2013: Top 10 content SEO tips survey

[GeorgFranz]

Hi folks,

I was asked to write a short top 10 SEO list for editors. My search returned outdated results and SEO is changing fast these days…

So, here is my little survey: What are the best settings for these most important things:

1. Title tag: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
2. Meta description: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
3. Meta keywords: Use them? How many?
4. H1 tag: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
5. H2-H6 tags: How many characters? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
6. Image alternative text: How many characters / words? Best tricks?
7. Text length: Minimum, maximum? What’s better:  1 long article or split an article in several pages?
8. How much links within an article? Min? Max?
9. Usage of keywords within links?
10. Your favorite SEO tip?

I would love to hear your thoughts

Best wishes,
Georg.

[GeorgFranz]

Hi Mike,

wow, what a comprehensive reply, thanks a lot!

I think it's time for a new SEO cheat sheet

Best wishes,

Georg.

[MikeRoberts]

These are all off the top of my head but I know i have guideline notes somewhere in the mess of my desk that we usually follow. These will change on a regular basis as is necessary in order to keep up with best practices and algorithm changes. The things posted below could all be completely different 3 months from now if Google decides to release a Zebra Algorithm targeting websites with puppies on them.

1. Title tag: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
   • Over 10 characters and under 70 characters though there are instances where titles will be truncated due to character width. I usually aim for 56. Keep in mind that Google can choose to replace your title in the SERPs with what they feel is more relevant. We stick to the format of either <sitename>[seperator] <relevant core="" terms,="" descriptor,="" or="" short="" sentence="" with="" terms="" near="" the="" front="">or we flip it.</relevant></sitename>
2. Meta description: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
   • Over 70, under 160... closer to 156 and similar to title can be truncated due to overall character width. Core terms nearer to the front where applicable. Keep in mind that Google can choose to replace your title in the SERPs with what they feel is more relevant.
3. Meta keywords: Use them? How many?
   • Bing and Yahoo can still make use of meta keywords. Google does not (unless you're News and using the new News related keywords tag). We often continue to include them but more as an idea concerning the interrelation of pages on our sites.
4. H1 tag: How many characters / words? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
   • Core term or most relevant terms concerning the page. If it includes a keyword we aim for closer to the beginning but that may not always be necessary. Make sure they make sense for the over-arching theme of the page.
5. H2-H6 tags: How many characters? Best keyword positions? Best tricks?
   • We keep them concise and to the point. Core terms near the beginning where applicable.
6. Image alternative text: How many characters / words? Best tricks?
   • Short, sweet, concise and relevant.
7. Text length: Minimum, maximum? What’s better:  1 long article or split an article in several pages?
   • I stick to one long article with relevant h2-h6 tags highlighting important parts. Three sentences in word looks like nothing, on your page that may look like a huge paragraph. Keep paragraphs concise, 3-4 sentences each. Breaking things up with an image is always nice.
8. How much links within an article? Min? Max?
   • As are necessary. You can get away with no links if you really wanted to but a few can help point out other relevant copy either on your site or off. But too many links will look cluttered and spammy. This is more a personal choice but if it looks bad then it probably is bad. We had a basic rule of thumb of no more than 1 link per 100 words in the copy... this was not adhered to and often it was less links.
9. Usage of keywords within links?
   • Natural sounding links are best now. Stay away from overusing heavily keyword laden text links too often. One or two every now and then is fine but overall you want them to be simple and natural. More people link to sites using the site name, site url or phrases like "Click here" than they do with terms like "Cheap Red Widgets".
10. Your favorite SEO tip?
    - Canonicals are your friend.