Content Best Practices for SEO

Header tags, or heading tags, provide hierarchical structure to the content on a webpage. This makes content easier to scan and helps search engines understand the relative importance of content on the page.

The main headline is an H1 tag. Subheadings breaking the content into sections are H2. Further subheadings within the sections are H3, and so on.

Here are some best practices for writing header tags:

• Keep header tags clear, concise and readable.
• Include relevant keywords that reflect the content in the section below.
• Maintain a logical hierarchy. Use a smooth flow from H1 to H2 to H3 and so on.
• Use the established header formatting options in the content management system to add header styling. This applies the header tags to the text and provides signals to search engines and screen readers about the structure of the content. 

Keywords are the search terms a user might enter in a search engine like Google or Bing. By identifying keywords relevant to the content and the target audience through keyword research and then integrating these keywords naturally into the content, users can increase the chances a webpage will rank in search results for the user.

Here are some best practices for integrating keywords into content:

• Use a targeted strategy for which keywords you’ll emphasize. Focus on primary keywords, integrate them naturally and keep things readable.
• Place keywords strategically. Use keywords in the page title (title tag), meta description, H1 tag (main heading) and organically throughout the body copy.
• Structure content using H1 to H6 header tags. Include relevant keywords in these headings to signal content hierarchy to search engines.
• Focus on the user’s search intent. Tailor content and keywords to answer their needs.
• Choose quality over quantity. Create high-quality, informative content that provides value to users. Don’t stuff it full of keywords so that it’s hard to understand. This can negatively impact SEO performance.  

Search engines tend to emphasize websites that provide a good user experience and are easy to read.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind while writing content for a webpage:

• Use short paragraphs. Long blocks of text should be broken into smaller paragraphs to enhance readability. For an optimal user experience, aim for paragraphs that are three to four sentences in length.
• Use bullet points and numbered lists to make content easy to scan. If the list is sequential, use numbers. Use the numbered or bulleted list formatting option in the content management system to ensure that search engines and screen readers properly interpret the content as a list. 

Backlinks are links from another website that direct back to the website. These are most beneficial when the backlink comes from a reputable website. These signal to search engines that the content on the website might also be reputable.

Internal links are links to other pages within the same website. These can be used to encourage discoverability of content by users of the website.

Here are some best practices related to link-building strategies:

• Use strategic links to other pages within the same website to aid with website navigation and content discoverability. 
• If the page uses anchor links (to link to another section of the same webpage), be sure the text in the link is relevant to the page. Ideally, try to include a keyword in the link. The anchor link should provide the user with context.
• Build relationships with other units on campus and share information about potentially relevant content. Provide backlinks to other unit websites when it is a natural fit for the website. Rather than duplicate content, point to where it exists as a single source of truth. If another MSU site ranks well for a keyword, consider if your unit’s website should be competing for that term or if deferring to their content makes more sense. As Spartans, we are all on the same team!

Best practices for video, in terms of SEO:

• Use videos relevant to the content on the webpage.
• For videos embedded on a webpage (e.g., from YouTube), fill out all video metadata fields on the host site, too. 
• Include captions and transcripts, as appropriate. This is a necessity for accessibility purposes, but it also provides more text for search engines to crawl and index. 

A high percentage of searches happen on a mobile device. Be sure the website design is responsive and mobile-friendly.

Michigan State University advocates for mobile-first website design. This means website creators start with the mobile experience in mind. For more information, see Mobile-First Design in the "MSU Web Standards."