much high-quality links pointing to your site:

• Link baiting: Publish high-quality contented that writers successful your niche tin mention to arsenic a adjuvant resource 
• Skyscraper technique: Create a amended type of a wide linked-to portion of contented successful your niche, and promote websites to nexus to your type instead
• Broken nexus building: Use a instrumentality for illustration Backlink Analytics to find surgery backlinks to your ain tract aliases competitors’ sites, past seduce admins to switch them pinch moving links to your site
• Brand mentions: Use a instrumentality for illustration Brand Monitoring to find unlinked references to your marque connected the web, past inquire the patient to adhd a nexus to a applicable page connected your site

Familiarize yourself pinch Google’s spam policies earlier you commencement nexus building. Because manipulative SEO practices (such arsenic buying backlinks) tin do much harm than bully for your site.

Optimize Images for SEO

Image optimization is simply a champion believe for SEO because it makes your website faster, much accessible, and easier to understand.

First, resize and compress your image files truthful they’re arsenic mini arsenic they tin reasonably beryllium to trim load times.

There are galore image editing devices and website plugins that make it easy to minimize your files without compromising quality.

Second, adhd descriptive alt text (HTML image descriptions) to images that transportation important meaning. To thief hunt engines and users of surface readers understand what the image depicts.

Like this:

You tin typically adhd alt matter via your connection processor aliases website editor. 

Here’s an illustration of alt matter being added to an image successful WordPress:

Publish Helpful Content for Your Audience

Publishing helpful content that’s circumstantial to your target assemblage is 1 of the champion SEO practices because it tin make Google comprehend your website arsenic much charismatic and useful. 

Plus, publishing different types of adjuvant contented helps you rank for a wider assortment of keywords.

Here are immoderate speedy tips for creating adjuvant content:

• Publish contented centered astir topics that are applicable to your brand’s expertise
• Focus connected creating contented for your target assemblage alternatively than for hunt engines
• Use reliable sources and make judge the accusation you stock is accurate
• Incorporate original ideas, insights, aliases different elements to group your contented isolated from competitors’
• Make judge your contented is easy to read, comprehensive, and good presented

You should besides debar unhelpful contented (e.g., low-quality blog posts aliases blog posts astir irrelevant topics) because this contented tin harm your reputation.

Check your website for immoderate contented that doesn't meet Google’s adjuvant contented standards. Then, amended this contented aliases region it from your site.

Deliver a Great User Experience

To present a awesome personification acquisition (UX), you must make it convenient, safe, and enjoyable for your target assemblage to interact pinch your website.

Good UX is bully for SEO because Google wants to show websites that its users for illustration visiting.

Here are immoderate tips for success:

• Use the HTTPS protocol (which uses encryption) to support your visitors’ information secure
• Make your contented load arsenic quickly and reliably arsenic imaginable by optimizing code, enabling browser caching, choosing accelerated hosting, etc.
• Ensure your website is mobile-friendly by utilizing a responsive design, minimizing pop-ups, utilizing easy readable font sizes, etc.
• Build a logical website structure pinch descriptive URLs and supply clear navigation menus
• Avoid ads that interfere pinch the main contented of your page

Many of the different bully SEO practices successful this guideline are bully for UX, too.

Note that you whitethorn request a web developer aliases SEO master to thief you pinch method tasks.

Conduct a Technical SEO Audit and Fix Any Errors

Regularly behaviour technical SEO audits of your website to cheque for method problems that could earnestly harm your hunt performance.

You tin schedule play aliases regular audits pinch Semrush’s Site Audit tool. 

The instrumentality crawls your website for illustration a hunt motor does to cheque for complete 140 issues. And categorizes issues into Errors, Warnings, and Notices to thief you prioritize.

The tool’s recommendations are based connected Google guidelines and SEO champion practices.

If you motion up for free, you tin crawl complete 100 pages per month.